Weird. As above I bought my #1180 with a lower VIN in May of 2011--after yours! Mine was manufactured 12/2010--so I wonder where it was all those months?
Looking at TEG's list, a few VIN birth dates are out of order. Our birth dates are in order: Dec 2010 for #1180 and Feb 2011 for #1244, so that doesn't seem so strange.
I did not receive my car in February because it was actually built as a spec car and ended up in Colorado. I ordered it in the summer after the Seattle dealer did a search of inventory for Roadsters with my options selections. Looks like you also bought a spec car about six months after manufacture - you didn't custom-order #1180 as a pre-paid purchase, did you?
I mention this because I previously pre-paid for #0681 and would have locked in options if the stock market crash hadn't occurred. When my opportunity to purchase #1244 came along, Tesla was no longer accepting custom orders because they had "sold out" of Roadsters. So, I bought a spec VIN. Much to my chagrin, Tesla later decided to shuffle around some European gliders to feed the hungry US market, and suddenly they were taking custom orders again. By that time, it was too late for me - I was already driving around in my Roadster.
I assume that the gliders arrived in California from Lotus, and then Tesla installed the motor, battery, and PEM, after which they installed and started the firmware for the first time. That first time stamp in the firmware is what determines the birth date. I can't recall, but there might be some trouble cars that needed firmware re-installed, and those might have mysterious birth dates.
