Martin Eberhard has long turned into a forgotten Tesla founder, having left his CEO post in 2007. But the legendary engineer still gets behind the wheel of the first-gen Roadster, and his daily driver has a shocking backstory.
Nowadays, it’s Elon Musk who flies the flag for Tesla, being the face of the company since 2008.
But it was Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning who were the original founders and designers of the Roadster.
Nearly two decades after leaving the company, Eberhard has now revealed that he still backs Tesla as an investor, owns an iconic Roadster, and his daily driver is a hilarious token of the brand.
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Forgotten Tesla founder shocked at who previously owned his daily driver
Tesla has undoubtedly moved from strength to strength under the leadership of Elon Musk, even if the last quarter has been quite a rough ride.
The EV makers are eyeing more success in the future with the second-gen Roadster, which will be a homage to its original car made by Martin Eberhard.
The forgotten Tesla founder still has a number of Tesla Roadster cars, though, including the second-ever car to leave the assembly line.
But he also runs a daily driver that he bought from a second-hand dealership back when it only had a 175 miles on the clock.
And in a recent interview, he revealed the backstory of the car was too good to leave behind.
Speaking to Kim Java on YouTube, Eberhard revealed that the previous owner was no other than Justine Musk, ex-wife of Elon.
“She won the car in the divorce and just dumped it, without ever driving it, at a used car lot,” he said.
“And the irony was enough that I had to buy it.”
Martin Eberhard only got his second daily driver after suing the company
His other Roadster is equally as special, having been the second car to be created from the production line.
Now plated with ‘Founder’ (which is his Washington license – his California one reads ‘Mr. Tesla’), the grey and orange EV is a beauty.
It’s currently more of a historical artefact after Eberhard’s wife told him to stop driving it to save its value, but the forgotten Tesla founder revealed that he fought hard to own it and enjoys its quirks.
In fact, he let slip that this was one of the components of the lawsuit against Elon Musk, which was settled in 2009.
Instead, he now puts more miles on his daily driver that was previously owned by Justine Musk, driving it with a smugness and admiration for his own engineering.
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