It's a Tesla treasure trove.
Three brand-new 2010 Tesla Roadsters were recently discovered in shipping containers in China, where they had been sitting for the past 13 years.
The Roadster was launched in 2008 as Tesla's first production model.
Approximately 2,500 were built through 2012, when the brand shifted its focus to the Model S sedan.
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The three cars – two red and one orange – were found in a storage facility at the docks in the city of Quingdao and listed for auction through Phoenix-based Tesla specialist Gruber Motor Company.
At the time, all that was known was that they were ordered by a single customer who never took delivery, but more of the story has now been revealed.
Gruber Motor Company owner Peter Gruber said further investigation suggested that they were not ordered by an individual, but by a Chinese electric car startup, according to someone who saw the now-lost original shipping details.
The company, which has not been publicly named, presumably ordered the cars to reverse engineer them.
China was home to many dozens of startup automakers at the time vying for a piece of the quickly emerging market, many of which have either gone out business or merged with other companies.
The cars are being transferred to new containers and prepared to ship to either a winning buyer or Dubai, where government regulations make it easier to show them to prospective buyers.
The high bid for all three had reached $800,000 at the time this story was posted, but Gruber told Fox News Digital that there are several offers over $1 million that are being vetted.
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According to the Hagerty Valuation Guide, a Roadster in top condition typically sells for around $150,000, but that does not take into account time capsule examples like these.
The original deadline for bids was May 26, but that has now been extended to June 2. The batteries in the cars are no longer functional – having been "bricked" from not being used – and will need to be replaced.
Tesla began offering an upgrade pack in 2016 that is better than the original.
