Billionaire buys 3 untitled Tesla roadsters discovered in a 'long-forgotten shipping container'
- Billionaire Dan O’Dowd has been publicly critical of Tesla’s self-driving features
- However, he snapped up three untitled Tesla Roadsters found in a shipping container
- Here’s why he did it
Published on Jun 05, 2024 at 2:18 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on May 14, 2025 at 7:44 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
A billionaire who has famously spoken out against Tesla’s self-driving technology has snapped up three untitled Tesla Roadsters that were found hidden away in a shipping container.
With two orange and one red model, they’re thought to have been sitting there for 13 years.
He described the three examples of the rarest Tesla EV as ‘fast, beautiful and nimble’.
READ MORE! Elon Musk says Tesla Roadster won’t really be a car and will have two wild features
Dan O’Dowd buys three ‘long-forgotten’ untitled Tesla Roadsters
Dan O’Dowd, founder of The Dawn Project, spoke to GB News about his confusing purchase.
The lost Tesla Roadsters were discovered in a ‘long-forgotten shipping container’ in a Chinese port.
Developed in Tesla’s infancy, only 2,450 of the sporty Roadster were sold worldwide for $160,000.
It’s thought that the vehicles are the only Roadsters in existence that have remained untitled – making them uber-desirable to car collectors and enthusiasts alike.
Originally purchased by a research and development team of an undisclosed Chinese automaker, they were destined to be dismantled ahead of a reverse engineering mission.
Why were the untitled Tesla Roadsters left for so long?
When the Chinese carmaker went bankrupt, the vehicles were seized by authorities.
Instead of being sold on or simply destroyed, they were left sitting in the port for 13 years – until recently.
When O’Dowd heard the news he seized the opportunity to get his rich mitts on the rare EVs for $800,000.
The move is somewhat confusing considering O’Dowd’s ongoing feud with Elon Musk and criticism of his proprietary self-driving technology.
He fears that flaws in the emerging technology could lead to dangerous driving incidents.
“I learned about the Roadsters from Medlock & Sons, where I send the two Roadsters I purchased in 2010 for service,” he told the news outlet.
“I love my Roadsters and have driven nothing else for thirteen years. They’re fast, beautiful and nimble.”
He continued: “With the roof off and the volume cranked up, they are pure joy to drive, so much so that I deliberately choose a longer commute.”
O’Dowd’s plans for the Roadsters are, as yet, unconfirmed.
He has floated ideas of displaying them or loaning his shipping container loot to a museum.
Who is Dan O’Dowd?
With five Tesla Roadsters, two Model 3s, and an original Model S, the billionaire now owns a total of eight Teslas.
The software developer, who has a history working on projects including Boeing’s 787s, Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Fighter Jets, the Boeing B1-B Intercontinental Nuclear Bomber, and NASA’s Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle,
But bizarrely he also invested in a huge million-dollar campaign since 2021 regarding his safety fears surrounding the ‘dangerous’ full self-driving technology of Tesla.
In fact, the Dawn Project aired two adverts during Super Bowl LVIII, calling for a public boycott of Tesla.
SB Media has approached Tesla for a comment on The Dawn Project’s claims.
The adverts involved footage of a Full Self-Driving Tesla appearing to dangerously ignore the rules of the road.
Tesla plans to drop an updated Tesla Roadster in 2025.
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, as ever, has made some bold claims.
For example, it will be capable of accelerating from 0-60 in less than a second.
Also chairman of SpaceX, the billionaire previously hinted that the vehicle could be powered by the American spacecraft manufacturer’s rockets and could even be capable of flight.
Musk claims drivers of the next-gen Roadster would love it ‘more than their house’.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
