The rarest Tesla car in existence isn’t even on this planet – literally

The rarest Tesla of all time – a cherry red 2010 Roadster – once belonged to Elon Musk himself, but has spent almost seven years traveling through space. 

On February 6, 2018, a Falcon Heavy was sent into orbit with a Tesla Roadster on board. 

A mannequin dressed as an astronaut and dubbed Starman was placed behind the wheel alongside a copy of Douglas Adams’ novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. 

Nearly seven years on from that date, Starman and his Roadster have clocked up some serious miles.

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The 2010 cherry red Tesla Roadster used to belong to Elon Musk

Tesla vehicles have enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years – so much so that the Model Y was the best-selling car in the world in 2023, topping more than 1.15 million sales.

But there are still some fairly rare examples out there, such as this low-mileage Roadster 2.5 Sport that’s never been driven in rain and has a $1.5 million price tag. 

But while the above EV may be the rarest on Earth, there’s an even rarer vehicle making its way through space.

Blasting off in early 2018, the Tesla Roadster is the first-ever production car to be launched into space. 

The 2010 EV had previously been Tesla boss Elon Musk’s personal vehicle – but he decided to use it as a test payload for the Falcon Heavy after admitting he wanted to send the ‘silliest thing we can imagine’ into space. 

The rarest Tesla has clocked up some serious miles out in space

Since it was launched into space, Starman and the Roadster have completed ‘4.5378 orbits around the Sun’ and are now situated a staggering 377,127,248km (234,335,935 miles) from Earth, according to the whereisroadster.com website. 

The distance traveled is equivalent to driving all the world’s roads more than 85 times. 

In October 2020, the EV had its first and only ‘close approach’ to a planet as it traveled about 8,000,000km past Mars. 

It has been predicted that in 2047 it will make a close approach to Earth at a distance of around 5,000,000km. 

But don’t let that frighten you, as simulations have shown its chance of colliding with Earth in the next 3,000,000 years sits at just six percent.

You can track the Roadster’s progress here.