Imagine putting down a deposit of up to $250,000 to secure a reservation for your dinner date, only for said date to be delayed by about nine years. To cap it off, the person you were so excited to meet nearly a decade ago just walked into the restaurant looking completely different than their profile pic. Understandably, you might feel like you’ve been catfished. After seeing the new Tesla Roadster, we’d imagine it’s the same feeling for some people who spent between $50,000 and $250,000 on Tesla’s original Roadster 2.0 concept that was shown all the way back in 2017 (pictured below on the left).
By now, you’ve likely seen the videos circulating of the new Tesla Roadster’s impressive thruster-based antics. If you haven’t, check them out here. Aside from the shocking displays of engineering, we were quite taken aback by the Roadster’s new looks. Given the huge gap between the Roadster’s 2017 concept and the new car’s reveal, it’s no surprise that Tesla updated the design. What is surprising, though, is just how drastic those changes have been.
The 2017 Roadster concept had a sharp front end, reminiscent of the modern Acura NSX. From there, it flowed backward into a compact and curvy body, and it also featured a targa top, similar to the first-gen Roadster. Meanwhile, the newest iteration of the Roadster does away with all of the earlier concept’s softness in favor of the Tesla Cybertruck’s angular look. It also features a long profile with butterfly doors and a fixed roof. The new bodywork recedes at the front to reveal the headlights, while a large rear section rises as an active spoiler.
Tesla says the new car draws inspiration from military planes such as Lockheed’s SR-71 Blackbird and F-35 fighter jet. Given the Roadster’s newly proven aerial prowess, those are fair guiding lights. The new Roadster design—especially in its white paint job—also looks especially similar to the Lotus Esprit S1 that Roger Moore’s James Bond drove in The Spy Who Loved Me.
Whether the changes to the new Tesla Roadster’s design are for better or worse is up for debate, but there’s no denying that customers who paid an arm and a leg for deposits nine years ago will get a car that looks totally different than what they expected.
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Jack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1.
After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf.