Tesla‘s newly unveiled Roadster went on public display for the first time on Saturday at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, nine days after the company debuted the thruster-equipped sports car in Texas.
The museum is showing a white Roadster Thrust prototype in its main lobby from Saturday through Tuesday, October 27.
“Roadster will be on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA starting tomorrow,” Tesla’s North American account said on X on Friday.
Several visitors posted on social media photos of the car behind a rope barrier on Saturday, its rear wing raised.
The Petersen describes the Roadster as the car Tesla calls its “last best driver’s car.”
According to the museum’s description of the model, active aerodynamics and a multi-mode, fan-driven suction system let the car accelerate and corner beyond the limits of tire grip. It can generate extreme downforce “even when inverted and stationary,” the museum says.
The Roadster Thrust variant on display adds cold-gas thrusters.
Tesla said at the event that the car reached 60 mph from a standstill in 0.81 seconds, or 0.67 seconds with rollout subtracted. That beats the 1.9 seconds Tesla promised for the Roadster in 2017.
A separate Roadster Rocket version adds thrusters around the car’s perimeter that the museum says allow it to “fly.” Tesla lists it as a single-seat, invite-only model not approved for public roads.
The Texas reveal
Tesla unveiled the car on Thursday, October 15, at SpaceX’s test site in McGregor, Texas, in a livestreamed event.
The Roadster drove up an inverted ramp, held itself upside down with its suction fans, flipped and righted itself using its thrusters. It also jumped over a Model 3, Model Y, Cybertruck, Cybercab and Semi.
“This is the culmination of incredible work by Tesla and SpaceX engineers working closely together,” Musk said at the event. “Turns out the future does have flying cars,” he wrote on X afterward.
Lars Moravy, Vice President of Vehicle Engineering, told Top Gear that “really the task here was to make the last best driver’s car.”
The reveal came after repeated delays. Musk had first said in November 2025 that Tesla was “tentatively aiming for April 1.” Tesla postponed the event several times, most recently citing weather.
Inside the car
The Roadster has a steer-by-wire yoke, a center touchscreen with two smaller driver displays and a fixed seat position. Tesla uses magnesium, titanium and carbon fiber to cut weight and targets a mass below 1,700 kilograms (3,750 pounds).
In Track Mode the car lowers itself and deploys its wings. Tesla said the wings are moved by actuators from its Optimus humanoid robot and claimed downforce “approaching F1 levels.”
Tesla cited the SR-71 spy plane and the F-35 fighter as design inspiration. It targets charging above 500 kilowatts, with 15% to 85% in 10 minutes.
Three versions, two deposits
Tesla offers three versions.
The Performance model has two seats, active aerodynamics and the suction system. Tesla calls it “road ready” and quotes 0-60 mph in under 1.6 seconds.
The Thrust adds rear-mounted cold-gas thrusters and is billed as “race ready,” with 0-60 mph in under 0.9 seconds.
The Rocket quotes 0-60 mph in under 0.59 seconds, more than 300 miles of range and a top speed above 230 mph.
Reservations cost $50,000 for the Performance and $250,000 for the Thrust, limited to one per customer. In China, Tesla takes reservations for the Performance only, at 332,000 yuan ($49,700). In Germany, all three versions are listed, with a €50,000 ($56,000) reservation. Tesla has not published a price for any version.
Musk later wrote that the car could reach “a peak speed of >0.5 Mach or ~400 mph.” Tesla’s engineers told Top Gear the figure was “214 miles per hour for now,” as they work toward faster versions.
Production in 2028
Musk said production would start in 2028, more than a decade after Tesla first showed a second-generation Roadster in November 2017.
That car promised four seats, 620 miles of range and a $250,000 Founders Series. The new Roadster has two seats, and Tesla has not disclosed its battery capacity or range for the road-going versions.
The company says it cannot guarantee delivery timing or whether delivery will take place.
The long wait has tested some early buyers. OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman moved to cancel his 2018 reservation last year, saying “7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.”
Musk has also said he is “not sure it’s necessarily legal in all jurisdictions.” Tesla’s engineers have said owners will be able to drive the Roadster on the road but cannot use the thruster system there.
