Man Who Paid Roadster Deposit in 2017 Relieved to Learn Car Was Just Upside Down

CHANDLER, Ariz. — Nine years after paying Tesla $250,000 up front for a Roadster promised by 2020, retired orthodontist Lyle Pendingham, 61, said Friday he is deeply relieved to finally understand the delay, after watching Thursday’s unveiling and learning that the car has apparently been upside down this whole time.

“It all makes sense now,” said Pendingham, standing in the garage bay he has swept every Sunday since 2017. “You can’t deliver a car that’s upside down. Somebody had to figure out how to flip it back over, and that takes, what, eight years? Nine? That’s just engineering.”

Pendingham said the presentation, in which the Roadster drove inverted along a ramp, flipped in midair and landed on its wheels using SpaceX thrusters, answered every question he had stopped asking in 2022. On Friday morning he was back up a stepladder, taping a second parking outline onto his garage ceiling “in case it shows up the way they showed it.”

Consumer automotive analyst Marjorie Leadtime of the Mesa Center for Upcoming Products called his reaction “the healthiest response we’ve recorded.” “Most cars ship, then go fast,” she said. “This one went fast first and is shipping later. It’s simply doing the steps in a creative order.”

His wife, Denise, said she was mostly grateful the new model can hover, since their homeowners association strictly bans vehicles parked in the driveway “but has nothing at all about above it.”

As of this report, Pendingham had noticed that the invite-only “Rocket” version comes with a full flight system and emailed Tesla asking whether nine years of patience counted as an invitation. He received an automated reply confirming his request had been placed in a queue, with an estimated response window of 2028, 2030, or “whenever it comes down.”