HAWTHORNE, California, USA -- Leave it to Elon Musk to know how to play to an audience.
At the end of the global unveiling of Tesla's forthcoming long-haul semi truck Thursday night at the company's facility here outside Los Angeles, the CEO pulled a $250,000 trick out of his sleeve: the second-generation Tesla Roadster.
A surprise to the entire audience and many Tesla employees, the all-wheel-drive supercar harkens back to the company's roots; it was the original Roadster that Tesla used to crack into the automotive world in 2008.
Just under a decade later, its successor comes just when Tesla needs the morale boost -- and the cash -- that will come with such an attention-grabbing model.