Wait. They did what? The guys at Tesla Motors lifted a Model S — one of the first in Australia — up six storeys in mid-air, onto the top floor of the Westfield Sydney shopping centre.
The car, a red Model S P85 (with the luxe panoramic roof option, naturally) was driven in through the shopping centre’s Castlereagh Street entrance, a super-tall lobby that it shares with investment bank J.P. Morgan. Straight onto a jury-rigged hoist, and then straight up.
That’s certainly one way to get attention. There’s a Model S on show in Bondi Junction Westfield at the moment, too, but this one got to its temporary home in far more impressive fashion.
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Here’s how Tesla’s crew got a Model S into Sydney’s Westfield shopping center. Watch the video on our Facebook page or at YouTube.com/teslamotors. #cars #tesla
Here’s that video:
@csimps0n the team at Tesla and at @WestfieldAU tried out a lift mechanism. Pretty cool huh?
— Heath Walker (@TexWalkerRanger) October 7, 2014
A few wobbles notwithstanding, the car (obviously) made it all the way to the top of the lobby without incident, and is now sitting in Westfield Sydney — presumably with a crowd of adoring fans gathered around. I still can’t get over the fact that someone had the guts to rig up a lift to hoist the Model S, weighing a hefty 2100kg, that far up. Obviously the lift itself, and the lobby, is designed for such tasks, but it just looks like it could all come crashing down at any time.
Fun fact: up until it was hoisted into Westfield Sydney, that particular Model S was driving around the city for quite a few weeks, showing off and giving pre-order holders and potential owners a chance to take the all-electric sedan for a spin. (I saw it myself in the CBD one afternoon.)
There are a bunch more Model Ss in Tesla’s Sydney delivery centre right now, too, being prepped for their first Australian customers and receiving software updates before they hit the roads — all of which should happen in the next couple of weeks. Yes, the Model S gets software updates. It’s just that kinda car. [YouTube]