No, we’re not turning into a new-car blog. But our primary focus is rare cars found on the street (or, in this case, in a driveway), and at this point in time the Tesla Model 3 still counts. Why?

Well, it turns out Elon Musk had his sights set a little too high when he predicted back in July that Tesla would be producing 20,000 Model 3s a month by the end of the year. Hampered by “glitches” at Tesla’s Gigafactory and other various manufacturing issues, Tesla’s fourth-quarter production output totaled to just 2,425, which certainly counts as rare in my book. Up until about a week ago, I actually hadn’t seen a single one on the road, but in the days since then, I’ve noticed more and more of them popping up, which culminated in my finally finding one at a standstill.

It remains to be seen whether the Model 3 will follow through on Musk’s grand promises. I imagine they will proliferate in the coming months, but to what extent? This is the biggest challenge Tesla has ever faced, and it’s not entirely certain that they will make it through in one piece. Only time can tell.

Glendale, CA

Photographed December 2017