Tesla CEO Elon Musk may be the world’s richest person today, but there was a time when he could not even afford to pay for a mechanic to repair his car.
Elon Musk’s first car was an old 1978 BMW 320i that he purchased in 1993. To fix that car, Musk bought replacement glass for $20 from a junkyard.
Musk revealed this information on Twitter after an old photograph of him fixing the car went viral on the microblogging platform.
Sharing an old picture of Musk fixing a car, a Twitter user wrote: “@elonmusk in 1995, fixing his car by himself as he couldn’t afford to pay for repairs.”
.@elonmusk in 1995, fixing his car by himself as he couldn't afford to pay for repairs pic.twitter.com/85KHnKtPCA
— Pranay Pathole (@PPathole) January 11, 2021
“I bought the replacement glass from a junkyard for $20. They’re great places to get spare parts,” Elon Musk, 49, tweeted in response to the picture.
I bought the replacement glass from a junkyard for $20. They’re great places to get spare parts.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 11, 2021
The throwback picture was first shared by Musk’s mother, Maye Musk, on Twitter in 2019. “@elonmusk #1995 And people said you knew nothing about cars,” she wrote in an apparent dig at critics and naysayers.
@elonmusk #1995 And people said you knew nothing about cars😏🤣 #FoundThisPhoto 😍 pic.twitter.com/CpfKvjXdQh
— Maye Musk (@mayemusk) December 10, 2019
Musk had replied to his mother saying he had fixed everything on that old BMW himself as he could not afford professional repairs. “Couldn’t afford to pay for repairs, so I fixed almost everything on that car from parts in the junkyard,” he wrote.
Couldn’t afford to pay for repairs, so I fixed almost everything on that car from parts in the junkyard. Ironically, that’s me replacing broken side window glass. The circle is complete lol.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 10, 2019
Musk revealed that he had bought the 1978 BMW 320i in 1993 for $1,400 (approximately ₹ 1 lakh).
Elon Musk last week became the world’s richest person, overtaking Amazon’s Jeff Bezos who had occupied the top spot since 2017.