Former Batmobile Owner On Tesla Plaid Mode: “It’s A F*cking Rocket!”
Real estate investor Ben Mallah, who also has a collection of luxury cars, recently got to experience his first ride and drive of a Tesla Model S Plaid. Ben, who is well known in his circle for his love of cars, provided perhaps the most entertaining video review of the Plaid yet and pretty much described what those of us who have experienced it felt. It’s like a rocket.
Ben Mallah has an interesting life story. Before we dive into his experience with the Tesla Model S Plaid, I’d like to share a small bit of Ben’s story.
Ben has a net worth of $200 million, but he wasn’t born into that. The DuPont Registry Daily shared Ben’s story, and it is truly inspiring. Ben was born and raised in the projects of Rockaway Queens, New York. There he learned how to hustle and make it in life, and this mentality is what empowered him to create the life he now lives today.
What inspired Ben the most, from what I gathered from reading the article, is the love he has for his family. He told the author that he’s not afraid of dying but is afraid of what his death would do to his family. He wants his family to have the security and chance he never did when he was a kid — and to provide a reality for them that most only dream of.
Ben’s car collection once included the 1989–1992 era Batmobile that was in Batman Returns starring Michael Keaton. Ben bought it for $225,000 and later sold it to Jeff Dunham for $315,000. He also owns the 1948 Bob Hope Special, four Rolls-Royce Phantoms, a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, and a Bentley Continental GT.
Ben is also well known in his community for being the owner of a Rolls Royce, as well as several other luxury cars. In the video above, Ben’s friend showed him his Tesla Model S Plaid. Having experienced the Plaid at Tesla’s Plaid event in June, watching Ben’s experience made me relive my own experience (although, unlike Ben, I wasn’t driving).
His friend misspoke and accidentally said that Tesla produced the Plaid in 2001. We can forgive that.
Upon first inspection, Ben noted that the Plaid looked really hot. “It’s got some muscle now. They put some nice curves in it. They gave it a really cool design.”
Ben asked the owner of the Plaid what he did and learned that, as with him, he started in real estate from nothing. After entering the car, Ben noted the unique interior features.
“The steering wheel makes you feel like you’re in a fighter jet! And these are the bomb buttons right here!
“The steering wheel is unbelievable. I like it. It’s really cool.”
And then he floored it.
Ben had to pull over for a moment after flooring it, explaining that he hadn’t been on an amusement park ride that would do what the Plaid just did. Ben described the Tesla Model S Plaid as a rocket, adding that there’s no other car where you can touch the gas and have such a smooth acceleration — not even in a Rolls Royce.
“I think I went black for a second. The acceleration was so powerful it pushed me away from the steering wheel.”
After the powerful acceleration experience, he put it on Autopilot. Ben was equally impressed with Tesla’s Autopilot feature.
“The car gave us a very safe, perfect trip all the way across town, through traffic, through stopping at traffic lights, didn’t run anyone over. Then he takes us over to an empty road and we put it in Plaid launch mode. Now you’re talking amusement park level.”
In this part of the video, Donnie took over and Ben was in the passenger seat. After having the same reaction I did (yes, I also cursed — you can watch my reaction here), Ben realized that he doesn’t want a car like the Plaid, saying that he almost blacked out.
The next part of the video is where things really got fun. Ben and Donnie raced the Tesla Model S Plaid against Ben’s Rolls Royce Dawn with a V12 engine. Once the cars took off, the Plaid naturally left the Rolls behind and Ben’s reaction was priceless.
“I think this car is so futuristic that I’m trying to catch up to it because it’s totally unbelievable the technology that this car has.”
You can watch the full video here.
Although he said the Plaid was a bit too much, I think it would be a cool addition to his car collection. However, not everyone likes such fast cars, and I do agree with him that not everyone should have something so powerful. There are a lot of folks out there who don’t know how to handle such a fast car.
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