Remember the story of One Red Paperclip? The guy from Vancouver, Canada who traded a single red paperclip to a full-size house in just 14 trade ups? 

Now fellow Canadian Martin Provost, trying to trade his way from a $30 Camera to a Tesla Roadster, has just got his first ride in the $109,000 electric rocket. 

But his hour of fun last week wasn’t because he had successfully traded something in exchange for the sexy sports car. It was because he managed to bag a test drive when Tesla Motors visited Ottawa to provide test drives to potential buyers. 

That test-drive might be as close Provost gets to owning a Tesla though, because unless he is particularly lucky, his plan of trading up to a Tesla Roadster is looking increasingly implausible. 

Earlier this year, Tesla ceased making its popular two-seater in order to concentrate on its next all-electric car - the 2012 Model S luxury sedan.  And with only a handful of unsold left-hand drive cars remaining in Tesla Showrooms, Provost is unlikely to be driving a new Tesla home any time soon. 

During Provost’s 11 month odyssey, he has passed through seven trades, including telecoms equipment, a computer, a few guitars and a tour of a brewery to reach his current trade: a $3000 gift certificate for an online shopping store. 

Provost remains hopeful though, and is still on the lookout for someone to trade with, and at least now has a video of his test-drive to look back on fondly if things don't go according to plan. 

We’re not sure if it’s his audacity, good-natured stereotypical Canadian politeness, or just the fact that this author is half-Canadian -- but we wish Provost all the best in finding someone wealthy enough to trade their Roadster with him before all the good ones are put in private collections. 

If you want to help Provost trade up, you can follow his progress on twitter, or at teslatradeup.com 

My Tesla Roadster Test Drive with Hans from Tesla Motors - @teslatradeup from teslatradeup on Vimeo.

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