It's been over 15 years since my hands on a steering wheel had any kind of performance. That was the day I sold my 1987 Porsche 911 Carrera to make room for new house and new baby. Now I'm back and stunned at what you can buy now for the money. I was particularly drawn to an AMG C63 I saw in a wholesale lot but it looked like it had a shady history - drug dealer owner?Price was too good to be true, car did not have a sticker, etc. It had the most gorgeous seats and did consider that I would be happy just sitting in this all black beast. I came to my senses and I waited. Soon I was drawn to a BMW 335i with gobs of power and twin turbos...but it was still $18,000 which was good, but about the time I was drooling, another AMG dealer section - at the bottom - no picture - cheapest car in the listings. They were asking $13,900 for it and again I thought: drug dealer car - shady history. But in looking at the model (a C32) and the blue book value, I realized this was actually a reasonable price. I test drove it and fell head over heals in love. It's a 4 door 911! However, the holidays were upon us and time for presents and travel were pinching us. My wife said "wait" but it was a tough wait as it seemed like something like this would leave the lot in a hurry. Although it has 94,000 miles and it's now 11 years old you would think it was brand new. Not a scratch anywhere - one owner an older radiologist in the area - all service records - no accidents. I'm not sure how he put the miles on it with so little impact to the car. The interesting thing that happened as I waited was that I started to haggle and before I knew it I had the dealer down to $11,900. (Wives are not all bad!)....and now that we are clear of the holidays and can see finances a little more clearly I put the deposit it on it yesterday. It was not a glorious day to buy the car. It was 4 below zero F and the car had just been pulled from the snow bank it was encrusted in after a major winter snowstorm. In the spirit of snow, I got some major league snow tires from Yokahama (225/40's all around). Will probably update the grill and hood badge and put larger summer ultra performance tires on 18" rims when the snow melts. (I'm in Maine)

I also hear the call of track days. Thanks Mercedes Benz and AMG for making the dream come true. I've been a fan since the days of "the Hammer" and would never thought I would actually own one. Life is good.