Today I drove out to the Mercedes dealer in Cary to have my windshield replaced.

I think I could take off the tape if I wanted, but I’m going to leave it on and let the glue cure for 24 hours or more. It was pretty painless, but I did learn that you want to deal with professionals.

In the C230, there is a rain sensor mounted to windshield, and many unscrupulous repair shops will order an aftermarket windshield without the sensor, and then try to remove it and stick it on the new one. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work and from then on your automatic wipers won’t function.

Fortunately, I carry OEM insurance and it turns out that an aftermarket version of my windshield doesn’t exist, so I got a true Mercedes replacement (and I saw the old windshield with its rain sensor still attached).

Since the car had to sit for awhile, I got in touch with my classmate Robyn from high school to see if she was free for lunch. While I was waiting for her to come pick me up, I wandered around the lot.

I fell in love.

While there are a number of classic cars that get my heart racing, rarely do new production cars do the same. That changed with the 2011 SLS.

The only downside is the price:

Hey look – the leather is free, once you pay nearly $13K for the paint job.

That’s more than I paid for my car.

Anyway, I did find something that is slightly closer to my realm of possibilities, a used 2008 SL 55 AMG in pewter with 36K miles.

It even had a rare panoramic roof that goes from tinted to dark by applying an electric charge. Want.

Now some may think that paying north of $72K for a used car is insane and not worth even thinking about.

I thought about it.

The salesman told me that they are working on a new model that will combine elements of the SLS with the current SLK (another hardtop roadster). I asked if that included gullwing doors. It did not.

(sigh)

About this time Robyn pulled up in a self-described “loud” car. It was a 1986 Porsche 911 Targa.