The saga of my ‘85 Carrera started with a strange passion for German cars I developed in high school. I was so crazy for Porsche that I built a custom VW Bug that had a Porsche whale tail. If I could not have the car of my dreams, I would make due the best I could. My dream car was the new 1985 Carrera.

From the moment I laid my eyes on the new and radically designed Mercedes CLS, which as I recall was in June of 2005, I knew instantly it would be my next purchase. By this point in my life, I had already been diagnosed as a true gearhead by both friends and family, so I wasn’t altogether surprised that I found myself drawn to the ultra-sleek four door. Strangely, it wasn’t the 469HP from the factory supercharged hand-assembled V8 engine, or the slick and beefy 5-speed automatic gearbox, but the exterior design of the car that made it irresistible to me. The overall shape and design execution can only be described as “timeless,” which stands out even more so today in an era where function has begun to precede form. As such, my CLS55 garners as much attention from onlookers now as it did the day I brought it home from the dealer. It is, at least in my opinion, one of the few modern cars that will forever be remembered for its ground-breaking yet classic styling.