Do you remember where you were when your first fell in love with the XF?

I will never forget walking down W. 57th Street in Manhattan when I spotted a Black Beauty parked in front of the Holiday Inn between 9th & 10th Avenues.

It was 2003, and this must have been a production-version show car in town for the NY Auto Show at the Javits Center that year. It had Michigan "manufacturer" plates on it.

I stopped dead in my tracks. Now, mind you, I was a New Yorker -- after a while in the city, there isn't much on the streets of NYC that will make you take a second look. There are movie stars, super models, exotic sports cars on every block! There's even a naked cowboy in Times Square and only the tourists notice.

When I saw the Crossfire parallel parked on W. 57th, I said to myself "WTF is THAT? It is beautiful." I had no idea it was a Chrysler or a Mercedes or whatever this basterd (sic) vehicle is. My jaw just dropped and I was in love.

At the time I was paying $400 a month to garage my 2002 Ford T-Bird and in NYC you really don't NEED a car. My wife would never understand, BUT I HAD TO HAVE ONE OF THESE RIGHT FRICKIN' NOW.

Before I could act on that impulse, I was shipped off to Kuwait for the invasion of Iraq. By the time I got back, the XF was on the back burner. A couple years went by, and when my wife got pregnant, we sold the T-Bird and went car-less -- taking the subway everywhere.

Flash forward to 2009...

After a furlough at work here in Cincinnati, we were looking at where to cut the budget. I made a deal with my wife -- I'll get rid of my $30,000 FJ cruiser with its $585/month car payment and get a used car, but in consideration of my sacrifice for the family, I'M GETTING SOMETHING COMPLETELY IMPRACTICAL FOR A TODDLER's DAD -- a CROSSFIRE, BABY!

So I picked up a sweet Blaze Red 2004 for $10,900 including $900 worth of brand new tires I made the dealer throw in. The car payment is now $200, the baby is two years old, I survived three combat tours, and my wife is very happy.

So where were you when you fell in LOVE?