A few more days….but who’s counting? After all, we’ve only been waiting a long time for this day to arrive. For years we’d been looking at a picture of Tom’s dream vehicle laminated and taped to his bathroom mirror.
(When Tom decides he wants something, he puts a photo of it on the mirror. Then, he puts into place all the necessary business steps to turn the photo into reality.)
The time-frame to place an order for the dream car was limited, and Tom kept waiting, always believing in the vehicle, but waiting for the pieces to fall into place.
Finally, with days left before the initial order period was to be closed, Tom bit the bullet and made the call to place his order. It was October 7th, 2015. The dream vehicle: Tesla’s Signature version of the Model X SUV.
The Signature is one of the first 1,000 special-edition all electric SUV’s to come off the Tesla line. It has features that subsequent Model X’s will not have, or will only have as custom add-ons. But when Tom ordered the X, what those custom features would be remained a mystery.
His call to Tesla went something like this:
Tom: “Can you tell me how much the Model X will cost?”
Tesla: “No. We haven’t built the car yet, so we can just give you a ballpark.”
Tom: “Can you tell me what the special features of the Signature version will be?”
Tesla: “No. We aren’t certain exactly what features we’ll include yet.””
Tom: “Can you tell me when we will get the vehicle?”
Tesla: “No. We’re just going into production and can’t predict the date. Do you have any other questions?”
Tom: “No. That pretty much sums it up. I’ll think about it overnight.”
Tesla: “If you wait, the Signature versions will all be sold out.”
Tom: “That’s a great marketing ploy! OK. Here’s my deposit!”
(Tom called the next day – and true to the Tesla representatives word, there was, indeed, now a long waiting list! Tom was order number 966!)
And with that, the Tesla X came one step closer off the bathroom mirror to Tom’s dream car reality. In subsequent months, Tom was able to build his Model X via the Tesla website finding out what special accessories it would have, the price, and finally – after months of querying – getting the delivery date coordinated with our return from New Zealand.
It’s the first time Tom’s been happy to leave New Zealand (well, sort of) because he knows it’s almost time to see that photo become real. We’ll travel 27 hours home, have one day to catch up, then it’s down to Phoenix where – finally – we see the image in the flesh.
Or, in this case, the titanium-metallic metal.
The titanium color selection from the MyTesla website!