Poor 550 SL...

[Paul Workman]

550 SL tangled with the wrong C4 today.

Passed him at an intersection. He made his turn and zipped up to my butt so close I couldn't see the headlights. We waited at an on-ramp for a drop-dead light, and he was so close I could imagine I could smell his breath!

Finally the light is green, and I turn and gently roll up a bit in first, before slipping into second and easing up the rpms. Still can't see the headlights up against my butt, even as I squeeze a little more throttle on, so does the Merc.

The tach now creaping up on 4000 rpm and still in second gear...the sweet spot! WHACK-IT! Went "full tilt Bozo" through the S turn of the on-ramp before backing off to merge with traffic. Merc seemed to be frozen in that spot where I left him when I WHACKED it, but he was squatting and now beginning to catch up. I was in the middle lane, following a truck. The guy obviously was going for the passing lane - never letting up on the gas as he hissed by me and doing maybe 90 or so before dissappearing over a the hill in front of us, still flogging that Merc, far as I can tell.

In a few seconds I crest the hill too, just in time to see one of IL's finest flick on his lights and roil out of the ditch between the interstate traffic lanes. The trooper was apparently conducting a "fund raiser" just over the crest of that hill, and the Merc just bought a ticket to the Policeman's Ball!

Sore looser. Served him right!

P.