Tesla will launch its Model 3 later this year - but I'm still crazy about the company's first car

You never forget your first Tesla.

In 2010, right after the company had survived a near-death experience, I was offered the chance to sample what was then the carmaker's only vehicle: the original Roadster.

It's hard to overestimate the importance of this car, which sold for over $100,000, turned in blistering acceleration, and could top 200 miles on a single charge.

The Roadster changed our minds forever about what an electric car could be and launched Tesla on a road to its current $30 billion market cap and a portfolio of, by 2017, three vehicles: the Model S sedan, the Model X SUV, and the $35,000 Model 3 car for the masses.

About two years ago, I reminisced about my first time with a Tesla to one of the company's staffers. This led to a question: Do we even have a Roadster around to check out anymore?

They found one, and I was reunited with my old friend in Los Angeles, on the eve of the Model 3 unveiling in late March of 2016.

Something poetic and romantic about that, I think. Read on to see what it was like.