We took the Tesla Model X SUV for a spin in Manhattan - and were blown away

The Tesla Model X was the most eagerly anticipated new-car debut of 2015 - and maybe of the entire decade. This was the vehicle that would transform Elon Musk's startup from the company making one car in one California factory into the first American car company to come along since Chrysler. Or just a company making ... two cars in one factory in California.

Regardless, we'd been waiting on the Model X, whose introduction had been delayed for years, with a lot of expectations. Business Insider was on the ground in Fremont, CA when the cover was pulled off, and we were pretty impressed, even though we only got a few minutes behind the wheel after Musk presented the crossover. 

Based on that short time, we still made the Model X a finalist for our 2015 Car of the Year.

Later, we learned that three major parts of the car had presented problems: the panoramic front window, the exotic "Falcon Wing" doors, and the back seats, which Musk had described as sculptural. The doors had to be completely re-engineered at the last minutes, and Tesla had so much trouble with the seats that they brought production in-house.

Last week, Tesla held an event at its Manhattan store in West Chelsea and invited myself and my colleague Ben Zhang to join some new Model X owners and some prospective X owners in checking out the car. I'd never actually seen the SUV in the flesh, so I was quite psyched. Ben had already had a look and a drive. 

Tesla's Alexis Georgeson rode shotgun while I drove, completing my run of Tesla vehicles (I've driven them all at this point, going back to the original Roadster). Ben and Sonja Koch, also of Tesla, sampled the back-seat sculpture. This wasn't a full review - more of an extended first date with the Model X.

To borrow a line from one of my favorite bands, The Replacements (stripped of irony), "color me impressed." Read on to find out why.