I owned a Cherokee 140 as a "starter airplane" to see if I liked ownership. After a few years I knew I want more speed and capability. I was looking at Arrows when a good friend said I should really look at a Mooney.
To be completely honest, they were not on my list. Maybe I didn't get the backwards tail. But then when I started to research them, I fell in love. I'm still amazed at all the things they do so well and so efficiently.
I've taken my C from coast to coast and back, and everywhere in between. For a while I thought I wanted to move into a twin so I started renting a Piper Aztec on a regular basis. Then I flew the Aztec from New Jersey to California and back. It did it in almost exactly the same amount of time as my C and burned almost 3 times the fuel. I never again rented the Aztec and apologized to mine for forsaking her.
(That being said, I have been Jonesing for a 252 recently. Shhhh, don't tell anybody.)