Hah, I have a similar story. I remember the first time I saw a wine red LPC. I was on the early side of being a teenager and walked into a guitar store on a trip to Memphis once. Saw one hanging on a wall. It was the first guitar up until that point that stopped me in my tracks and made me think "damn, that thing is serious." It was the most pro, well-designed looking instrument I'd seen.
By the time I scraped enough together to get a serious guitar of my own, other guitars had caught my eye and I went in another direction. I'd still love to get one. I bet the Made to Measure thing they offer at Gibson would put one together if I felt like spending a totally obscene amount of money on it though, lol.