AZVET Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 When I brought my 88 Reatta home about 2 years ago I began to clean it out. I found a couple of plastic pieces under the driver's seat that I eventually glued back to where they came from. Along with some loose change I also found a disgusting brown stain on the seat belt and the grey carpet. When I cleaned the belt up with a Mr Clean Magic Eraser I could smell a coffee and caramel odor. I'll bet the owner spilled some type of caramel mocha coffee in the car. I really had a difficult time getting the stain out of the carpet until I found a You Tube video of how to remove carpet stains. The last item I found was a bolt/screw that did not have a home. I saved it though. Today I found out where it came from! My hood release handle always hits the underside of the dash trim when I pull it. This causes me to get out of the car, bend down and pull it down and to the rear in order to work. I finally got tired of doing this so I got under the dash as well as I could and found a hole in the dash trim just above and to the right of the parking brake. I used a 7mm nut driver to install that screw which pulled the dash panel up tight. Viola! No more problems with the hood release handle! One more. I found my owner's manual in the passenger side rear compartment well after I purchased a used one on Ebay. I hate those senior moments. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDirk Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Ugh. After parting out three cars and removing the interior from a couple of my good cars for wiring repairs in the floor pan wiring race plus giving the carpet a thorough out of car cleaning, I can't even remember every random and disgusting thing I've found. The parts cars particularly were about as nasty as it gets, they were essentially rolling trash cans. I've found the requisite loose change, hardware, receipts, pills, ciggy butts, jewelery, a pair of panties (!!), hair clips, books, various cards (AAA, library, employee ID badge) broken pieces of a CD, drink stirrers and straws and a parking citation. The most amusing was probably in my 91 coupe when I pulled the trunk carpeting and pad shortly after purchase and found two unopened Trojans past their expiration date. I guess the Reatta was never a car that impressed the ladies, unless they had an AARP card. Never found one of those yet, as it happens . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCOTT's 90's Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 I too spent a couple weeks pulling out the interiors of both my Reatta's cleaning them from top to bottom. My second one though before I cleaned it and just after I pulled into the driveway, by habit I reached up to the passenger visor to open the garage door and there was a garage door remote clipped on there....Just then I realized that wasn't my remote! I called up the guy I bought it from (he was quite surprised to hear from me already) and I told him no worries, but I had his remote. Well I told him I would mail it since he was over 100 miles away, we did go through the whole car and trunk to make sure that he had got everything out of it but somehow missed the garage door remote. I did also find the common things you guys already mentioned, other than panties - hahaha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDirk Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 (edited) I should probably add that the panties and, ahem, latex leisure suits, were not found in the same car. Otherwise I'd say somebody had a very frustrating evening. Missed it by that much... I do know someone who found a stash of drugs very well hidden in a used car he bought, discovered while doing a repair I was assisting with. Was a tense situation trying to figure out how best to dispose of that junk. Hencforth, he was highly concerned about ever being stopped for traffic violations with a K9 unit present on the possibility the dog would sniff out trace residue left in the car. Somewhat luckily - to my thinking - the car died about 18 months later (threw a rod) and got junked due to the repair cost so that potential hassle never materialized. I suspect that car was rather mercilessly abused by the driving style and occupational demands of the previous owner, though it did look nice. Edited February 7, 2018 by KDirk (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 (edited) The center console on the Reatta attracts thin things........coins, paper clips and credit cards mostly. On the late model they seem to fall in the crack of the ash tray, so when you remove the storage liner, you never know what you will find. Maybe the best, but unusable one was the ID card of a doctor, would get you into the doctor parking lot and locked doors at the hospital. Edited March 7, 2018 by Barney Eaton (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroJohnny Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Mine by far was that note supposedly typed by the Reatta designer back in the 80s! Besides that just old coupons and some loose change (of course I put the change in car part funds ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) When I got my Reatta many years ago, I was doing that wash, clean, and polish that all of us do when we get a "new" used car. Under the drivers seat I found a Chevrolet lapel pin. Not really earth shattering or even funny, but I always wondered how it got there. It appeared to have been there for a considerable time. Edited February 11, 2018 by Howard (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28plymouthman Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 1 hour ago, Howard said: When I got my Reatta many years ago, I was doing that wash, clean, and polish that all of us do when we get a "new" used car. Under the drivers seat I found a Chevrolet lapel pin. Not really earth shattering or even funny, but I always wondered how it got there. It appeared to have been there for a considerable time. Hi Howard, In 1961 when my dad bought our 1928 Plymouth, after pulling the seat we found a leather holster for a gun. It is a coupe , maybe it was a cop car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthewlawe Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Etched on a small brass plate affixed to the center console depicting the Buick-Reatta logo, the word Reatta in the correct script and La Jolla California 7/16/1994. Perhaps a rendezvous? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Always money. The most I ever found in a Reatta was over $ 8 except for one time I removed the back seat of a '58 Cadillac in a small junk yard because I wanted the carpets for a '60 Pontiac I was fixing up. What I found was many many rolls of coins and a lot of them silver coins. It was a long time ago and I think it was near $ 75. I brought it up to the owner of the junk yard and gave it to him and he was so thankful he gave me my carpets for free. In one Reatta I found an 8 pack of Viagra with one pill missing. My neighbor said he had a friend that could use it. I never asked who his friend was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCReatta Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 I found a $20 bill in one parts car. Another was just full of big red gum and Bobby pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DH Comet Posted March 7, 2018 Share Posted March 7, 2018 I didn't find much of interest in my Reatta except lots of dog hair (ugh!) but in my '53 Kaiser Manhattan there were all sorts of things: lots of usable parts, many golf tees and, under the back seat carpet, two unopened condoms - lots of room in a Manhattan's back seat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliverdepauw8 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 Sorry to resurrect a old thread, but this one was calling my name. In june 2020 i purchased my reatta, and the owner said he had owned it since 2010, but he got it from auction, and he found a very peculiar item in the car when he inspected it (on sight unseen) so in that sense he lucked out. This item was a knife, im not sure if its for fishing or something more melicious but its definetely a beefy boy. Picture below Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptt Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 I got my 1990 convertible from a insurance exec from Alaska. It had a perfectly operational SONY PALMCORDER w/charger and spare battery in the driverside behind the seat storage compartment. That was in 2010. Still have it and it still work fine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul White Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 On 1/17/2021 at 7:51 PM, Oliverdepauw8 said: Sorry to resurrect a old thread, but this one was calling my name. In june 2020 i purchased my reatta, and the owner said he had owned it since 2010, but he got it from auction, and he found a very peculiar item in the car when he inspected it (on sight unseen) so in that sense he lucked out. This item was a knife, im not sure if its for fishing or something more melicious but its definetely a beefy boy. Picture below Looks like something made in a prison cell!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWC Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 (edited) Found this in a parts car I bought Edited March 16, 2021 by JWC (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now