Thriller

Thanks BJM...with a 3ish day drive plus the earlier date, if I make it, it will likely be by myself as it coincides with the end of school here...no decisions made yet.

The seller is a dealer that has listed a number of other cars on the forum, at least one rather questionable. The dealer is on Long Island. General information about the history of a 20 year old car should be reasonably available without it being an invasion of anyone's privacy.

[rant] A number of years ago, U-Haul wouldn't rent a car trailer to me with my 2000 GMC 1500 with 5.3l all set up for towing. The reason I was given is that my truck wasn't heavy enough - apparently some jurisdictions have set up that you can only tow 25% more weight than your tow vehicle weighs and my truck was 300 lbs too light. On further inquiry, the reasoning is that since it is illegal in some jurisdictions, U-Haul made it a policy across the board even though I would be in no such jurisdictions. The truck was rated to tow either 7700 or 8700 lbs, I forget which. I wanted to tow a '56 Special, which had a shipping weight of just under 3800 lbs. Of course, the weight of the trailer is on top of that. They cost me fuel as a result since I rented a local trailer and drove it empty to get the car. Now, we had '99 and 2002 Montanas. I'm pretty sure the towing capacity on them was 3500 lbs, which is the weight of a Reatta coupe without a tow dolly. Seeing as a minivan is not made for towing this weight, much less stopping it safely, I would suggest this was an irresponsible move. These stupid rules get imposed because people insist on towing with vehicles not properly set up for it or simply exceed the capacity, then cause collisions because they can't stop. That is the reasoning that I now have a GMC K2500 with Duramax diesel. [/rant]

We're flying in. I'm considering driving the Reatta next year...maybe take it to zMax....

Tuesday afternoon for us.

Very nice. I don't think I can recall seeing a gray one before...it looks great.

Suzanne did the shopping...that's my story and I'm sticking to it...something old, something new, not to mention blue....

Where's the popcorn? It looks like this is going to get interesting.... Marck - you'll want to look at either a model 49 or 69...more space to haul Reatta parts around in. I did have a good chuckle in this thread...when it comes down to it, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and subtle differences make all the difference to a given individual. Ultimately, I have found the best to be buy what appeals to you and what is locally available...shipping cars adds grief and cost, although it can't always be avoided. As a '54 owner, MrEarl might think of me as blasphemous saying that I have trouble going gaga over a particular year of car...I like all the Buickful cars...the best ones have "for sale" signs on them as they are easier to acquire than those not for sale. Lamar - that is some black beauty there...I wouldn't want to speculate on the reasonable offer either. As for that convertible, I'd love to have that Super in Baffin Green, but a seller like that who mentions Barrett Jackson turns me off completely...I'd rather buy from a dealer who I know is making a profit on a car than someone who assumes the value of their project is based on the end state value regardless of what it will take to get there.

Sorry for being vague Mark...if the lottery came through (which it hasn't yet...sigh), I do have something of a list of Buicks that would need to be procured to start filling the space...a '33, an original truck, a turbo Buick (they do look good in black, don't they), etc. I don't know that this car would be high enough up on the list to make it into the present space.

Marck - there are typically a number of members at any given meet who have multiple cars. Some are big collectors, others just tend to bring multiple Buicks if the meet is local / convenient to them. About 1700 miles and 29 hours for me to drive (avoiding Chicago area tolls and heavy traffic). As it is early, if I make it, it would be just me. I'd likely drive the Reatta or possibly the '41. That isn't ruling anything out, but the Reatta would probably be the most comfortable quickest, most fuel efficient drive.

786 after my vote just now

That's either code for the banks have better locks than he can pick, or the warden caught him sneaking out of the honey-do patch. That would be a neat toy to have, but alas, I only have so much space if and when the lottery comes through...$15M tonight I believe.

Hi Joe, Welcome to the forum. Well, it's a Buick...that's the only pro you need around here.... Really, that is a bit of a loaded question. Are we talking about a project car? If so, then condition, the thickness of your wallet, and your mechanical abilities all come into play. If we are talking about a restored car, then the questions get different. Personally, and I may be a bit biased, I enjoy my '54 Century Estate Wagon. It drives nicely, has great aesthetics, and attracts a lot of positive attention. The Special has the smaller body (same as Century), but has a smaller engine. These V8s are good, and quite strong. The Dynaflow doesn't shift per se, so that can take a bit of getting used to. Good luck. Of course, if I were to advise you, I would suggest procuring the car.

Rarity is in the eyes of the beholder.... From a true numbers game it is interesting, but when you see a fleet of cars together that look the same, how rare do they seem to the casual observer? I admit that I have formerly been that way about the Reattas. Frankly, when you go to a National meet and there are 20 or more parked together that are all essentially the same shape, unless someone can see some of the "inner beauty", they are easy to gloss over. I will forever be that way about notchback Mustangs regardless of the rarity of the overall combination...there are just too many of them that are the same shape. I find the fastbacks interesting. That said, I can safely say mine has some rarity. There were only 227 '88s built for the Canadian market...77 in Artctic White, 58 with sun roof. There were only 11 with AR9 - "seat assembly, front bucket reclining" - I presume that is the regular seats as opposed to 16 ways. If I'm correct on that, then about 95% of the Canadian cars had 16 ways. So, if you wanted to look at it like that, about a third were white, a quarter with sun roof, and 1/20 with regular seats. Ultimately, that could mean my car, with a blue interior may have been the only one configured in this exact fashion. Heck, playing with the numbers, if we assume there is no correlation between those three options (those numbers were provided by GM of Canada), 77 white cars * (58/227) * (11/227) = 0.95, or 1 effectively. 903190 is the car. In correspondence with Barney after I got the data from GM of Canada, I believe he said that it was the earliest number he had recorded for a sun roof car. It is actually interesting in that for a number of my older cars, a production date and shipping date were available...I guess the difference may be that those cars were built in Canada, whereas this one was built in Lansing for the Canadian market. For what it is worth, it originally went to a dealer in Varennes, Quebec.

I am not an AACA member, and haven't delved into their judging. I would wonder though how their judging compares to BCA judging. I know many are members of both clubs, but does the AACA have sufficient expertise to add value to a Buick? I'm not criticizing the AACA, because I don't know...I'm just curious. Similarly, from my knowledge of BCA judging, which is supposed to be against the standard of how the car left the factory, we often discuss here how the shiny bits on a restored car - that is paint and chrome - can be considerably nicer than it was from factory. So, you could theoretically have two BCA Gold Senior cars side by side that have a considerably different finish or luster. Now, typically, the one that has paint and chrome like factory isn't as likely to earn the Gold Senior, from my observation of the judging. One thing to keep in mind too is that judges are human, therefore not perfect. Add to that fact that as time marches on, fewer and fewer will have an actual recollection of how cars shipped from factory, or even how they looked after dealer prep. For me, all the cars I've had judged thus far are older than I am, so I certainly can't make assertions about how they looked originally. All I can suggest is that if there is a run or two in the paint, or other slight imperfections, they shouldn't necessarily get a deduction. Similarly, I understand that bodies and bolt on body parts (fenders, hood, trunk lid, doors) weren't necessarily painted at exactly the same time, so the effects of temperature and humidity may leave them looking slightly different. All that is to say is that the BCA standard isn't against some ideal standard of perfection, but how it was built. Getting off soapbox now....

I'm not too terribly fussy, but like the unusual, so red cars aren't really for me as they seem too plentiful. Beyond that, should there be another Reatta in my future, I think I would simply want it in better shape than the one I have now...unobtainium parts are not fun when you just keep sinking more money into the car. I guess the one thing is that neither She Who Must Be Obeyed nor I care for tan / saddle interiors. Actually, one thing I like about the Reatta is that they had a lot more variety than we see now (gray or tan).

Very nice Marty. Good luck on getting the senior (although it isn't about luck).

Brian - I like and appreciate the effort for the variety of costs. I look forward to seeing more details. If I recall, the dates may be a week earlier than this year? That will have implications for the kids being done school up here, so it may turn out to be just me...in that case, I'm thinking the Reatta makes sense to drive down, assuming I get it all straightened out.

Got it and responded. Thanks Jim.

So, where is she going Rick? I think I may have to buy tickets to the sideshow in Athens....

Sorry Jeff...time is shorter the farther it is from home. Besides, I do need to rotate the attendance of the fleet a bit, or else they get jealous of each other.

Hi gang, To pass the Manitoba inspection, I need: 1) a front wheel speed sensor (sigh) - RockAuto lists a part, but apparently it is rear only 2) switch for driver's window...it is intermittent and will work if you hold your tongue right and the wind is blowing the right direction Are there any new parts out there? Failing that, used? I'm always leery of used electrical parts. Thanks.

I'm with Brian...$45 as a starting price isn't prohibitive if I'm on my own, but when I multiply by 5 every year, it does mean tough decisions about what portions of the meet we partake in. Last year we didn't plan to attend the meal of the banquet, just sneak in later...someone left a ticket on the dash of one of our cars, so Suzanne looked after the youngsters and I attended. One thing to keep in mind is how well attended and how well enjoyed the trip to Jewell was last year. I know it can't work like that everywhere we would go, but a nice drive into the country and having a bit of a show and shine with perhaps a fast food option or similar would be a lot of fun on a budget. I'm not trying to whine / complain...just explain that the meet activities haven't been all that family-friendly from a cost perspective in recent years.

Neat...I got a chuckle out of the rubber burning audio added to the second one...I'd think one would need to hear the Nailhead to hear tire noise.

:D:D Now, there's a predictable response...still LOLing