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1990 Driftwood Convertible $13,500


Guest BJM

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NOT MINE but this is one of my favorites. As Marck knows I love Driftwood and would love a Driftwood coupe but look at these photos of this Driftoowd convertible.

1990 Buick Reatta Convertible

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1990 Buick Reatta Convertible Classic/Collector Car. Excellent condition with many replacement parts (new engine, new leather interior, new windshield, R134 conversion, new brakes, new struts, new instrument panel, new brake system and much more. $13,500 OBO. 1 of 67 tan convertibles made in 1990.

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Guest HessLakeGuy

Opinions pleeeeeeeese:

Which looks better--a color keyed belt and bumper, or the black as pictured?

My 1990 has the color keyed, not sure which one I like best.

Tom

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I am a big fan of body color belt/bumper moldings. Not that I find black entirely unacceptable, but I had black on both of mine originally (both cars are white exterior) and changed them both the white as I personally think it looks better. This is subjective of course, but some colors look better with black moldings than others. I kind of think silver, dark grey (either the early or late versions) and maui blue look good with black moldings.

White, claret red (burgundy) polo green and sapphire blue firemist not as much, I think these look much better with body color moldings. Driftwood is a bit of a toss up, though I am inclined to say I think it looks good with black. Not sure I have ever seen on in driftwood with body color moldings though. Red is the one color I have gone back and forth on. Having seen some with body color moldings recently, I now think red Reattae look better with matched molding vs. black.

Overall, matched moldings look cleaner and sleeker to me, the black ones seem to break up the otherwise great lines of the body a bit too much. On further thought, I think it is because the bottom edge of the window opening on the doors is curved. This curve and how it ties seamlessly into the curvature of the windshield and rear window is one of the outstanding design elements of the Reatta IMHO. Having a clearly defined horizontal break point at the belt molding by making it a different color than the body seems a bit odd from an aesthetic standpoint.

This may be the first time I really gave the reasoning serious thought, and I believe the above explains why I prefer body color moldings. Of course, it also looks more contemporary. Most cars now, if they have any belt molding at all, are monochromatic. Some cars even paint the exterior badging to match, rather than chrome or gold. I've also thought that might look decent on darker color Reattae.

KDirk

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Tom,

My '89 has body colored molding (burgundy). But on this vehicle, the black trim seems to make the Driftwood color pop.

Another thing I just now noticed for the first time is that the interior black trim correlates with the exterior belt line. On this car anyway.

On more thing. If anyone wanted to front me 12k to relieve this person of this car, I wouldn't be against it.:)

John F.

Edited by Machiner 55 (see edit history)
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Tom,

My '89 has body colored molding (burgundy). But on this vehicle, the black trim seems to make the Driftwood color pop.

Another thing I just now noticed for the first time is that the interior black trim correlates with the exterior belt line. On this car anyway.

On more thing. If anyone wanted to front me 12k to relieve this person of this car, I wouldn't be against it.:)

John F.

I agree John. I like this vert really well with the black trim. I think matching trim looks better on most of the other colors. I also like the black trim on the polo green convertibles. :)
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Opinions pleeeeeeeese:

Which looks better--a color keyed belt and bumper, or the black as pictured?

My 1990 has the color keyed, not sure which one I like best.

Tom

Tom

I noticed that too and in this case I like the black because of the defined, sharp contrast. Just my opinion but it's one of the items I noticed that made this car pop to me.

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This has been for sale for awhile. Mileage is around 180,000. Price seen as low as $12,500 (needs to drop much further).

Casper must be behind the wheel because the brake lights are on and...

Mileage is irrelevant IF the engine, leather etc have been replaced. That's basically a restored or partially restored car. We can split hairs, but if he has receipts for a properly rebuilt 3800, and correct new leather etc then that creates value in the offered price. I agree that $13,500 is a bit high but $5000 is way too low (or whatever the market might be for a 180,000 mile Reatta convertible in this condition without a rebuilt motor and new leather)

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John F and Ronnie,

Body color trim match truly is a color by color deal. Burgandy, white, are at least 2 colors I would want body color match to the trim. In fact I can't think of many that I would want in black and I don't recall seeing many Reatta's with black contrast so is this car not correct?

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Mileage is irrelevant IF the engine, leather etc have been replaced. That's basically a restored or partially restored car. We can split hairs, but if he has receipts for a properly rebuilt 3800, and correct new leather etc then that creates value in the offered price. I agree that $13,500 is a bit high but $5000 is way too low (or whatever the market might be for a 180,000 mile Reatta convertible in this condition without a rebuilt motor and new leather)

I disagree. While the interior is purty to the tune of $1,500 in new leather, a collectable is about originality. And in the 'wanna be' collectable status the Reatta is in, it needs all the originality it can get to hold its value (or demand a realistic selling price). New, engine, new windshield - I suspect this car was in an accident (whether or not reported to Carfax). I want to see all receipts to possibly increase a realistic selling price (maybe an additional $750).

But my main issue for me is the new engine. As a wanna be collectable, again, where's the originality? If this was a rotisserie (or even a ground up restoration of a '69 Boss 302 Mustang), then that would be a different story. But asking $12,500 for a 180,000 mile car from someone who specifically has been shopping Reattas (his buyer would be about as exclusive as someone buying a Ghost) isn't going to happen for this car. Not even close. There are original under 50,000 mile Reattas in great shape that, after at least a year on the market, are not even getting their asking price of $9 -13K.

*I* think these crazy, over-the-top asking price(s) actually hurts the Reatta from becoming a collectable. Of course I hope he gets what he and everyone else asks (if not more) for their cars. But I'm a realistic and that car's street price is about 1/2 of his asking price.

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Fair enough, you bring up some salient points. I did say I did not believe the asking price was right. He's high BUT I did say that having a properly rebuilt drivetrain, windshield, interior adds value to what a typical nicely maintained 180,000 convertible in similar condition should bring.

Reattas were homogenous respects their drivetrain. Having the 3800 be 'original' is - to me (again I respect your counterpoint) - irrelevant. A potential buyer wants their motor and drivetrain to not ever give them any issues.

ALL Reattas came with essentially the same drivetrain for 3 1/2 years. If they offered an HO option in any particular year, then we are in a different ballpark value wise. But they didn't. As you note, there is a huge difference between a 1969 Mustang Boss 302 and a 1969 Mustange 302 coupe. Originality matters there, but if my Reatta had a "crate" 3.8L put in 1000 miles ago I would say "all right" if the car had 180,000 miles on it.

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Fair enough, you bring up some salient points. I did say I did not believe the asking price was right. He's high BUT I did say that having a properly rebuilt drivetrain, windshield, interior adds value to what a typical nicely maintained 180,000 convertible in similar condition should bring.

Reattas were homogenous respects their drivetrain. Having the 3800 be 'original' is - to me (again I respect your counterpoint) - irrelevant. A potential buyer wants their motor and drivetrain to not ever give them any issues.

ALL Reattas came with essentially the same drivetrain for 3 1/2 years. If they offered an HO option in any particular year, then we are in a different ballpark value wise. But they didn't. As you note, there is a huge difference between a 1969 Mustang Boss 302 and a 1969 Mustange 302 coupe. Originality matters there, but if my Reatta had a "crate" 3.8L put in 1000 miles ago I would say "all right" if the car had 180,000 miles on it.

On where we differ, we will have to agree to disagree. But I will say that in the $5,000 price range, for most it would be difficult to pass on.

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I still kick myself for passing on that driftwood vert Ervin and I both looked at in Alpine CA

I remember that car. Drove 3 1/2 hours on a Sunday to meet Mohammed up the mountain (guy looked like Grizzly Adams and the mountain was Julian, CA). It had snowed heavy the day before and it was 20 degrees in the shade.

Car looked nice from afar but as you got closer there was clear coat fade, wheel well had some dents and the hood had numerous, large stone chips. The clear coat had peeled off all four wheels. Grizzly wouldn't allow me to take off the sheepskin he had on the seats. He wanted me to take his word for it that the seats are in near new condition. How the heck can I decide to buy the car if I can't see the seats?! I don't remember the miles but I think it was around 75,000.

I think you had better luck on your visit seeing the interior. Maybe Grizzly was grumpy that day because it was freakin' cold. He only let me drive the car in the library parking lot. The only value (it was a humorous sight) for the 7 hours of round trip driving was seeing about 75 Hell's Angels parked outside a fire station talking to firefighters and oogling the fire trucks as if they were reliving their childhood.

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Guest HessLakeGuy

I would part with my driftwood (once the snow melts outside the garage). Got 14 inches just on Friday. The

body side moldings match the car, I think it has 36,xxx miles on it. CD player even works. Gently used.

Let me know if interested by pm.

I am only about 90 miles from the national meet in July. Just up the road.

Tom

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