Over time, her baby started developing small problems and was a hundred dollars here and another hundred there. We weren’t too well off back then and one hot day, the A/C went out. Kym was frustrated and in a weak moment, traded the car off.
The years went by and we both have gone thru several vehicles since. She always said that letting it go was one of her worst decisions. I told her several times that somehow, I would get her another one whenever we found a nice one.
In April of 2016, we were driving down the road here in Huntington, WV, our hometown. We passed a classic car dealer and I spotted what I thought was the front end of a Reatta. We circled the block and sure enough it was. Two days later, on the 7th, we drove the black 90 convertible home. It was in really good shape except for the factory vinyl top.
After a couple of months, I started looking around for a new top. That’s when I discovered East Coast Reatta and Marck Barker. He was very helpful and ordered our new camel cloth top. After this, I was on his mailing list and I checked out his website frequently. That’s when I spotted a beautiful white convertible with the garnet red top.
My mistake was showing it to Kym. She decided that we should have his and hers cars. We drove down to NC and met Marck and the new addition. Marck had fixed this one up nicely and it only had 51,000 miles for a 1990 model. He was selling this car for a couple in western NC and drove along with us to the owners for paperwork and payment. This was on August, 7 exactly 4 months since our original purchase.
We got to know Marck pretty well and drove down to the Reatta Reunion in Charlotte this year. Had a great time and saw many beautiful Reattas and met new friends. While there, Kym had told Marck about her first Reatta and how she was sorry that she let it go.
Well, at the Buick National meet this year in Wisconsin, Marck saw a grey/grey coupe that was just like the one we had originally. He took a few pictures of it and sent them to us so we could appreciate it. I asked Marck if it was for sale and he didn’t know but would try to find the owner and ask him. Turns out he met this nice man, Gene who had several Buicks and 3 Reattas.
We called him and negotiated a price and were on our way north of Indianapolis. Gene and his wife had mixed feelings and letting it go but my wife told them of her first one and how much she loved it. The deal was made and Kym drove it all the way home. Now it has become her absolute favorite.
Many thanks to Marck and East Coast Reatta Parts! He is directly responsible for 2 of our cars. Also, I have him to thank for a radio, power antenna, wheels, a new top and several other items. We are now the Reatta people in our little corner of the world. Kym always names the cars and decided that the black one was “Dolly” since it came from the Nashville area. She called the white one “Denver” because it originally came from Colorado. And lastly, there’s “Lady Di”, the grey one. Simply because it’s a princess to her!
Bob and Kym Blake
