After selling Camaro he drove to prom in 1994, Beaufort man and prized car are reunited
A Beaufort man has been reunited with a classic muscle car that was part of the family more than 30 years before he sold it, disappointing himself and his father.
Joe Reich’s grandmother bought the sporty 1979 Camaro Berlinetta in the early 1980s. It was his ride to prom in 1994.
But in a move he instantly regretted, Reich sold the coveted Camaro 10 years ago.
Now the low-riding two-door is back in the family and sitting at AMC Powersports, which Reich owns, looking like it is on a showroom floor. Reich calls it a miracle.
How the Camaro became part of Reich’s family, was lost and then found begins in North East, a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, where Reich grew up.
Grandma wanted a fast car
Esther Reich, Joe Reich’s grandmother, drove a school bus as her job and big cars off-duty.
But she always wanted fast car, one that, “when I step on the gas, it goes,” Joe Reich recalled her saying.
In the early 1980s, when she was in her 50s, Esther Reich bought the ‘79 Camaro from a dealer, driving it mostly on weekends.
“When this car came out of the garage, it was a big deal,” Joe Reich said.
Joe Reich’s father, Leonard, took possession of the vehicle when Esther Reich died in 1993.
Joe Reich drove the car to his 1994 prom, and it overshadowed his date.
“All I thought about all night was that damn car,” he said. Four or five times, he walked out to the parking lot to check on it.
The Camaro remained in his father’s garage for the next 16 years while Joe Reich moved on, joining the U.S. Marine Corps in 1995. But he never forgot about the car that captured his imagination first as a boy, then as a teenager.
During his 20-year career with the Marines, Joe Reich’s last duty station was Parris Island in Port Royal. And Parris Island was where he was stationed when, in 2011, while visiting his family in Pennsylvania, his dad told him, “Take it,” and gave him the Camaro.
Soon after, back at Parris Island, Joe Reich, newly married and needing to pay off bills, sold the car — “like an idiot.”
“While I was doing it, I regretted it,” he said.
A family secret is revealed
Joe Reich, 45, and his 72-year-old father talk every day.
During one conversation six months ago, Leonard Reich mentioned that Esther Reich wanted her grandson to have the car.
Joe Reich, who never knew of his grandmother’s dying wishes, was floored. He thought his father gave him the car in 2011 to free up space in his garage.
Feeling guilty about selling the car, Joe Reich launched a search for the Camaro that meant so much to three generations of his family.
He still had the vehicle identification number, and for six months, he searched online, checking Camaro forums, Facebook and other sources.
He came up empty-handed. He figured the Camaro might be crushed, in a junkyard or on blocks in somebody’s backyard.
About a month ago, he caught a break when a friend who owns a tow truck company tracked down the name of the car’s owner and its location: James Killian in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Joe Reich made cold calls to every Killian he could find. Most were wrong numbers, disconnections or dead ends.
Then he reached a woman in Swansboro, North Carolina, who suspected he was a telemarketer. He sensed that she was about to hang up.
“I blurted out, ‘Does Mr. Killian own a 1979 Camaro?’”
The tone of her voice changed.
“James, someone is on the phone for you about the Camaro,” Joe Reich heard her yell out.
He had found the owner of the Camaro and told him the entire story.
Killian, who had purchased the Camaro on a car lot in Virginia, said he would consider selling. Negotiations continued for a few months before an impasse was reached. Then, out of the blue, Killian called back.
“You need to own it,” he told Joe Reich.
Arrangements were made to meet in Swansboro. A black Camaro pulled up with Killian driving. Joe Reich held back tears.
“Let’s go for a ride,” Killian said.
On Monday, the sleek ride sat at Joe Reich’s AMC Powersports on Savannah Highway in Beaufort.
He still can’t believe it’s back in the family, much less its wonderful condition. It’s even got the same black paint job and mud flaps.
The odometer reads 44,000 miles. It had 36,000 on it when Joe Reich sold the car in 2011.
It still has the original engine block, but Killian put in a new transmission, heads and exhaust. Off the showroom floor, in 1979, the vehicle had a 175 horsepower motor. Now it has a 425, powerful enough to spin circles.
Considering the investment Killian made in the car, Joe Reich figures he sold it for a loss.
Joe Reich plans to redo the interior and install a modern air conditioning system.
“I almost slept in it the first night I got it back,” Joe Reich said with a smile.
This story was originally published June 18, 2021 at 4:30 AM.
