I tried, desperately, to talk a good Greek friend, as in from Greece, not that frat-crap, while we were still in school, out of one of these, but I thing I may have exhausted my value with the Capri...which was a complete heap-O-junk. I was was not going to let him buy one of those, if I was around.
The Reatta really wasn't a bad ride, though , at the time, I think I audibly sighed when he told me. I changed my tune when I saw it, though. The 3800 was freakin' bulletproof, and it was quite a good boulevardier. His was a hardtop, but I can see the convertible being even more pleasant for those in the right frame-of-mind/part of the country.
JB_Finesse...you'd better hope that, for tomorrow, Murilee doesn't find an Allanté.
Bad price. There's a nicer one than this (Hardtop) with super low miles for sale in Rossmoor, CA and they wanted 3500 for it -- and even then I thought it was kinda overpriced.
An interesting choice of vehicle, but not my cup of tea.
Buick actually made RWD mules using Buick GN turbo engines. It is possible to make you own. There is a guy on CarDomain that has swapped over a 3800SC engine for more power.
http://www.lesabret-type.com/TurboProto.html
The car has potential and it would be something different. For too many years, I've seen car guys decry the ubiquity of Honda Civics but as soon as someone mentions a possible alternative (like a Reatta, a 1970s Rolls Royce, Cadillac Allante, etc) car guys say its too hard or too expensive to be different.
So which is it? Conform to the herd willingly of be frightened into conforming to the herd? Neither is an acceptable option to me.
This is not a bad price, but one could find a hard top for around $1500 and you could put another $8500 into it and have a 300hp two seater with a custom interior that might not be as fast as a Civic in a drag race, but you'll be a hell of a lot more rare not seeing another one like you car. Take the Road Less Traveled and let it make all the difference....
Nice price! Of course, if you take it out of the magic space that is Alameda, it will deteriorate into a rusted out heap. But the price is good perfectly in line, maybe even cheap since it's a drop top.
These were interesting because of that odd shaped greenhouse and because it was Buick's only 2 seater. It reminds me of a Mazda on steroids.
Touch screen? Not on the 1990-91 Reattas. They had full electroluminescent gauges and conventional controls, which are a big plus compared to the previous Reatta/Riviera Graphic Control Center (GCC) touchscreen. The picture above is a 1990 Reatta dash. I remember playing with the GCC on an '86 Riv. It was a cute novelty, but I wouldn't have wanted one in my car. Resuscitating a dead GCC after all these years would be a real challenge.
$5,575 is not a bad price for a Reatta convertible, if this is a good one in excellent shape. Only around 2,400 convertibles were made, and they are becoming true collectibles. I've always though the Reatta was a handsome car in its own way.
Ahh the Reatta; a Car that was so poorly built, they had to send the last few hundred convertibles to Florida for testing. They broke down the cars into three groupe: Acceptable for Customer Delivery, Acceptable for internal use at GM, and Not Acceptable.
This car was suppose to have a sales target of like 20,000 per year, but only managed 21,000 for the 4 years it was produces, including only about 2400 Convertibles.
An interesting thing about the Reatta is that convertible top. The Reatta coupe had no 'hips' and hence it was a straight drop - like Kate Moss - down the sides. That didn't leave much room for the convertible to fold down into its well, so it had to do a texas two-step; pulling the sided in while the top folds back. Quite an achievement for a brand not used to building soft-tops.
Is this a NPOCP-DOTS crossover episode? Because, I kinda like it.
Anyway, I liked these almost as much as the Allante. It's too bad Reatta sales were not better, and Buick's primary demographic was full of techophobes. This really could have put Buick in it's own niche without having to be just the middle child between Chevy and Caddy.
At $5575 I would say nice price if it is in as good of condition as it looks.
I like the rarer Allante better, and thanks to stone like depreciation, it no longer carries a 2X+ premium in price over a Reatta. I've seen both as cheap as $1500 (needing work), and $3000 drivable. I've also seen overly optimistic sellers of either with asking prices over $10k. This one looks like it might be nice enough to warrant the $5,575.
I've always liked the Reatta, though it wouldn't have been my first choice for $26,700 in 1990, and it's not my first choice at a $5,575 price point now.
I'd say it looks better than a Le Baron convertible. But not enough better. I'm sure it looks very nice in the country club parking lot, so someone will give it a nice home soon.
Maybe you could pull off that BUICK rear lettering and slap on some Lexus badges. I'm sure that would help improve people's impressions of it.
07/19/09
The Reatta really wasn't a bad ride, though , at the time, I think I audibly sighed when he told me. I changed my tune when I saw it, though. The 3800 was freakin' bulletproof, and it was quite a good boulevardier. His was a hardtop, but I can see the convertible being even more pleasant for those in the right frame-of-mind/part of the country.
JB_Finesse...you'd better hope that, for tomorrow, Murilee doesn't find an Allanté.
07/19/09
An interesting choice of vehicle, but not my cup of tea.
07/19/09
http://www.lesabret-type.com/TurboProto.html
The car has potential and it would be something different. For too many years, I've seen car guys decry the ubiquity of Honda Civics but as soon as someone mentions a possible alternative (like a Reatta, a 1970s Rolls Royce, Cadillac Allante, etc) car guys say its too hard or too expensive to be different.
So which is it? Conform to the herd willingly of be frightened into conforming to the herd? Neither is an acceptable option to me.
This is not a bad price, but one could find a hard top for around $1500 and you could put another $8500 into it and have a 300hp two seater with a custom interior that might not be as fast as a Civic in a drag race, but you'll be a hell of a lot more rare not seeing another one like you car. Take the Road Less Traveled and let it make all the difference....
07/19/09
I want several GN engines just to play with 'em and find out just how stoopid one can get with boost coupled with propane & water injection.
I think, the 3.8L engine can get close to 500 HP, reliably, if done properly. Yeah, I can live with that.
I personally love the entire luxury sedan Q-ship idea, and this is a good candidate. How many do you see? That's what I thought....
07/19/09
These were interesting because of that odd shaped greenhouse and because it was Buick's only 2 seater. It reminds me of a Mazda on steroids.
07/19/09
Touch screen? Not on the 1990-91 Reattas. They had full electroluminescent gauges and conventional controls, which are a big plus compared to the previous Reatta/Riviera Graphic Control Center (GCC) touchscreen. The picture above is a 1990 Reatta dash. I remember playing with the GCC on an '86 Riv. It was a cute novelty, but I wouldn't have wanted one in my car. Resuscitating a dead GCC after all these years would be a real challenge.
$5,575 is not a bad price for a Reatta convertible, if this is a good one in excellent shape. Only around 2,400 convertibles were made, and they are becoming true collectibles. I've always though the Reatta was a handsome car in its own way.
07/19/09
In their own way, I think these are pretty cool cars. It's a shame GM almost (but not quite) got this car right.
07/19/09
This car was suppose to have a sales target of like 20,000 per year, but only managed 21,000 for the 4 years it was produces, including only about 2400 Convertibles.
07/19/09
07/19/09
07/19/09
Anyway, I liked these almost as much as the Allante. It's too bad Reatta sales were not better, and Buick's primary demographic was full of techophobes. This really could have put Buick in it's own niche without having to be just the middle child between Chevy and Caddy.
At $5575 I would say nice price if it is in as good of condition as it looks.
07/19/09
NP but WHY IS A 7 YEAR OLD SELLING IT??
07/19/09
07/19/09
I've always liked the Reatta, though it wouldn't have been my first choice for $26,700 in 1990, and it's not my first choice at a $5,575 price point now.
07/19/09
Maybe you could pull off that BUICK rear lettering and slap on some Lexus badges. I'm sure that would help improve people's impressions of it.
07/19/09
07/18/09
07/18/09
07/18/09