The Buick Reatta: A Visionary Two-Seater for a New Era

Revolutionizing the Dashboard: The CRT Touchscreen Interface

Enter the Buick Reatta. The only way you’ll ever lay rubber in one of these is by stomping the e-brake. But the mature part of you knows it’s okay…that there’s more dimension to the road-going life than outright speed (as Triumph, MG, and Morgan owners can certainly attest). Other factors include provenance, style, technology, comfort, and – in cars nearly twenty years old – dependability and parts availability.

The Reatta has these bases covered.

The Eighties were a confusing time for Buick. General manager Ed Mertz aimed the division away from dynamics after a huge push in performance (Buick-powered Indy cars and the fire-breathing Grand National GNX). Mature, refined American style would be the division’s focus going forward.

During this shift, the Reatta was conceived and developed. As Buick’s most expensive car, as well as its first production two-seater. The Monroney approached $28,000-more than $49,000 in today’s color of money. Based on the truncated E-body platform that underpinned the front-wheel-drive Cadillac Eldorado and Buick Riviera, the Reatta’s wheelbase was only 98.5 inches, three inches shorter than today’s Volkswagen Rabbit.

Build quality was high due to the manner in which the vehicles were hand-assembled at the Reatta Craft Centre in Lansing, Michigan. Each unit bore a Craftsman Log with the actual signatures of assembly supervisors who approved the vehicles for release, and these were not photocopies or printed marketing flotsam.

So nearly twenty years later, what did Buick really build? Looking at the car today, the design has aged rather well. Hidden headlights were in vogue then, and the low-sitting coupe visually promises performance.

Unfortunately, the Reatta never did live up to these go-fast looks.

Performance Meets Comfort: Driving Dynamics of the Reatta

Aside from its portly 3400-pound curb weight, the blame rests with GM’s venerable 3.8-liter V-6. In this iteration, the 3800 Series I produces only 165 horsepower. Thankfully, the engine is smooth because by this time in its long life it had gained a counter-rotating balance shaft. A four-speed Hydra-Matic handles the shifting duties and sends all available power to a tall 2.97:1 axle ratio. Period reviews pegged 0-60 miles per hour in the high-eights with sub­ seventeen-second quarter-miles, and our example felt just as spry as the original press-fleet units. To our backside, the Reatta doesn’t so much acceler­ate as it does smoothly and evenly gather speed.