The Buick Reatta is one of those vehicles you get somewhat accustomed to seeing come up for sale, but when you spot a really nice one, it still stops you in your tracks. Buick’s short-lived roadster was a fascinating exercise in low-volume, high-caliber construction, with the company utilizing a newly-deployed approach to vehicle assembly that pushed the production costs far higher than anticipated. Combined with a market that was generally unkind at the time to expensive, “fun” vehicles, the Reatta quickly entered retirement – but fortunately, many owners have looked after them as special weekend cars like this 1990 Reatta convertible clearly was here on craigslist.
The Lansing Craft Center represented fresh thinking on GM’s part to move away from an assembly line mentality to that of different groups working in clusters on a specific aspect of the Reatta’s construction. The move involved heavy investment in the facility itself, and I’m sure the requisite training and educational coursework that went along with it. After the Retta was canned, the same facility was used to spool up the similarly short-lived EV1. As you can see with this Reatta, the cars came incredibly well-equipped, which also led to the higher-than-expected base price. The Reatta came with the handsome leather seats you see here, along with a manual soft top in convertible form.
The manual soft top wasn’t meant to be a detriment, however – it was supposedly incredibly easy to use for a convertible, but I suppose for a high-dollar, low-volume convertible, it may have been surprising to buyers to not see a power top included. If this was really an issue, you could opt for the hardtop coupe model, which seems to appear for sale far less frequently. Buick got some flack for scuttle shake in these cars, which seems ironic that they didn’t devote enough time to structural rigidity despite the detailed assembly process. High-end touches were everywhere, especially in the instrument cluster and center stack, which featured digital gauges and the novel cathode-ray tube (CRT) infotainment system.
The 3800-series V6 featured fuel injection and a range of 165-170 horsepower, along with 210-220 lb.-ft. of torque (the final year model in 1991 got a bump over prior years.) Power certainly wasn’t lacking in a car this size, but it also wasn’t a hot rod. Like so many other short-lived cars in GM’s history, it seems some of the truly great models were suffering from an identity crisis: it wasn’t a Corvette, nor was it an Allante, but it wasn’t cheap nor was it fast. So – what is it? An expensive and pretty but ultimately non-thrilling luxury car, or a high-end convertible that was way cheaper than the Caddy or the Vette? Ultimately, they are fine driver’s cars and today, represent excellent value for a weekend cruiser that will still catch passersby’s eyes. Thanks to Barn Finds reader T.J. for the find.
Good eye TJ.
Excellent write up on the Reatta model Lavery.
I was a service advisor for a Buick store from 85-92, and Buick wanted to create a custom feel for the Reatta. Each store selected one salesman and one CSA, we were sent to Detroit to become “Reatta Specialists”, which was something Cadillac did for the Allante. We toured the Craft Center, which was a former Oldsmobile axle plant in Lansing, and watched the cars move around on little robot carts.
I’d avoid the convertible, yes it was a manual top, but the cables, locks,and switches to open and lock it needed constant attention, they became very difficult to lock the rear of the top into the hatch after only a few tries. Now, if you live where you can keep it down, drive it til the center CRT pukes and you can’t adjust the radio or HVAC.
The CRT display was only in 1988-1989. And there are still lots of them available on eBay – some just simply used, some “rebuilt”. Some are shown powered up and working (at least for the moment), some maybe a gamble. Thankfully, that CRT was also used in the Riviera, which had a much larger production volume than the Reatta.
Although this is a nice example, I never liked this car. Miata was a much better two-seat roadster. Everything about it was better, the styling, mechanics, the handling and the top mechanism. Buick doesn’t even make a car anymore, which I find very funny! In fact, far from being an American brand, Buick has become a Chinese brand.
these are electrical nightmares. buy @ your own risk
I still own a 1990 Buick Reatta convertible, currently with over 127,000 miles on it. No complaints whatsoever…. By the way, the power convertible top became standard in the short-lived 1991 mode. My first Reatta was a 1988 hardtop, with the then-rare factory sunroof option. Still love ’em and enjoy!
I own a 88 Reatta and I love that car. I put some nicer wheels on a little bigger tire. But otherwise it’s all stock. I bought it for $3,500 9 years ago with 32k miles. I wouldn’t sell it for anything close to that.
Too bad Buick never offered a hardtop option for the convertible. ASC had made some prototypes and they looked good, IMO.
I had a factory hardtop for my ’70 Corvette and it added versatility to the car, although it was a PITA to put on and remove, so once on, it stayed on for awhile.