Riding shotgun on the ride home from picking up my mom’s new GLK, I eyed this blast from the past Buick Reatta coupe in highway traffic. Once again the CC Effect has struck, and I’ve been seeing Reattas quite frequently all summer (and by frequently I mean about ten of them). White seems to have been popular among the limited amount of Reattas produced. While more show than go, the Buick Reatta was nonetheless an interesting, and in my opinion, attractive car.
2 or 3 months ago, I pulled up next to a Reatta at a traffic light. It was the rattiest Reatta I have ever seen. It was white, but paint was peeling, it was rusting, it had a temp spare on one wheel, the sunroof was partially out of its track and the gap was covered in duct tape, the whole works. It was definitely atypical, as most owners of Reattas considered them sufficiently special to keep them living the pampered garage life.
I recently (within the last year) saw one at a pick-n-pull, and it was not wrecked. Meaning someone valued it at something only around $500, so seeing a ratty one wouldn’t necessarily be weird. Seeing one at all is pretty weird though
I always liked the Reatta’s styling, not because it’s so pretty (which it’s not really, IMHO), but just because it looks so different; pretty bold for a Buick.
I never got the name though. Did they misspell “Regatta”?
Nope, it was a stylization of reata (or riata), which means lasso or lariat (in fact, lariat is actually just a corruption of the same word).
Reata was also the name of the Benedict ranch in “Giant.”
There was a ’90 Reatta convertible sitting at our local Costco gas station parking lot for some time last year, for sale at around $12,000, I think. Red with a tan leather interior, looked to be in pretty good condition. I have always liked these little cars, and was momentarily intrigued, but since I already have my ’03 Thunderbird, a second two-seater seemed kind of superfluous. It must have sold eventually, it has been gone for some months now. These were fairly decent handcrafted cars for their time.
There are two for sale at a lot in Creighton, Pa. The gentleman that owns the lot has been “clean it out” for the past ten years, but nothing seems to move other than the cars that are able to be driven to the other side of the lot. These Reatta’s have been there for at least those 10 years. There are also immobile 1978-1979 Chrysler Cordoba, 1970s Grand Marquis, 1960s AMC Amabassadors, an Alfa Romeo 164 and about a half dozen Jag XJ6 sedans
“immobile” and “Jag XJ6” are pretty much inseparable terms, and seems to apply to the majority of Alfa 164s in NZ too. But either a Jag or an Alfa is such a gloriously good-looking way to be stationary!
I love the Reatta and have tried over the past 3 years to get one. I almost snagged one with a dead transmission for $1600 but it fell through. I would have rebuilt the transmission or sprung for a new one ordered from GM and put it in myself
Several times I have expressed my “love” for the Reatta, both in coupe and convertible. There are a few around town, in red or white and one in black.
When I visited a local Buick dealer in Ferguson, MO when these were new, I sat in one and marveled just how nice they were, especially to one accustomed to a decade or so of K-Cars and their kin – not that there was anything wrong with that!
I have always liked them – such a clean, cheery shape, plus the bulletproof 3800 V6. I’d love one for a commuter car to complement my Mustang.
great summer shore car from Florida to Maine. That Volkswagen looks like it was a little bit influenced by that eccentric American.
The only takeaway from this article is that if you were passed on the right, you were in the wrong lane.
Anyone know why Buick never offered a supercharged version? Seems like a no-brainer for a high-tech personal luxury coupe.
It was discontinued the year the first supercharged Buicks came out 1991, if it would have survived a few more years, it would have probably gotten one. There were a couple of turbocharged and supercharged Reatta mules made, they even converted one to RWD, with a GNX engine, it was almost as fast a contemporary ZR1 Corvette.
The CC Effect strikes again! I’m waiting to pull onto the street leaving work and what drives by right in front of me? A red Reatta, of course.
It looks like a corrupted Cavalier the worst ex JDM car we could get,nar keep it.
They look much better in person. Much classier than a plebeian Cav.
My wife still has her 91 Reatta,a gift when I retired as chief designer for GM
Although that car was not as we would have liked : better proformance with
Rear wheel drive and turbo charged. it was liked by women who would like
To have a Corvette,except for getting in and out.
I named it after the ranch in movie Gient
The car had to fit over the Riviera frame, which cased the front overhang to look
Excessive against the shortened rear overhang,if we could have moved the front
Wheel 3 inches ahead giving it more dash to axial it would look much better.