The Buick Reatta was a hand-made luxurious sports coupe produced at the Reatta Craft Centre in Lansing, Michigan from early 1988 through 1991. Like the Cadillac Allante, It was based on a shortened version of the "E-body" used by the Cadillac Seville, Cadillac Eldorado, Oldsmobile Toronado and the Buick Riviera with which it shared its advanced electronics and interior design.
The Reatta sported its own unique body style and was crafted with an attention to detail and quality of finish uncommon for a mass-produced automobile. Initially offered as a hardtop coupe, a convertible version was added for 1990. It used GM's ubiquitous 3800 V6 and sported a fully independent suspension and front wheel drive.
During the first two years of contruction the Reatta, like its Riviera stablemate, featured a touch screen computer interface called the Electronic Control Center, or ECC. The touch screen controlled the radio and climate control functions, provided diagnostic access to the vehicle's various electronic systems and sensors. It also featured a date reminder, a trip computer (which calculates the estimated time of arrival to a destination according to distance entered, gas milage, and average speed), and a user configurable overspeed alarm. A cellular phone and 3D compass were dealer-installed options. It gives an onscreen prompt when a vehicle system requires attention, ranging from low washer fluid to low air conditioner charge.
The Reatta was conceived during a period in the early to mid-1980s when the Buick division was marketing high performance editions of its vehicles (such as the Buick Regal). However, midway through the development of the Reatta, GM decided to refocus the brand on a more traditional and mature image that was thought to be more in keeping with its core older buyer demographics. The resulting vehicle had a shape that carried performance car styling cues but provided little in the way of actual high performance. Additionally, the Reatta's "excessive" level of electronics was a turn-off for those "mature" potential buyers that the division was actively trying to court.
The Reatta was intended as a halo car for Buick, but sales, originally planned to be around 20,000 units a year, were extremely disappointing and GM announced the end of Reatta production in early 1991.
Production
| Year | 4EC97 Coupe | 4EC67 Convertible | Total
|
| 1988 | 4,708 | 0 | 4,708
|
| 1989 | 7,009 | 0 | 7,009
|
| 1990 | 6,383 | 2,132 | 8,515
|
| 1991 | 1,214 | 305 | 1519
|
| Total: | 21,751
|
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Last updated: 06-02-2005 13:34:29
