The 1990 Reatta Is The Last Thing You’d Picture From Buick

Over the course of the brand’s history, Buick has generally appealed to customers who wanted an upscale feel but weren’t ready to shell out for a Cadillac. They were calm, comfortable cars meant for calm, comfortable people. The names say it all: Park Avenue (upscale neighborhood), Regal (hinting towards royalty), LeSabre (which called back to a GM Motorama concept car from 1951). Two-door sedans. Four-door sedans. Plush, near-luxury cars that were perfect for a Sunday drive or going to church. A sporting, two-seat convertible, like this 1990 Buick Reatta that is for sale on Hemmings.com, is so far out of the comfort zone of what Buick traditionally is that it defies belief.

Except Buick doesn’t always stick to the script. During the muscle car heyday, even safe, comfortable Buick got on board with the Gran Sport, Riviera, Wildcat and leading front and center, the GSX, which was a Skylark that took President Theodore Roosevelt’s “Speak  softly and carry a big stick”  and put it into action. In the 1980s, the performance premise sprang up again with the T-Type performance program within the company. While the Regal-based Grand National and ASC-modified GNX were the stars of the show, everything from the compact Somerset to the LeSabre and Electra could be tuned for performance.

But the strangest, most out-of-character Buick of the last fifty years must be the Reatta. A two-passenger sporty car based on the E-car chassis (Buick Riviera, Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado), the Reatta was targeted at buyers who wanted sporty looks but weren’t completely sold on sporting performance; think someone who would want a Mercedes SL over a Corvette, and you’ve got the idea. A frugal alternative, the Reatta’s pedestrian roots would keep costs low and the powertrain, based on the 3.8-liter Buick V-6, was anvil-tough and known for reliability. 

Buick went to great lengths to get the Reatta to market. Hawtal-Whiting in England performed the product engineering and Lamb Sceptre performed the manufacture engineering. Aston Martin Tickford helped with prototype development, with assistance from Abbey Panels and GM’s U.K. Proving Ground. Cadillac engineers were assisting with the program after Buick Engineering was folded into Cadillac’s program. Even GM themselves made an extra effort and converted a former Oldsmobile axle foundry plant in Lansing, Michigan into a dedicated production facility, where Reattas were built nearly by hand. 

With only two options (sunroof on coupes and 16-way power seats), the Reatta left buyers wanting little. Cars built before 1990 even featured Buick’s Graphic Control Center, a touch-screen cathode-ray tube unit that controlled the HVAC controls and sound system, and even featured a performance gauge cluster. Between January 1988 and the 1991 Buick sold 21,750 examples of their two-seat cruiser, with only 2,437 of them equipped as a drop-top, which was only available for the 1990 and 1991 model years. Unfortunately, sales of the Reatta didn’t financially support the program, and the plug was pulled in mid-1991. The “Craft Centre” that built each Reatta was re-purposed to build what became the GM EV1.

Featuring the updated gauge cluster and the standard radio and climate controls, this 1990 Reatta convertible is begging for the open road on a sunny day. Original except for the 1991-only 16-inch wheels (the original wheels are included in the sale), this is one of only 338 Gunmetal Gray examples produced for the year. A lifetime California car, it is smog-legal and features a new top and new leather seating surfaces. It’s not a wild, thrill-inducing sports car. It was never designed to be. It’s a Buick… which is to say, it’s a comfortable car that is great for eating up the miles. It just so happens to be a two-seater convertible with great lines.

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