RE: Buick Reatta: PH Carpool

[Trabi601]

Is that touchscreen some kind of CRT screen?

[LambShank]

F1GTRUeno said:

LambShank said:

My uncle, aunt and cousin in the US all had one each.

I drove one around the means streets (!) of north-west Arkansas once.

Wasn't very memorable...

In Arkansas your uncle, aunt and cousin could be the same person...

For sure, there's some weirdos around there!
Fortunately, my relatives are actually British

[Mr Tidy]

I think it looks quite good - my first thought based on the OPs first photo was it looks a bit like an RX7.

Great write-up BTW!

[PistonBroker]

I thought it must be missing a 'g' in the name but, no, it's actually called that!

Great Carpool as it's a car I've never heard of before. It must be quite interesting to live over there and discover all these cars we've never heard of!

[fivepointnine]

When I was living in the US my boss had 2! of these. He would always keep a car cover on it during the work day, he absolutely loved them.

[FestivAli]

Well tickle me pink.

As an Australian PHer, the thought of seeing a car somewhat obscure US car that I thought as desperately pretty once in a Wikipedia article, appearing having an owners writeup featured on a predominately British website, and then finding out that it shared the GM 3800 V6 (albeit as a FWD, and with slightly less power, and with a 3 speed rather than a 4 speed auto) that sat behind the bonnet of the Toyota Lexcen (Toyota Australia badge-engineered Holden Commodore) that I did most of my leaner driving on... amazing.

That's top carpooling.

[sinbaddio]

Love this - obscure, off the wall and I've never heard of it before. Plus, that dashboard, looks like something I used to draw in the back of my maths book when I was ten. Top Carpool!

[PATTERNPART]

Great article. You can tell how much the owner bonded with the car due to its friendly characteristics matching the intended use and environment. No stress. Comfort. Ease of maintenance. I dont think the looks are too unpleasant. There's a bit of Mk1 RX7. Mazda Cosmo. Lexus Soarer. Cars designed to appeal to average American who wants sporty looks without frenetic input behind the wheel. A guy up the road from me has a Chrysler LeBaron cabriolet which is from the same sort of era and ethos.

[fivepointnine]

PATTERNPART said:

Great article. You can tell how much the owner bonded with the car due to its friendly characteristics matching the intended use and environment. No stress. Comfort. Ease of maintenance. I dont think the looks are too unpleasant. There's a bit of Mk1 RX7. Mazda Cosmo. Lexus Soarer. Cars designed to appeal to average American who wants sporty looks without frenetic input behind the wheel. A guy up the road from me has a Chrysler LeBaron cabriolet which is from the same sort of era and ethos.

Except the Lebaron was a rolling turd lol. The Reatta was at least build with a sense of pride and build quality. My best friend in high school (I attended in the US) had a Lebaron coupe turbo, the velour interior was something else haha.

[snotrag]

Well I've never heard of that, but for once it's an American car that's actually really good looking! I Googled, this one looks great in this colour combo!

[irocfan]

TBH that's actually quite an appealing design for something from the 80s (there were a few but they were noticeable for their rarity)

[kambites]

A very pretty car, just made slightly awkward by the huge front over-hang.

[spreadsheet monkey]

These cost big money when launched. Not far off Cadillac prices, which is dangerous in the GM brand hierarchy.

Apparently when they were new, the number one occupation of Reatta owners was "wife of dealer principal".

[Hugh Jarse]

Pretty sure this was the one that was CADed up using pigs tits at Hawtal Whiting in Radford Semele six months before I started there.

[katz]

If you really want unusual American Steel, than this is what you want- sold up until 1980

[Jimmy Recard]

katz said:

If you really want unusual American Steel, than this is what you want- sold up until 1980

There were odd versions of the Avanti built until 2006 or possibly even later.

The proper Studebakers were built in 1962 and 1963 though