We’re so used to being able to put different cars and trucks into their respective buckets. This one is a sport sedan, this one is a luxury cruiser, this one is a grand touring car, etc. The Buick Reatta has always been a confusing one to us. On paper it was a muddled collection of styling, sportiness, performance, and small size. As it turns out, in 1988 the Buick Reatta was a muddled collection of styling, sportiness, performance, and small size. This video from MotorWeek kind of proves it as the car looks OK, runs OK, but doesn’t really excel in an area other than being just different enough from other models to stand on its own.
We’re not saying it was a bad car and we know that there are Buick collectors and enthusiasts out there who seek out these things for their own ownership roles but we are saying it’s kind of classic GM from this era to make something that tried to be too many things to too many people. It had advanced tech for the time like a touchscreen dash but that was offset by the tried and true 3800 series V6 engine.
It had a short wheelbase and swoopy looks but it doesn’t really handle all that well. The car went 17.1 seconds in the quarter which was sprightly for 1988 but nearly three seconds slower than something like a Camaro with a 350 in it. The brakes were really good and the fit/finish was world class as well but who bought these and why?
At the end of the day we’re going to kind of call this a little Grand Touring car…what would you call it?
