5-speed stick Reattas?

I was talking to a collector of Reattas and Allantes yesterday.

He told me that they made 8)-5speed Reattas, but I find no facts

to support this. Anybody know if this is fact or fiction?

ronvb

fiction

Maybe a prototype in some GM testing ground garage.

Phil at speedway automotive had told me a story about seeing several Reatta prototypes out at firebird raceway here in phoenix. if memory serves me correctly, I believe it was in '86 or '87, and there were 5 speed/rear drive Reatta prototypes at the raceway. I believe they had some Corvette parts.

living south of Phoenix about 40 miles, I would say on the average day, I will see at least 20 prototype cars go by. lots of hot-weather testing.

I have some GM Propagnda that makes reference to at least one 5-Spd. prototype having been built during the Development Phase between '84 and '87.

Not Fiction!

Why! Why! Why didn't they go ahead and make it rear drive and avaiable 5 Speed! They would still be selling.

that, Dale is a question to ask the infamous Roger Smith, who was running GM at the time. it was his decision to "vanillify" the Reatta. I think he was afraid he would alienate all those white-shoed republicans who were Buick's stock-in-trade.

Hey G M Ross, Where is that one and only 5 speed? I want it.

Charlie B.

As I recall, in the late eighties/ early nineties, GM let the automags drive some one-off test mules of the Reatta. These included a turbo model, a supercharged model, 5-speed models, and believe it or not a Reatta that was converted to rear-wheel drive (I think it also had a V8). I'm sure one of us has the articles that appeared at the time, and if you can find it you are way more organized than I am.

I remember reading that article about the Reatta "test mules". Seems like it was in 89 or 90. The fastest Reatta had a GN motor with Corvette suspension.

(RWD, of course!) One of the "journalists" testing the cars stuffed that one in a guard rail & totalled it.

I still have that magazine somewhere, but it would take me awhile to find it.

Heck, I still have every magazine I've ever bought! Plus, I still have every magazine that my father ever bought. My wife thinks I'm crazy. She says "read them & throw them away". I see them as a valuable reference source. Of course, if I was better organized, I could actually use them as a reference source! Any of you guys collect car (or motorcycle or gun mags?) magazines, too? Surely I'm not the only one.

Oh yeah, I have my fair collection of magazines. Mostly consist of custom truck magazines though, so you are not the only one.

Suspect the main reason is that there would have had to be a full-scale development and emissions testing schedule run to be able to sell a 5-speed reatta unless the put it behind a 2.8 engine (the only engine had in 1988 that had been through the full certification route).

With the 3.8/440T4 it was in the same weight class as the other large Buick/Olds/Pontiac cars so could piggyback on their certification (have wondered if some weight had been added to make certain it would be in the same class).

Not so much "vanillafication" as bean counters in action.

They probably also looked at the competition (ever try to buy a Mercedes or upscale BMW with a stick ?) and just could not justify the expense.

Demographics probably said that anyone who would buy a stick Reatta would probably go for a Corvette anyway.

In short, the numbers just were not there. Heck, they had enough trouble selling automatics.

Padgett, Wouldn't it have been relatively easy though for them to have built it off the Grand National platform? Auto trans. of course but at least rear drive and capable of performance upgrades.

I think the one reason the Grand National platform idea would'nt fly is because the full frame-rear drive intermediate ptatform was being phased out. the last Grand Nationals were '87s. the only models left for '88 were the Monte Carlo and the Cutlass Supreme Classic, and they did'nt even make it for the whole model year.

So it looks like there is some truth afterall to the

legend of the 5-speed Reatta.

ronvb