Early Reattas

Because I posted my early VIN 1988 Reatta as a parts car for sale it piqued my curiosity. (It is actually VIN 280, not 288). I used to restore 68-70 AMXs and researched them thoroughly and maintained a comprehensive database of the cars. I once owned the 3rd car built. For the Reatta the early test cars were all assigned VINs, unlike the AMXs which were assigned VINs once they were ready to be sold. I have a complete list of all the 1988 Reatta VINs and have merged the info from the Reatta Database onto it and have entered some comments over the years. And whenever I run a Carfax or AutoCheck I entered that info. As I just retired two weeks ago I decided to run an AutoCheck of the first 200 Reattas to see what I would find. First, you have to understand the CarFax, AutoCheck, etc are only as good as the state reporting them. If the state records only go back to 95, that's all you get. So here is what I found:

Of the first 100 VINs, only four show up with a report:

66-scrapped in Ypsilanti, MI 5-10-99

81-last registered in Visalia, CA 2-19-09

89-last registered in San Bruno, CA 11-8-05

95-reported at an auction in Kokomo, IN 4-27-89.

The next group of ten is missing a few:

[TABLE=width: 325]

<colgroup><col span="5"></colgroup><tbody>[TR]

[TD]102[/TD]

[TD]6/25/04[/TD]

[TD]Largo[/TD]

[TD]FL[/TD]

[TD]Scrapped[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]103[/TD]

[TD]1/12/12[/TD]

[TD]Fort Pierce[/TD]

[TD]FL[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]104[/TD]

[TD]10/1/14[/TD]

[TD]Chandler[/TD]

[TD]AZ[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]105[/TD]

[TD]6/23/14[/TD]

[TD]Cincinnati[/TD]

[TD]OH[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]106[/TD]

[TD]2/18/05[/TD]

[TD]Hinsdale[/TD]

[TD]IL[/TD]

[TD]Scrapped[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]107[/TD]

[TD]9/10/13[/TD]

[TD]Flint[/TD]

[TD]MI[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]108[/TD]

[TD]9/24/11[/TD]

[TD]Grand Blanc[/TD]

[TD]MI[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]109[/TD]

[TD]4/12/13[/TD]

[TD]Skokie[/TD]

[TD]IL[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

</tbody>[/TABLE]

Of the next 90 cars, only 66 have a report. Of those 66, 12 are confirmed scrapped. Of the remaining 54 cars, only 24 have any report the last 10 years. Only 13 of those cars have any report the last 4 years. So it looks like out of the first 200 cars, maybe less than 20 are left.

Here are the last 7:

[TABLE=width: 325]

<colgroup><col span="5"></colgroup><tbody>[TR]

[TD=align: right]4702[/TD]

[TD=align: right]5/2/14[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]SD[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: right]4703[/TD]

[TD=align: right]11/14/13[/TD]

[TD] Columbus[/TD]

[TD]OH[/TD]

[TD]Salv Title[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: right]4704[/TD]

[TD=align: right]11/13/08[/TD]

[TD] Columbus[/TD]

[TD]OH[/TD]

[TD]Scrapped[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: right]4705[/TD]

[TD=align: right]6/21/05[/TD]

[TD] Mobile[/TD]

[TD]AL[/TD]

[TD]Scrapped[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: right]4706[/TD]

[TD=align: right]7/28/09[/TD]

[TD] Mears[/TD]

[TD]MI[/TD]

[TD]Accident[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: right]4707[/TD]

[TD=align: right]6/9/97 [/TD]

[TD]Lees Summit[/TD]

[TD]MO[/TD]

[TD]Scrapped[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=align: right]4708[/TD]

[TD] No report[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

</tbody>[/TABLE]

There are a number of changes throughout the car as per fasteners-such as the size of the fasteners holding the touchscreen, rockers, etc. But another change is the location of the SPI label-here it is on the decklid of the earlier cars (which would be lost if you got into an accident and it was replaced). another change is the screw missing from the shoulder belt cover-these broke off when new as the clips holding them on were not sufficient-here is one, and the clips on the back are broken. Look for date codes when working on the car. Here are two, November 87, one behind the passenger door panel, the other behind the passenger pillar cover. Car #162 is reported as scrapped in MA when almost new. I stripped an 88 to repair a burned 88 when they were still new. The one I stripped had carpets on the backside of the two rear storage doors in the rear. Looked factory and never saw others. I'm betting it was car #162 I stripped.

It would be interesting to see what the build date of the cars are. easy enough for 90 and 91 as Compnine has them, but they do not seem to have many records for 88 and 89. There should be a label on the drivers door that would show the month and year the car was assembled. (This car for some reason does not have one.) I would be interested in anyone with a 1988 Reatta to post the last 4 of the VIN along with the build date info. thanks

Another little oddity is the spring for the deck lid latch. Early models did not have it. 828 did not. I had an 88 that had a vin in the 4000's that did. It prevents the lid from latching when you close the door. Scenario: release trunk lid using dash button. Get out and close door. With the windows closed, air pressure lifts the trunk lid just enough make it fall back down and latch. Very annoying. The spring is a bolted on thingy that makes the lid hard enough to close so it won't latch on it's own.

Tom thanks for your input and congratulation on the retirement, hope we continue to get Reatta information from you.

After I have reviewed your findings, I would like to use your information to update the Reatta database....with your permission.

Several years back I did a similar Carfax run on some of the 1991 convertibles that we had info that they were scrapped and 8 of them had considerable mileage and were not in Michigan.

Our thinking was they were identified to be scrapped but probably got sold to employees. One of these ended up in the hands of a well know Buick publicity person and he still has it today.

Barney if you send me your email I'll send you the Excel database of all 88 VINs with some other comments and a Word document where I just Copied/Pasted the Autocheck report for the first 200. I also have the same for the 90 Select 60s-the database has 3 errors (noted as questions) . 4461 and 4482 are coupes, and 6726 is a red convert. And somewhere I have the Compnine of all the 91 converts-alas, no Polo Green mentioned, and the Compnine and Autocheck of all the Polo Green Reattas.

I would also appreciate the 88 DB & particularly when the sunroof became available. Mine is 3681, triple blue, and has the late horn button, early (rubber) Teves return, and sunroof. 07/88 Can send to app1 at 6007 point us

My early 88, #1134, shows a build date of 2/88. It has suede seat bolsters (burgundy interior). The seats - including the head rests - also have real leather, not vinyl, on the back facing surfaces. Other early build details are the black and silver horn button logo, had (since replaced with the later version) the shoulder belt escutcheons without the center screw and also has an added wire to the rearview mirror harness that turns on the miror mounted map lights in parallel with the courtesy lamps - a nice touch I am planning to implement on my 91 'vert.

The SPID tag is in the spare tire well, NOT on the underside of trunk lid. Has no sunroof, and I have not looked at the return on the Teves unit to see if it is rubber or not. This car has under 67,000 miles presently but is rough around the edges (paint, interior, but no rust) from neglect and long term storage and periods of non-use prior to my ownership. It runs great, has ice cold A/C I've not had to service and all electronics work. It is slowly coming together, the interior is mostly done now but has a few things still needing attention. Will get a repaint when I am done fixing up the vert.

KDirk

Good to have more people interested in collecting good data on these cars. When we started there was no Compnine or other online sources for information. Everything came from owners and there were errors.

A common error.....owners with grey interior thinking it was blue. The grey does have a blue tint, but when you see a true blue interior there is no question about the colors.

Here is my email and phone number, I am happy to hear from anyone with Reatta information, questions, and problems. Emal = (Barney@texas.net) phone512*869*5114