As promised long ago . . . from the February 1988 issue of Motor Trend . . . (note that the cover photo is captioned BUICK REATTA IS HERE ? FINALLY!) I would still like to find the superior tests from Road & Track and Car & Driver. Buick Reatta Jumping with both seats into the luxo-sporty wars by Don Fuller Niche marketing is all the rage these days. The idea is to find some spot where nobody else offers any thing, then build to fill in the blanks. It?s the automotive industry?s version of hit ?em where they ain?t. The Japanese have raised this to a high art form, and now we Americans are following suit. But since we?re talking about building a car with a special appeal to an admittedly limited number of buyers, the unit price has to go up. So niche marketing means high-priced cars. Which brings us to the Buick Reatta. Like the Cadillac guys with the Allante? and the Chrysler guys with their still-to-come Maserati TC, the people at Buick identified a market for an upper-crust 2-seater. To bring this niche into focus, as explained to us by Joe Fitzsimmons, Buick?s marketing line manager, a whole bunch of potential buyers were asked what they liked and didn?t like about 2-seaters as they perceived them. They said they liked the idea of a car that was sporty-looking, had good handling, and delivered at least some spunky level of performance. But it didn?t have to be an asphalt-ripper. They said they didn?t like the idea of a car that was cramped, rode too harshly for everyday use, and wasn?t comfortable. For some reason, these people perceived 2-seaters as neither safe nor secure, not ?substantial.? ?I?ve always shied away from 2-seaters because they weren?t safe,? was Fitzsimmons? relayed generic reply from the consumer groups. So, Fitzsimmons said, the question was: ?How could we make a Buick fit this niche we had identified?? He calls it the ?civilized 2-seater; that?s the niche we?ve been going after,? and explained the need to ?take all the plusses of sports cars and eliminate the negatives. Take all the plusses of luxury cars and eliminate the negatives.? Just a simple case of ac-cen? tu-ate the positive and e-li? mi-nate the negative, it would seem. Fitzsimmons thinks the car is pretty close to the targeted middle ground. If it leans one way or the other, he thinks it?s more toward luxury than sport. In some ways, we agree; in other ways, not necessarily. One thing was clear: This baby was going to need some knock-out styling. Everywhere Buick asked, distinctive looks ranked high on the potential buyers? wish lists. After all, you buy an expensive 2-seater pretty much for impact down at the old country club parking lot. Now the question is: Who will want it? Fitzsimmons identified two major groups: First are the professional executive and manager types, aged somewhere between 35 and 50, what Fitzsimmons calls the ?maturing boomers.? For these people, who will likely use the Reatta on an everyday basis, it conveys success and is a present to themselves for making enough money to afford it. The second group is slightly older and favors American cars. These people may have owned a Corvette in college, and maybe now they?re looking for an automotive fountain of youth. They?re socially elite, and sob appeal weighs heavily in their purchase decisions; they want what the other guy doesn?t yet have. For all cases, the Reatta was configured to deliver the status, flair, and sporty characteristics of a sports car but without the harshness, cramped interior, or hassles. Let?s see if the Reatta so delivers. The general description is for a sleek 2-seater hardtop on a front-drive chassis that?s basically a shortened Riviera/Toronado/Eldorado platform. Power is from Buick?s3.8-liter V-6, and the only transmission choice is a 4-speed automatic. The suspension is fully independent with struts front and rear; front springs are coils and the rear a fiberglass transverse leaf. Brakes are 4-wheel discs with ABS. Steering is power-assisted rack-and-pinion. Alloy wheels, 15x6.0 in. wide, mount P215/65R15 Goodyear Eagle GT+4 blackwall tires. All body panels except the roof and front fenders are electro-galvanized steel for rust protection, and the front fenders are a thermo-plastic called GTX. The drag coefficient is 0.34. It?s equipped to the hilt, the only options being a power sunroof, 16-way power adjustable driver?s seat, and leather upholstery. Curb weight is listed as 3350 lb; the EPA numbers are 19/29 mpg city/highway. We think the price will be around $27,000. And it?s the first strictly 2-seater Buick has ever built. That?s the basic description, but is barely covers what is one of the most important new Buicks in many years. Looks were at the top of the priority list, and this thing?s got ?em and gets ?em. In our time with the Reatta, we found people either loved it or hated it, and there wasn?t much fence straddling. We put in our vote for the terrific looks faction, but they?re still counting ballots and it might not be the first time we?ve sided with the minority opinion. Anyway, we think it?s cleanly done, fresh, modern, and not like anything else on the road. In this market, the ability to stand out from the parking-lot crowd is a big part of the deal, and the Reatta does that in spades. There?s a little awkwardness on the back end, maybe. But we like the rounded rear and taillight treatment. The front end and profiles are sleek and slick. And they?ve done a nice job of using the wraparound, creased beltline to join the top to the bottom. Unfortunately, the interior isn?t anywhere close to being as nice. The problem was one of building the car on a tight budget. Since it was also built on a shortened Riviera platform, part of the budget squeeze meant that the already developed, electronic, digital Riv dashboard is now conveyored to the Reatta assembly line as well. A functional beauty it ain?t. But we understand engineering a new dashboard would have cost enough to make the Reatta a no-go, so we?re stuck with this until General Motors makes a little more money. The rest of the interior is merely uninspiring. The seats are mediocre, even the optional, 16-way adjustable driver?s seat of our test car. The trim and materials are okay. But this doesn?t look like the inside of a car that just set you back some 27 large. For a 2-seater, though, it has some worthwhile and interesting versatility. There?s a really big load shelf behind the seats, roomy enough for any well-behaved, well-curled Irish Setter. In this shelf?s floor are two lockable and good-sized storage compartments. There?s also a lockable doorway through to the fairly generous trunk for long stuff like those skis and trombone cases somebody must think we need to carry around. What the Reatta?s interior lacks, the rest of the car really busts its well-rounded butt to make up for. It deserves especially good marks on ride and handling. The shortened Riv platform, with its fully independent suspension, arrives in more-or-less T-Type calibration. That means that, while our target customers don?t want the dreaded 2-seater harshness, Buick decided they want sporty handling enough to have given the Reatta an advanced competency rating on life?s twists and turns. On our skidpad, it managed a note-worthy 0.83g worth of cornering force. On real-life roads, where suspension travel is more important than a skidpad number, the Reatta is even more impressive. It picks up its feet over bumps and dips like a defensive back doing those agility drills through old tires. Roll stiffness is ample, too, with a 31mm front bar and 16mm rear, so the up-and-down compliance over bumps doesn?t necessarily translate into cornering on the door handles. Two aspects of the Reatta?s demeanor deserve special mention. The assisted rack-and-pinion steering allows you to speak directly to the car, instead of whispering a trick phrase with a hidden meaning around a circle and hoping the tires pick it up. The second pleasant surprise is proper shock damping. Hustle the Reatta along with pretty serious abandon, and these shocks will keep things in hand. It?s unlikely any Reatta owners will expect it to behave like there are numbers on the doors. But within the context of its intended market, the Reatta can dive off a straight freeway and hold its own with a crooked canyon. Driven briskly, the Reatta is enjoyable and capable. In the chassis department, at least, Fitzsimmons? Reatta commendably leans a little more toward sport than luxury. And for its projected owner, it should definitely be fun to drive. Credit is also due the 3.8-liter V-6 engine, which benefits from another major re-think in a continuing series of upgrades. Several years ago, the 90 degree V-6 was given a split-pin crankshaft to achieve an even firing order, but it left the connecting rods uncentered in the bores, with a resulting side loading on the pistons. But now the fix is in. Basically, the block was moved around relative to the crank, the cylinders were centered over the crankpins, and the valve lifter bores adjusted appropriately. With no more side loading on the pistons, they were lightened. New cylinder heads allow better breathing and improved positioning of the fuel-injector nozzles. Finally, a counter-rotating balance shaft, driven at engine speed, was fitted above the camshaft. This engine is now a slick piece. Smoothness is so good that you don?t even think about it; what?s to notice? But you will notice its eagerness to get with the program. Last year?s 150hp is this year?s 165. And torque is up from 200 lb-ft to 210. Beyond that, it starts instantly and throttle response is of the right-now variety. It even makes a nice sound that?s definitely more sport than luxury. Translated into numbers, our fearless test driver banged the Reatta from 0-60 mph in 9.34 sec and made the quarter mile in a trip of 17.13 sec at 83.2 mph. Acceleration like this won?t win you any trophies, but it?s fast enough that you shouldn?t miss any important appointments, either. We?re betting those Reatta focus group participants will think it?s plenty quick enough for their sheltered nerve endings. It might be even more important to them that the Reatta?s 4-wheel disc brakes feature the non-skid security of ABS. So equipped, our Reatta stopped from 60 mph in 149 ft. And on one of those briskly taken drives that showed the steering and shocks working so well, the brakes chipped in with good front-to-rear balance and minimal foreboding of fade. As does any new car with at least half a personality, the Reatta has already faced its share of controversy. Not everyone who sees it likes the looks. The diehard throttle jocks wonder about any 2-seater that rides decently, can?t melt rubber, and doesn?t let the rain in. But we happen to like it. We like the looks, the way it rides and handles, the way it goes. And we think it?s targeted right on the money for its owners, of which we won?t be one, but we think they?ll love it anyway But it has three nits that are going to be picked right here and now: Instead of the familiar click-click-click, the turn signals are accompanied by a chime we found irritating. The automatic transmission works well around town, but has a big gap from 3rd to 4th. If you use the 4th gear, or overdrive, position for most driving ? as we?re certain most people will ? it shifts back and forth to excess, trying to decide which gear will work. Finally, there?s the CRT panel, a shining example of technology run amok if ever there was one. We figured it out, programmed some favorite radio stations, dialed in the air conditioner, looked at all the possible screens. We tried, but we just don?t like it. Those irritants aside, we think the Reatta is right on the money. The engine is responsive, snappy, strong, and quick. The chassis has been tuned to near-perfection for the task at hand; its ride has that well-damped feel we once could find only with better European cars, and its handling capabilities are so high we doubt if 10 owners will ever approach its upper limits on purpose. Wrap it up in styling that looks fresh, distinctive, and just plain great, and you?ve got a 2-seater that should win the hearts of those maturing boomers and socially elite, and wedge itself into a nice, neat niche in the market by doing so. The Reatta has accurately hit ?em where they ain?t. Think of at as a small niche for mankind, maybe, but a big one for Buick and GM.
