1991 OEM Pricing

[Rawja]

1991 Reatta Coupe Base Cost: $29,300.00<BR>1991 Reatta Convertable Base: $35,965.00<P>Options:<BR>CD Player: 396.00<BR>Sunroof: 895.00<BR>"16-way" seats: 680.00<BR>White Seats(conv. only): 100.00<BR>White Wheels: 100.00 <P>Other 1991 GM models' Base Cost:<P>Riviera: $ 24,560.00<BR>Allante Convertable/HT:$ 60,800.00<BR>Allante Convertable: $ 55,250.00<BR>Seville: $ 33,935<BR>Eldorado: $ 31,245<BR>Corvette Base Coupe: $ 32,455.00<BR>Corvette Convertable: $ 38,770.00<BR>Corvette ZR-1 Coupe: 64,138 <P>GM is reported to have lost $10,000 per Reatta, but that is primarily due to the fact that they expected to sell around 20,000 Reattas per year, and didn't.... Let's say they spent 200 Million on tooling and development for the Reatta (just pulling a number out of the air here). If they had met their sales projections, they would have made money because the development and tooling costs would have been spread out over 80,000 cars between 88-91 instead of over the 21,000 some-odd Reattas they managed to actually sell.

[mhoumard]

For a Concours display discussion I would like to know the comparison of the General's 1991 Reatta sale price with other GM models of that year.<P>Buick PR release shows that the 1991 Reatta listed from $29,300 to $ 35,965 (assume coupe/convertible but w/o options).<P>Mine is a "full boat" coupe; inc. sunroof, "16 way" power seat, CD player and Motorla hands-off cell phone (factory or dealer installed?). What were the costs of these options?<P>Tom Payette, the Louisville Buick dealer once said on this forum that the Reattas were sold at $10,000 below Mfg. costs! I can believe that for a "loss leader" and having personally visited the Buick Craft Centre in Lansing, MI.<P>Question is: How does the list price of a 1991 Reatta compare with the same year base Corvette and certain Cadillacs?<P>Thanks for your expert input.

[Guest]

According to Fortune magazine, GM lost 15K on each Reatta. I presume that is an average loss on the 20,000 cars. I can't imagine how much they lost on the 2,000 convertbles.

[Tom Payette]

Let me try to clarify.<BR>When we received the Reatta in 1988 the car was in short supply and were selling at or near sticker. By 1990, these cars were less desireable BECAUSE OF PRICE. The customers then AND today love the car. I still stock used Reattas and sell a few now and then to my customer base.I like having them around.<BR>Back in 1990 we found new Reattas harder to sell. Without going through the records I will bet I sold FACTORY COMPANY REATTAS to new dealer stock on a ratio of 4 or 5 to 1.A few of us spent our time at GM factory auctions trying to find Reattas. At that time most Buick dealers were cooling off to the Reatta because of the stocking problems.Auction prices were such that we were selling 500 to 3000 mile Reatta convertibles for $5000 to $7000 discounts<BR>Several years ago, I bought a 1990 Reatta from the original customer and he related to me how the Buick dealer in Texas who sold it deeply dicounted the Reatta to just get rid of it.After 100,000 miles he was reluctantly getting rid of it..and not because it had problems..just miles.<BR>The Reatta story yet to be told will be interesting to automobile historians.<P>This discussion group will be an important step in documenting the full story.I appreciate your interest and love for a very important an unique Buick!!!

[padgett]

Supect that if you look throughout automotive history (and some others) you will find that the most desirable, most collectable cars were often ones that were shunned by the marketplace when they came out.<P>Possibly the most famous I can personally attest to was a Ford dealer in Miami trying to sell off a fleet of brand new first generation (65-66)Shelby Mustangs for $1995. Just no market. Friend of mine bought a '65 289 AC Cobra from the same dealer for the same price - it was just a used car that tended to overheat.<P>Believe it was Roger Dean Chevrolet that somehow received a shipment of 1969 Z-28 Camaros just before the 70 redesign came out in the same boat (think those were $2995). They were just in a line in the back of the lot.<P>Believe I heard a similar tale about Yenko S/C 427 Camaros.<P>In any location there are only so many people who want odd cars and can afford them. Once the market is saturated, that's it.<P>Now in both cases you had coupes in Florida that did not have air conditioning which might have had something to do with it but the fact is that many highly desirable cars today just were not of much interest when new<BR>- when I was growing up, the gullwing 300SL and 190SL roadster were popular cars but the 300SL roadsters sat on lots.<P>The only one I really wanted was a Hondoras Maroon '62 FI Corvette that a dealer had in '63 after the new StingRays came out. Sat on the lot for months with progressively lower prices but never got into my range.

[reattadudes]

thank you, Mr. Padgett, for sharing my sentiments exactly. have told a sililar story for years to people who bow at the Shelby altar. they, of course, never believe (or select to forget) that those cars were stones on the lot. in some cases, the dealers just titled them as the next model year.<P>the most collectible cars are ones that people forgot about when they were new.