REATTA 'BUICK' letters on trunk lid

[Guest jkhs]

I need the letter 'K' for the word "Buick" on the back of my 1988 Reatta....

Does anyone have any ideas for me?

[Guest mhuffy]

On the bumpers of the later models of the Century, there are the BUICK letters. From a distance, they look like they could be either the same or adapted. Does anyone know if these can be used?

[KDirk]

Marc,

Pretty sure those won't work. The BUICK inlay on the Reatta tail lamp lens is larger than any other version I have seen. To make matters worse, all the other Buicks of the era (late 80's-early 90's) used a different logo type, more of a serif type font than the very plain wide, short letters used on the Reatta. I always thought this was strange, as it was entirely unique to the Reatta, and is carried over into the sunburst logo and the center cap emblems.

Even the engraved BUICK on the 5 spoke wheels from 88-90 was in this simplified style, rather than the logo used on all other cars and marketing materials. Curiously, the original Reatta full color brochure (with the Red/Tan 88) shows the conventional Buick logo type on the wheels. Obviously, the photos were either taken of a prototype set of wheels that were revised prior to production, or were retouched.

This difference also ties in with the complete absence of the traditional Buick tri-shield logo on the Reatta. This is yet another mystery to me, perhaps someone here knows the particular thinking on why this was done; Barney perhaps? NYBob might pose this question to his contacts from the recent thread on how the Reatta got it's name as well. Since it was identified as "Reatta by Buick" on the dashboard emblem, it seems kind of like the approach taken on the "Cimarron by Cadillac" whereas most GM cars never used this kind of naming convention. Usually, the brand went first, then the model name (i.e. Chevy Malibu, not Malibu by Chevy). Corvette is another unique case, where very little mention is made of Chevy; no big honking bowtie, just the two-flag emblem and the "corvette" lettering on the rear. Clearly, a distinction of some sort is being made here by not following the "normal rules of badging".

As far as finding a spare K, the letters do show up on ebay once in a while, and Jim Finn may have some (I think he sells these separately from the tail lamp itself).

KDirk

[Guest Telco]

So what, there's letters in the tail light that are removable? Mine has no such thing, the letters are embossed into the tail light itself. Looks pretty good that way too. I'd upload a pic, but the cable that lets me move pics from the camera to the computer is missing.

[KDirk]

Telco,

The letters are actually separate pieces of chrome plated plastic (they are not metal as I originally suspected) held in with foam (similar to 3M VHB) emblem tape that is die cut to the shape of each letter. The fit is tight enough that they look as though they are embossed into the tail lamp lens plastic as one piece.

The letter inlays are individually removable (if you are careful) with a dental pick or similar implement to get under the edge of the letter and pry away from the adhesive pad. Many Reatta's are now loosing their tail lamp letters as age and exposure have weakened the adhesive pads under the letters. Car washes seem to a good place to loose these, another reason I never do anything but a hand wash on mine.

Perhaps I've misunderstood you - maybe all your letters are missing, and the adhesive was cleaned from the cavities where they once were. If yours is still stock, each "embossed" letter cavity in the clear outer lens has a chrome plated letter that is affixed as an inlay. Without these, the "BUICK" name simply shows the same color as the tail lamp lens, and is not as easily visible at night when the tail lamp is lit.

KDirk

[Jim]

I have the letters available. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

[Guest ekvh]

I have only the K left, but it's better than any K car.

[Dales90]

Regarding the lack of a tri-shield on the Reatta, I think ties in with what changes they made between 63 and 64 Rivieras.

The 63, proudly displays many tri-shields, and BUICK nomencalture to make it known that first year, it was indeed a Buick.

But with name recognition, the 64 went totally R logo. I once told my best friend my 64 had no reference to Buick nor tri-shield, then he pointed out the radio buttons.........

Just a thought, total model recognition.

Dale

[wws944]

The '90 Reatta owners manual has a tri-shield on its front cover. Was it a mistake?

[KDirk]

wws944-

The owners (and service) manuals do have the tri-shield, but it does not appear anywhere on the car itself. For clarification, I was referring only to the car and not to manuals/marketing materials, etc. Just something I've found curious ever since my initial interest in Reattas.

I was not aware that the '64 Riv had minimalist badging as Dale pointed out above. With that info, there is clearly some precedent for this approach. I cannot think of any other Buick I have seen (say from 1976 on) that lacked a tri-shield somewhere on the exterior save for the Reatta. 64 Rivi predates me by a whole decade, so I wouldn't have known that, and not many are seen on the road for me to have noticed.

I guess with the Reatta Buick wanted to create a car that could stand on it's own and be instantly recognizable as a Buick, even without the tri-shield and a bunch of other gaudy badging. Stands to reason as it was supposed to be a halo car for the brand.

I will give them credit, looks wise it is a beauty and truly one of kind - no other GM division got the chance to "badge engineer" the body and recycle it, so it was and is uniquely Buick.

KDirk

[Guest Richard D]

I have the letters available. I can be reached at jfinn@cpinternet.com

ONCE AGAIN JIM COMES TO THE RESCUE!!

[Guest steveskyhawk]

No rescue was required. I sent her the part she needed on Monday (yesterday) morning.

To the new people on this forum please feel free to contact me if you need a part for your Reatta or Riviera. With six Reattas of my own I have or can find just about anything you might need. The cars in California are corrosion free, plentiful, and accessible.

[Guest Telco]

Neat, thanks. I wish there were a way to eliminate even the depressions on the tail light, because with a de-badging I'd have an unknown car. I've only come across one or two people that knew what I was driving, and I like the idea of driving a UFO.

[Guest spyhunter2k]

I thought about completely debadging my car as well, but as sporty as the car looks, and especially how sporty mine will finally look when the modifications are complete, there's even more satisfaction in seeing the doubletakes and hearing people say "That's a...Buick?!"

Mine is partially debadged, as it's had the side mouldings removed (with their "Reatta" script) and the "Reatta" script from the back bumper has also been removed. But I'll keep the taillight letters and front hood badge for now. The font used for "BUICK" in the taillight doesn't look dated and the badge just looks dang cool, especially since it was unique to the Reatta and used instead of the traditional tri-shield emblem.