Reattatude Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 So I saw Reatta "death certificate" letter Ed Mertz issued and sort of said that instead of making Reattas Buick is bringing back the Roadmaster. Check it out - a 1991 RMW with real wood trim. Looks like they used the leftover steering wheels on them, I never noticed that before...beep beep. I never liked those horn buttons. Buick : Roadmaster Buick : Roadmaster | eBay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDirk Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Great. A bulbous woody wagon with the vista roof.While it is disheartening to think they killed of the Reatta for a...station wagon!?!, it was clearly the right business decision as they sold a lot of Roadmasters during that run (I think they were made through 1996). They were good cars (not my taste though) and I see a lot of them on the road still. Funny thing is that I see more wagons than sedans. Or maybe the wagons just stick out more, since they are not a common sight in general now. Oh, and the steering wheel was used in several other Buicks besides the Rivi and the Reatta. I'm fairly certain it used used on the Century, and maybe the LeSabre. You know how much GM liked their universal parts bin back in the 80's and 90's. KDirk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Actually it lives on in the front fender of my TranSport. Most buttons I ever saw in a steering wheel was on our 90 Bonne.Cruise was on the turn sig.."multifunction lever". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 why waste money putting custom wheels on a wagon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest blue72beetle Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) why waste money putting custom wheels on a wagon?Oh, I dunno.... Edited December 5, 2011 by blue72beetle (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCReatta Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 The wagons are simply incredible. '94-'96 are the best years though (LT1 Corvette engine standard).They are a dream to drive, bringing back the Buick "land-yacht" feel. My '94 has Flowmasters on it. It scares small children and grandmothers alike. I'm needing some new wheels for it. Keeping an eye out from some Corvette rims, or some Impala SS rims for it. I would put custom rims on it if I could afford it.That real wood is pretty sharp. Might be something to consider soon.. Next on the list for the wagon is the installation of a Paxton Supercharger. I've got it, just gotta install it. Sad that they stopped Reatta production for the Roadmaster wagons, but like Kevin said, it does seem to have been a better business decision for Buick. I see a good mix of wagons and sedans, but I think sedans take the majority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Wouldn't say they stopped the Reatta for the RM (was a sedan version also, sort of a steathy Impala SS). Suspect many RMs are in junkyards for failed distributers (MagnaSpark ?) - apparently the replacements (up to $500 and a pain to R&R) only last a year.Does have a bit of a cult following, they probably feel the same way about the ReattaWasn't the next vehicle built in Lansing the EV1 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BJM Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Just my personal opinion but it appears MOST manufacturers that come out with clean sheet halo cars let them run their course without a new one replacing them, more so now then back in the 50's to 60's. Examples include the Reatta which had a 3 1/2 year run without radical changes. The last gen Buick Riviera which was radical when introduced and never given a shot at a new replacement, ran 4 years. OBD II killed the Japanese sports car market at the time in 1995-96 when the Mazda RX7, Toyota Supra and then Nissan 300Z ended production. Mazda came back with the RX8, which had a 6-7 year run but was never changed in style or anything, and now is done again.The Aurora by Olds was half heartedly redone but essentially never changed much from it's initial platform. Companies put so much tooling and cash into a 'halo' car then try to recoup the money by not changing the platform for a few years only to face a point where the car's sales decline and no replacement is forthcoming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 [Wasn't the next vehicle built in Lansing the EV1 ?id LOVE to have an EV1 but the oil companies paid off gm and they were all crushed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Actually, three-four years for a special model is typical, the "E" platform lasted much longer. I used to think that Buick had an "ugly" stylist whose job was to take a nice design and "uglify" early years to maintain a market. Examples are the 63-65 Riviera, 71-73 Riviera, and the 68-72 Skylark. In each case, the third year (70 in the case of the Skylark and then it was the GS that got the full treatment) was the way it always should have looked. Then the whole line changes. Headlights, taillights, and chrome are the easiest to manipulate.One noticable exception was the 67 Pontiac GP. Really a Catalina with a different nose cap, tail cap, front bumper, and loss of chrome it still looked so different from the rest of the line that the association was lost. From the back it looked like a GTO and from the front, like a Cougar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gotitright Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 They stopped Reatta production because it was not selling. Look at the 91 figures versus 90 back to 88. I am not really sure what Buick was thinking on this. I am glad I have my 91 though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reattatude Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 Wouldn't say they stopped the Reatta for the RM (was a sedan version also, sort of a steathy Impala SS). Suspect many RMs are in junkyards for failed distributers (MagnaSpark ?) - apparently the replacements (up to $500 and a pain to R&R) only last a year.Does have a bit of a cult following, they probably feel the same way about the ReattaWasn't the next vehicle built in Lansing the EV1 ?Yeah but replacing the Optispark doesnt daunt the true believers in these wagons. Ive had my wagon 4 years and no spark problem..crossing fingers! Oh, and I am not saying Reatta was replaced by Roadmaster - that was in Ed Mertz letter but the sales of Reatta were down. Roadmasters were produced in Arlington Tx.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booreatta Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 [Wasn't the next vehicle built in Lansing the EV1 ?id LOVE to have an EV1 but the oil companies paid off gm and they were all crushed.Not all EV1s were crushed there is one in the GM Heritage Center in Flint, at least it was there in 2008Chuck Kerls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrspeedyt Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 there is one in sacramento at the museum... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wws944 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 There actually are a few EV-1s, of a sort, still in operation. GM built a few S-10 pickup trucks with the EV-1 powertrain. Unlike the EV-1 cars, the S-10s were *sold* to customers, so couldn't be recalled and crushed. I saw one a couple of years ago running around here. The guy who owns it was talking about how he had upgraded the batteries for more range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCReatta Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Interesting read: Chevrolet S-10 EV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmedownreatta Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 Interesting read: Chevrolet S-10 EV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediai wasn't aware of the electric s10 and ranger.id love to have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wws944 Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 I wish I'd had time to look over the S-10 EV, but was in a bit of a hurry that day.I know someone who bought a RAV4 EV back then. Was quite proud of it because, like Prius/Insight, he could drive in the car pool lanes at rush hour. He probably still has it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steveskyhawk Posted December 6, 2011 Share Posted December 6, 2011 There are two EV-1s at the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReattaTType Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 The EV-1 and EV-1 cutaway are both still at the GM Heritage Center along with the Impact Concept car. There are many EV-1s that sit in museums all over the United States, Smithsonian is another museum. These vehicles however are disabled and battery packs removed. The only running vehicles that still exist are a rumoured running EV-1 in Arizona and a running EV-1 in the Detroit area that is usually seen around 10 Mile in Warren. This EV-1 is different from the EV-1 in the Heritage Center which also has its running gear. Many were also disabled and sent to schools alike the Reatta. A school in Arizona or California I believe had gotten one of the EV-1s and has since made it run again. However, it cannot be titled. The only one I have seen in private ownership is the 10 Mile EV-1, I have seen it on two occasions despite I live in Canada. My guess would be a GM engineer who had decided to keep the car. The discontinuation letter for the Reatta says that the Reatta met sales figures for the first two years, but let down for 1990 and 1991. The plant was then being used for the EV-1. Afterwards ASC had access with GM to the plants to build the Cavalier/Sunfire convertibles and then the SSR. From what I know the plant was an old Oldsmobile engine plant, then Reatta Craft Center, EV-1 Craft Center then a GM/ASC production facility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawja Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 AFAIR when the Seville was redesigned in '98 the Eldorado no longer had platform commonality and production was moved to Lansing for the remainder of the run (MY 2002). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reattatude Posted December 17, 2011 Author Share Posted December 17, 2011 The only one I have seen in private ownership is the 10 Mile EV-1, I have seen it on two occasions despite I live in Canada. My guess would be a GM engineer who had decided to keep the car. I find it difficult to believe that any EV-1's would be privately owned! Didn't GM crush/disable them because they would have been obligated to have to supply parts for them for 7 years? And I would think that's a law even if one car were left on the road. Whoever has a EV-1 must be a V.I.P in GM's eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
padgett Posted December 17, 2011 Share Posted December 17, 2011 A lot of cars have been mysteriously saved. Usually they disappear entirely but sometimes not. It is not difficult to get a title and registration if do not care where. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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