This Reatta illness is taking over-HELP

[Guest Richard D]

One of my favorite color combos is white exterior, white leather seats and flame red interior. I have never come across a factory car like this. If I were to take my black 1990 coupe and have the interior removed and car painted white, new white leather seat covers, and red carpet, red dash how much would I lose in the car no longer matching factory and all the work to be done. I figure new leather covers $600.00 to $800.00, paint color change $1,900.00 and $300.00 for red carpet, dash and door panel dyeing.

Is this the dumbest thing I can do? Should I keep looking for a 90/91 white one then have the interior done. Has anyone seen a Reatta with white seats?

Edited September 5, 2012 by Richard D (see edit history)

[Guest BJM]

Should I keep looking for a 90/91 white one then have the interior done.

Yes.

[NCReatta]

If you could at least start with a white car, you'd be saving some money. You can buy a lot of decent cars for $1900. If you really want "Flame Red", you're going to have to get a '91. Either that or a '90 Select 60 convertible. 88-90 all used "garnet red" which is really more of a burgundy.

[padgett]

and then there is the foundling. White/white/red. Haven't done more than mechanicals & tires yet. Nicest interior I have.

[KDirk]

Richard,

Unless your car needs a full repaint, I'd not recommend changing the color. Actually, I'd not recommend changing the color in any case, as doing so is a major undertaking to do correctly. Not only does the interior have to come out, but the door sills, insides of the doors, all around and into the trunk, and the inner fenders all need to be painted for it to look good (so that the color change is not obvious with doors/trunk/hood open).

Changing the interior color is also difficult as "painting" new color on the vinyl/rubber parts never holds up as well as the original factory color on those parts. So, you will end up with rub marks and such from normal use and wear that will reveal the original interior color on the door panels, dash, rear quarter trim, etc. You'd have to find new (or good used) seat belts in either white or flame red, all the color keyed plastics, and buy, cut and install new carpeting as well.

To really do it right, unless you are doing much of the work yourself, I'd expect you could have well over $5000 invested for a good quality paint job and all the interior work (labor adds up faster than materials on this kind of work). A mediocre to average job could be done for less, but what is the point of that? Also, coupes never came with the combo white/red interior (only the 1990 select 60 convertibles were made this way, and a few specially built 91 s/60 clones) so if you want a coupe, better to find a 1991 White over red coupe like the one I own, and maybe redo just the seats in white. White door panels would be very difficult to do as painting over the red will have the same wear problem already cited. Also a pain to keep clean, and due to the way they are upholstered, repeated cleaning to keep them bright will deteriorate the finish - and the vinyl - even faster I imagine.

I paid just under $5K for my 91 in 2008, and probably overpaid slightly at that given the overall condition. I recently saw (now I don't remember where, maybe Ebay) a 91 white over red coupe for about $5800. Seem to recall it was in pretty nice shape, and that would get you 90%+ of the way there to the color combo you seek (assuming you want a coupe). That price is probably not much more than what a first rate conversion of your current car would cost to change both interior and exterior color.

KDirk

[Guest Richard D]

Thank's to all, I now realize that it was the Reatta illness that took over my common sense for several days. I am better now. I did not know that flame red was a 91 only color, I do like it better than the burgendy interiors I have seen. That said, Padgetts foundling looks much nicer than the burgundy interiors I have seen. The paint on my 90 is in great shape, what got me thinking was one small spot on the drivers seat is showing wear on the seat bolster behind the 16 way controls, where the seat belt rubs when in use. Like I said, my brain must have gone to the Bahamas for a while. I am better now... Really!

Best Regards

Richard

JUST FIGURED IY OUT, MY HIGH SCHOOL COLORS WERE RED & GRAY! and gray has gotten boring in modern cars.

Edited September 7, 2012 by Richard D (see edit history)

[KDirk]

Richard,

I will say I really like the flame red, it is very distinctive especially in this age of boring neutral interiors on almost all cars. Seems like reds are making a bit of a comeback as I see recent model year Mustangs and some BMW's (of all makes!) with red leather interiors on the road. Now GM just needs to get back to offering colors besides grey, beige and black again.

FWIW, the burgundy on the 88-90 Reatta is also nice. A bit deep, but certainly not as much as that used on mid-90's Cadillacs and some Buicks that was almost a black cherry to plum color it was so dark. I don't care for that shade at all, it may as well be black as it is just barely burgundy. The funny thing I notice about the Reatta burgundy interior is that is almost always photographs lighter than it looks in person, resulting in it appearing more red than it really is. That said, I have it in my 88 and really like it, although maybe not quite as much as the flame red.

I know some refer to burgundy as "bordello red" and GM certainly made generous use of the color in the 80's to the point of ubiquity, but compared to current muted offerings it is rather unusual and I think it is a rich looking color. Now, at the risk of offending some here, I do not care for blue interiors at all. Of course color preference is entirely subjective and suspect there are at least as many who dislike burgundy and red. That's why they offered a choice of colors after all.

KDirk

[padgett]

Does seem odd that except for the SS and a few 91s they never offered white or black interiors. That said, I could not imagine my triple blue 88 with any other color interior. Blue is said to be calming and have no problem with it in my dd (white/blue/blue).

That said I have known a few people who were really bothered by red interiors, no idea why. Have no doubt it says something about their personality but no idea what.

Have seen some dark red interiors, it seems to age darker for some reason. The foundling is a real red, picture was taken without flash.

[wws944]

Does seem odd that except for the SS and a few 91s they never offered white or black interiors. That said, I could not imagine my triple blue 88 with any other color interior. Blue is said to be calming and have no problem with it in my dd (white/blue/blue).

If the Reatta had lasted until '92, it would have been easy for Buick to offer a 'black' interior. The '92 and '93 Riviera offered a graphite interior which is essentially black. It is pretty rare. In the three years that I have paid attention, I've only seen one with that interior at a Pick N Pull. I have the console arm rest from it. The rest of the interior disappeared very quickly afterwards.

Black with a garnet red interior can look terrific. I remember long ago a friend bought a new '76 Trans Am with that color combo. (Complete with chicken decal on the hood.) It was striking and unusual. Silver (e.g., zermatt silver) with red interior is also a classic sports car combination.

[padgett]

Most British sports cars (Jag, MG) of the 50's had red seats. On a hot day the back of a white shirt also became red. Through the years my personal favourite was a BRG exterior and saddle interior.

[Guest Richard D]

I need to look up garnet red. The 1990 Reatae I have looked at that were white with burgundy interior looked dark and the creases in the leather stuck out, hard to explain but they seemed to have a "dark cave" look. It always happens at once, I realized my tags on both the 1971 Skylark vert and the Reatta expired last month, then last night the 21 year old Delco battery (honest, 21 years old sat in a closet for about 10 years and was charged once a year) in the 90 failed and on Monday I have to go for an MRI with no insurance so I will not be buying any more toys for awhile. FYI in Florida a Reatta/Skylark tag is $58.33 each, I may look into an antique or collectable tag for the Skylark.

[Guest BJM]

Richard,

I will say I really like the flame red, it is very distinctive especially in this age of boring neutral interiors on almost all cars. Seems like reds are making a bit of a comeback as I see recent model year Mustangs and some BMW's (of all makes!) with red leather interiors on the road. Now GM just needs to get back to offering colors besides grey, beige and black again.

FWIW, the burgundy on the 88-90 Reatta is also nice. A bit deep, but certainly not as much as that used on mid-90's Cadillacs and some Buicks that was almost a black cherry to plum color it was so dark. I don't care for that shade at all, it may as well be black as it is just barely burgundy. The funny thing I notice about the Reatta burgundy interior is that is almost always photographs lighter than it looks in person, resulting in it appearing more red than it really is. That said, I have it in my 88 and really like it, although maybe not quite as much as the flame red.

I know some refer to burgundy as "bordello red" and GM certainly made generous use of the color in the 80's to the point of ubiquity, but compared to current muted offerings it is rather unusual and I think it is a rich looking color. Now, at the risk of offending some here, I do not care for blue interiors at all. Of course color preference is entirely subjective and suspect there are at least as many who dislike burgundy and red. That's why they offered a choice of colors after all.

KDirk

Kevin

Well written. As an auto technician from 1998 to 2005, I was present when the manufacturers completed the transition from several offerings of interiors to grey or taupe. I was and remain disappointed and the Reatta is one of the last collectible vehicles that offered several leather color (and matching vinyl) options. Imagine if Reattas only came in tan and grey leather interiors.

I too like the burgandy. I am a fan of the dark blue interior and I like the tan because it reminds me of the "saddle" interiors of the 60's, such as Wildcat and Corvettes.

When I find a Reatta on CraigsList after noting the exterior color, I want to know what that interior color is. Since I am a Driftwood fan, my interior choice is limited. But my followup favorite coupe color is Burgandy w Burgandy or "Bordello Red" interior. I located a white convertible close to me that was White/Blue, a combination I really like. I personally like it better then White/Red but either Blue or Red, I think the best thing is the extreme contrast to the white body, where a White/Grey sort of gets "washed out" a little.

But the point remains is that Reatta owners are some of the last collectors to get real choice in what we choose to collect.

[wws944]

"Garnet red" was GMs official name for what many generically call "burgundy". It is a very dark color. After about '92, GM switched to "ruby red" - which could still be called "burgundy". But by direct comparison, ruby is decidedly a bit more purple in comparison. My Suburban has a ruby red interior, so is easy for me to compare them.