1991 Select Sixty

[Guest steveskyhawk]

And it came with 16 way seats on both sides!

[wws944]

That is a wild color combo. Color matching shift knob too. Tell us more?

And Steve, I wonder what the brass plaque on the ash tray cover says? Zooming on the photo, it does not seem to a "Expressly made for" plaque. (Not the right size, and the lettering looks wrong.)

Edited March 21, 2013 by wws944 (see edit history)

[Guest HessLakeGuy]

Interesting picture. I have never seen that color combo before.

Vehicle looks like new.

Tom

[KDirk]

Clearly a custom job, being white and tan (not flame red) interior and having dual "true" 16 way seats installed. The shift knob could've been done after the fact by an auto upholsterer, but not sure. I've never seen the Reatta style knob in anything but black. The T-handle and L-handle type shift knobs on other GM models were routinely issued in color matched leather for Cadillac and Oldsmobile from the mid 80's to the mid 90's or so, maybe the straight knob with the thumb button was also; I just haven't seen one.

A beautiful car no doubt, but I still prefer flame red as the complementary color to white interior treatment. White/blue is ok but still doesn't "jump out" the way white/red did (at least to my eyes).

Steve, is this a recent acquisition of yours, or just a car you know of/stumbled across? Whoever owns it is quite fortunate to have a prime specimen in their possession.

KDirk

[wws944]

... The shift knob could've been done after the fact by an auto upholsterer, but not sure. I've never seen the Reatta style knob in anything but black. The T-handle and L-handle type shift knobs on other GM models were routinely issued in color matched leather for Cadillac and Oldsmobile from the mid 80's to the mid 90's or so, maybe the straight knob with the thumb button was also; I just haven't seen one...

Some '87 Rivs had color keyed shift knobs like that. (Maybe in '86 too?) I have a garnet red one in my Reatta right now.

[Guest steveskyhawk]

Walter and all,

Here is a pic of the plaque. That car also has a suede tan color keyed headliner

[KDirk]

Ahh, that plaque. I seem to recall seeing a picture of that one here before, perhaps on another car. If memory serves, it was from a Reatta meet of some sort years back. The pic is a bit fuzzy, but looks like "La Jolla, CA July 1994". The Reatta logo can clearly be made out of course.

Walter-

Thanks for the clarification. I had not seen color keyed knobs of that variety yet, but am not surprised to learn they existed. Seems very few models got the Reatta style shift knob (outside of the Rivi), many more got the T handle (used in a number of Cadillacs, including the Cimmaron) and the L handle used in the Allante and Eldorado among others.

I still wish there was a way to put the loop (aircraft throttle) style shifter of the late 80's Toronado in the Reatta. I looked at doing this, but too much modification was needed to make it work and look decent. Also very hard to find this one in decent condition to begin with.

KDirk

[wws944]

...Thanks for the clarification. I had not seen color keyed knobs of that variety yet, but am not surprised to learn they existed. Seems very few models got the Reatta style shift knob (outside of the Rivi), many more got the T handle (used in a number of Cadillacs, including the Cimmaron) and the L handle used in the Allante and Eldorado among others.

I just looked it up in the Illustrations pdf. The color keyed shift knobs were a 1987 only option in the Riviera. See page 4-122 (Automatic transmission -> Shift control.) The '86 Rivs had a "T" shift knob - but did come in a couple of colors. The red ones were carmine - which is a brighter red than garnet - which is almost a maroon.

There were a bunch of cars that used the same/similar black shift knob as the Reatta. Chevys, Pontiacs, Olds, and other Buicks.

I have both black and garnet red versions of the Caddy "L" and "T" shift knobs. I've tried them all. I guess I am like a woman looking for a perfect hat... For the moment am using the red '87 Riv one - because it is the same style as the original and is a rare color. I had it in the car when I drove down to the Reatta Rally last year, but doubt if anyone noticed. Will have to go back to the original black one for Portland next year.

I still wish there was a way to put the loop (aircraft throttle) style shifter of the late 80's Toronado in the Reatta. I looked at doing this, but too much modification was needed to make it work and look decent. Also very hard to find this one in decent condition to begin with.

The 'horse shoe' tranny shifters were definitely cool looking. Harkens back to the 442s.

Edited March 22, 2013 by wws944 (see edit history)

[D-a-n-i-e-l]

If you ever want to get rid of here I know of a nice home for her.

[Vincent Vega]

Nice car.

I have seen 88 promo pictures with a interior matching(tan) shift knob.

[Guest steveskyhawk]

A couple more pics answer a lot of questions. If a 1991 Select 60 were built what would it look like? I thought the tan and white would look good together so I made one. I'm sure you could have had one built back in 1991 if you asked the right people. Documentation wouldn't exist due to the fact it was non standard. I have had this 91 vert for years. I just wanted to see the car as it coulda woulda shoulda been. This is the same car as in my avatar and signature. Not new. Nearly 100K

A little history. I bought this car from the original owner's daughter. She lived in Hollywood California. Kingsley had found it and I was told about it by from Mike at buickreattaparts.com. It didn't run but I bought it anyway. It had a short in the battery. New battery it and ran like new. It was originally purchased in Pasadena California by the then Mayor of Culver City. John "BROGGY" Brogdon. Mr Brogdon once ran for Los Angeles County Assessor. Years after the purchase I had business with the Assessor's office. I offhandedly asked the clerk if she remembered Mr Brogden and specifically his convertible. Her reaction was delightful. She remembered Mr Brogden, His Convertible and told me that he just loved that car. I like it too

Note: If you look at the pic in post #6 you can see the ""Skyhawk" as in Steveskyhawk.

Edited March 26, 2013 by steveskyhawk (see edit history)

[padgett]

Some of the most interesting Pontiacs had the note "body in aisle" or "body in engineering" meaning something special was going on. The best one is that all of the dual quad super duty 421 4-speeds were billed out as a 389-2bbl with 3 speed manual. Never say never (but look at the SPI).