Original Document??

[RetroJohnny]

Hey everyone, so yesterday I was deep cleaning the interior of the Reatta, and I decided I'd get all the loose change, and gunk out from under the seats and I saw this paper, so I unfolded it. And what I saw next i was amazed, from first glance it looks like an old original GM document of some sort, it is real old brittle paper and talks about early Reatta production and design. But is it legit?? And why would the previous owner have something like this under their driver seat? Odd topic, but any comments??

[Ronnie]

It looks like an official document to me. It clearly explains why we didn't get rear wheel drive, supercharged drivetrain that would have made the icon it should be. Now we need to know more about Mr. McIntosh the Renaissance Center.

[Ronnie]

You may have a historic document as far as Buick Reatta is concerned.

David McIntosh, GM Designer

Scroll down to the Reatta section.

[Nittany]

Wow!!! 

 

That is a neat find!!  We can interpret the meaning in different ways; personally, I choose to believe that the designer wanted the supercharged engine to be a part of the project from day one.  Seems like when I save enough money to swap in the upgraded powertrain that rather than feeling guilty for changing the original, I can claim that I am simply converting to the designers' preferred engine.  Haha

 

Kudos to all those who have already swapped in a supercharged engine!!  And yes, I am intentionally ignoring the rear wheel drive reference for now!

Edited January 6, 2018 by Nittany (see edit history)

[DAVES89]

I believe that the super charged rear wheel drive was on the "wish" list there was no way that Buick would sign off on two different drive syatems for a limited production car. Can you inagine all the extra parts and maybe even body changes?

 GM [Buick] had deep enough pockets for a prototype but no way two different cars in the same years. In all honesty I am surprised that Buick allowed retooling for the 90/91 and added a convertible because the unit sold numbers already weren't there.

[91vert]

If I remember right Dave was at the Nationals in 03' and 08'.

He brought along some of his pictures of the proto-types and talked about them.

There was also other people that were involved with the Reatta project.

I can't remember their names but maybe Barney's memory is better than mine.

If I remember right Dave had a green coupe, not a convertible.

 

Cal.

[handmedownreatta]

2 hours ago, Nittany said:

Wow!!! 

 

That is a neat find!!  We can interpret the meaning in different ways; personally, I choose to believe that the designer wanted the supercharged engine to be a part of the project from day one.  Seems like when I save enough money to swap in the upgraded powertrain that rather than feeling guilty for changing the original, I can claim that I am simply converting to the designers' preferred engine.  Haha

 

Kudos to all those who have already swapped in a supercharged engine!!  And yes, I am intentionally ignoring the rear wheel drive reference for now!

me too.however the car was already too expensive to add to.

[SCOTT's 90's]

I want to know what happened to the "Experimental" one that was tested? Was it an actual Reatta or more to the tune of a concept car that is in those pictures.

Very interesting Rare find though, might be worth quite a bit or maybe you could seal it and frame it so it doesn't get anymore brittle.

[Barney Eaton]

I cannot make the picture big enough to read but Dave Mcintosh did the original sketch for the Reatta and worked on the program....he was at Flint in 2008 and never owned a Reatta until after he retired.

If there is any confusion about the meaning of the letter (I cannot see the date) I can contact him and send him a good copy.

 

In 1989 Buick built some special cars to show the press, among them were several Reatta

I will need to dig out my documentation to get the exact details but one car was wrecked by the press during the demonstration and the others were scrapped.

I have two articles....one was in Car and Driver and the other was in "Inside Buick" the publication they gave employees.

[Barney Eaton]

I pulled the Spring 1989 issue of "Inside Buick" to review the details.

 

There were 6 modified Buicks.......

(1) Electra wagon with wood grain and a modified Grand National engine

(2) Red Regal 3800 supercharged

(3) two tone silver Regal rear wheel drive turbocharged and intercooled

(4) Red turbocharged Reatta with low boost

(5) Red turbocharged Reatta with high boost....this was wrecked by the press

(6) Grey rear drive Reatta turbocharged and intercooled  245 HP

 

Below is a one page article from the same issue telling about building these special cars.

 

[SpecialEducation]

The thing I don’t get... who was this letter addressed to, and why?  

[KDirk]

It looks like a kind of like a press release as a form letter. It isn't written in the form of correspondence to a customer as there is no addressee at the top, just a letter head with some facts and information signed by David Mcintosh. Part of a press kit related to the turbo cars maybe?  Or a follow on to same after these cars were shown and tested and people were enquiring on the availability of such cars as production vehicles? It clearly states production of these cars is not being planned. Interesting nonetheless.

 

Is the signature real ink or simply part of a photocopy that includes the body of the letter?

[RetroJohnny]

17 minutes ago, KDirk said:

It looks like a kind of like a press release as a form letter. It isn't written in the form of correspondence to a customer as there is no addressee at the top, just a letter head with some facts and information signed by David Mcintosh. Part of a press kit related to the turbo cars maybe?  Or a follow on to same after these cars were shown and tested and people were enquiring on the availability of such cars as production vehicles? It clearly states production of these cars is not being planned. Interesting nonetheless.

 

Is the signature real ink or simply part of a photocopy that includes the body of the letter?

I have studied the paper for a while now, and it looks like real ink to me, you can see the indent of it on the back side. My biggest question is why would the previous owner have this stowed away under the seat? How in the world did they get it?

[RetroJohnny]

39 minutes ago, SpecialEducation said:

The thing I don’t get... who was this letter addressed to, and why?  

My thoughts exactly!! I am stumped.

[jonlabree]

What about the blue Reatta that was supercharged and RWD?

The one that the video show.

[89RedDarkGrey]

21 hours ago, Barney Eaton said:

I cannot make the picture big enough to read

 

Click on the photo, then click again. It should open up in a new Tab/Window. Your cursor will be a "magnifying glass" with a "+" sign. Click on the photo; it will be greatly enlarged, and easily readable.