Allante

[Charlie B.]

I've been looking at the Allantes' on E-Bay. Boy they look good.

I'm really tempted. But a couple of my mechanical and body shop friends tell me they are problem ridden.

Any one have any experience or knowledge on these great looking cars???

I trust the judddgement of you regulars on the forum.

Charlie.B

[Guest EDBSO]

http://www.allantenet.org/

and

http://www.allante.com/

I like them. 93 is best I believe

There is a low mileage 1 owner 88 silver Allante on my street.

[Roadster90]

Both above group links courtesy of Robert are tight knit and great-research the 1st (net.org) and they will send you a sample newsletter.

[Guest]

They are all complex vehicles, but no more failure prone than other luxury market car. They are certainly cheaper to maintain than any equivalent milage/age vehicle from the Fatherland.

The 93 has about 100HP more than the previous models, and has a powetrain with the internals of a Suburban. It has right at twice the HP of Reatta.

[TheBlackMoon]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that would be in excess of 320HP, right? Wasn't the Grand Nat at, like 300? And a hell of a lot heavier? That would mean that it was faster than ol' Grandma Natalie, wouldn't it? Yeah, Right! Sure! Grandma kicked A$$!!!

[Richard S]

I have an 87. The good points are the Italian styling, the fit of the panels, and the fact that the motor, like our Reatta's, is off GM's shelf [87-8=4.1; 89-92=4.5; 93=Northstar]. Yes, all are correct that the 93 corrected a variety of chronic problems, particularly the Bosch III braking system, which, like our Teves, is subject to catastrophic failure. Replacement cost is slightly higher, but luckily Prior Reman sells them exchange, as they do the Teves. Downside is that they can be plagued by minor electrical problems, such as battery drains caused by the doorlock system. The convertible top is, despite some comments to the contrary, both tedius to raise and lower, and subject to pull down motor failure [which can also drain the battery]. Like out Reattas, the tranny is marginal. The V8s are tuned port and pretty peppy, even the 4.1. Like the REatta it is a GT, not a sports car. I would make sure I found one that did not exhibit brake problems [run the Reatta Tests; they are similar]and comes with the removeable hardtop. Aftermarket prices for the latter range from $400-1000 plus shipping. Be aware: If you get into a scrape with one of these babies, you will pay dearly for body parts, which are shared by no other car. I was forced to run over a traffic cone on the freeway and am facing repair of the plastic bumper cover because the asking prices are $1700-2500 for used ones!!!! My other beef is that for a car that Caddy projected getting $60k for, the inside is chock full of plastic and vinyl, with no relief from wood anywhere. The early seats were Recarros, but a lot of people do not find them comfortable. I do. The 93 is the pick of the litter, but you will pay about double for it. Finally, the sound system by Bose is a disaster. Sound's OK, but speaker amps go out and they are very expensive to repair. The dash configuration does not allow for any aftermarket installation presently known to man or beast, so you are pretty much stuck with 10-15 year old audio technology [there is a company that makes amplifiers that allow use of the stock radio with new speakers].

[Guest EDBSO]

The Grand National was built for one purpose "to go like stink in a straight line". Transmission and differential were geared simply for acceleration. The GN guys are able to tweak their rides and today they are even faster. They stock, they were the fastest GM car in production. Yes faster than the Corvette.

I paced a GN for a few hundred miles on I81 one day, cruise set at 74 mph. Went by a radar car at the side and in the rear view say him pull over the GN. They attracted cops like bees to honey.

My ride then 89 SHO, K&N, CAI, Ypipe, Cat back, Bored TB but looked like a conservative standard 4 door Taurus with sunroof and leather. Qship is what I would call it. That plain vanilla Taurus look saved me several times.

[Guest]

The V4J Northstar Allantes are 300HP.

Bob Rich

[TheBlackMoon]

Uh, did I say OUCH!!!!? I meant <span style="font-weight: bold"> <span style="font-style: italic">O U C H !!!!!!!!</span> </span>

I've seen the Allante. It's smaller than my Reatta, I think. With a good tranny and a little programming....... Hmmmm ?

[Guest]

How many Allante untes were made?