Will The Real GNX Jr. Please Stand Up?

[Filobedo]

This is a two page b/w Magazine article from a 'July 1989 MuscleCar Review'. I found it after me & my girlfriend split up for a while. This proves that a RWD Reatta was and can be made. I think the car was black, had flared ground-effects with a power bulge on the hood like an Eclipse except on the right. I can't post it but, If you Private Message me I may be able to Fax you a copy.

Will The Real GNX Jr. Please Stand Up?

BUICK CONCEPT CARS By Tom Shaw

Here's the deal that Buick offered Muscle Car Review: Come and play with our hand-built, turbocharged and supercharged prototype cars at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, tell us what you like and help us decide what to build in the future .We'll pick up your airfare, lodging and meals. Gee, rough job but somebody's got to do it, right?

Magnanimous lot that we are , we left the Desert Southwest to help Buick answer that perplexing question; how do you follow your own act when it's a blockbuster like the GNX?

Upon arrival at the track it was evident that Mike Doble and crew from Buick Advanced Concepts had already given that question some thought. In fact, they had gone so far as to build a handful of possible answers.

Half a dozen forced-induction V-6 Buicks sat hoods-up in the infield, inviting our srutiny. A turbocharged rear wheel drive Reatta, supercharged front-wheel drive Regal, tur-bo'ed RWD Regal, low-boost and high-boost FWD Reattas and the fastest of all, an, uh... Electra Estate Wagon? All were painstakingly crafted and though they were one-of-a-kind prototypes, they appeared to be standard production vehicles.

Forced induction gave each a good seat-of-the-pants feel on acceleration. The Regals felt like equals in straight line acceleration though the RWD advantage was less obvious on this platform.

The Wagon was next. Talk about a sleeper. Under the very large hood was a modified Grand National engine producing an estimated 328 horsepower, good for a best 0-60 time of 5.18 seconds. Buick admits that this is a tongue-in-cheek vehicle, but they were surprised by the enthusiastic response it recieved from the press.

On to the Reattas. The low-boost felt strong off the line but setting up for the first turn reaveled two glaring shortcomings; the brakes were woefully weak for this type of driving and a 60/35 weight distribution produced an extreme understeer, causing the car to plow heavily through corners. In stark contrast , the RWD Reatta had magnificent brakes and its chassis dynamics instantly made us old friends. Though it carried 500 more pounds than the FWD, The predictable RWD power delivery and Corvette rear axel made cornering a blast despite worn-out shocks. Jab the pedal to hang the rear end out, accelerate hard out of the corners. This is what fun driving is all about!

After several laps in each, we had a favorite - the RWD turbo Reatta. It's power bulge hood and aero kit provide the eyeball stimulation while the 245-horsepower turbocharged V-6 delivered the acceleration that makes musclecar guys smile. Our only suggestion would be to use the 328-horsepower station wagon engine and a functional hood scoop. If that's not enough to whet your appetite , try this: drop the 328-horsepower V-6 into the convertable Reatta body scheduled for production this fall. Then the Great American Road would definetly belong to Buick.

'MUSCLECAR REVIEW' JULY 1989

CAPTION:

(Below) The hood buldge was for real - and so was the rest of the RWD Reatta. The conventionaly-mounted , turbocharged V-6 cranked out 245 horsepower, but the structual fortification neccesary to adapt the platform to RWD bumped the weight to a hefty 3,900 pounds, shaving a little off the performance potential. Still, it was a joy to drive and gets our vote as top contender.

My Comment;

If an 328hp GN engine RWD Reatta Convertable was scheduled for production,

What Happened? Or is he just talking about the release of the convertable body?

[reattadudes]

there were actually several RWD Reatta prototypes built. we have a photo here of a pre-production 1988 RWD that was charcoal gray with matching painted bumpers. it had a red stripe running thru the bumper strips and side moldings, similar to the Regal Gran Sports of the era. the under hood photo shows a north-south GNX drivetrain.

looking in the background, the photo was taken at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix. Phil Hertell from Speedway Automotive had told us about these RWD prototypes, and these photos certainly back him up.

it makes you wonder when one of them will surface...not if, but when.

Mike