1988 Select Sixty On eBay

[Reatta Fan]

<span style="font-style: italic">First and foremost, let me preface my remarks that this thread is neither an attempt to discourage a potential buyer nor endorsement to purchase the vehicle advertised.</span>

Item 4558326825 is an auction for an '88 model in black with a tan interior, VIN 1G4EC11C4JB900817. I originally came across it for sale through a dealer in Ontario, CA in 2003 and ended up being too late to purchase it then. It was later offered for sale in 2004 by a member of this forum and it was at this time the authenticity of it being a Select Sixty model came into question. Earlier this year, it was offered for sale by someone in San Diego through the AutoTrader and now is on eBay.

I was very seriously interested in purchasing the car for it being an '88 Select Sixty and examined the vehicle. It is in very good mechanical condition for the age and mileage. (Yes, I know this is subjective opinion.) The windshield is new and has a brown tint (not blue) along the top. The member of this forum who owned it had the CRT overhauled or replaced. The exterior paint is not original. Both drivers and passenger seat bolsters have been replaced as the original stitching holes remain visible. I could not determine if this car originally had suede bolsters.

It is strongly suggested for anyone who is contemplating purchasing the vehicle for it being a Select Sixty to do some research. Past postings on this forum are a good source and you can start here.

As the story goes, the actual cars and hood ornaments were mated at the dealer and not at the factory which complicates things a bit. I passed on buying it because the doubt of it being authentic won out. I did as much digging into this particular car as possible and consulted with both Barney (our technical advisor) and Mike (reattadudes) for their opinions as well. The deciding factor for me was that the service tag lists no option accounting code different from any other common garden variety Reatta. It would make sense that a marketing campaign for a new model would be splashy and merit a special accounting code for the units built. Barney suggests maybe X22 should be there and this is logical as it was used by GM on Camaros and Caprices to designate special build trim packages.

If anyone is interested, I've attached an image of the service tag for this car.

Good luck & happy hunting!

[padgett]

"The windshield is new and has a brown tint (not blue) along the top." Just an observation but this does not sound right to me. Softray windshields (tinted) that I have seen have all been blue initially but may go to brown after years in the sun. Common in Florida.

[Rattaboy]

Maybe the windshield is "new" to that car.

[Reatta Fan]

Padgett,

I know the windshield was replaced on the car because when I initally saw it on a dealer lot in Ontario, CA, it had a two foot crack in it travelling from the passenger side to the midsection. No way could this be fixed. The car was in rough shape, had a less than perfect complete repaint job, and carried a bargain basement price of $2995. The unit was whole and nothing that couldn't get fixed given enough time and money.

When I went to look at the car in late 2004, the subsequent purchaser had the window replaced and told me that she had it tinted brown instead of blue at the top to better match the interior. I'd guess by your comments that this was not an original SoftRay replacement. Also, she put a lot of time and energy in cleaning up the interior since the first time I saw it. The car's exterior was newly freshened and worked on further but still not perfect. At 20/20, it looked great. The price though had increased to $5500 and not comfortable enough for me to gamble on given no proof of the Select Sixty claim except for the hood ornament.

[Barney Eaton]

A Reatta person did look at the car when it was owned by the lady in San Diago and sent me a photo of the service parts label....NO X22 code.

If you are interested in this car, buy it as a 1988 Reatta coupe, that happens to have a Select Sixty hood emblem. I suspect the emblem would bring $150+ on Ebay. So what is a '88 with 62,000 worth?

Is $5000 too much? I have seen 100,000 miles cars advertised for $4,000, so is 38,000 miles worth $1,000?

[Tom Payette]

As I have noted before, I was a winner of a black and tan Select Sixty Coupe(which we paid for...no free ride there) in April 1988. I know my car came with the hood emblem already mounted. It was shipped to my dealership while we were at the Select Sixty celebration in Arizona and my salespeople were all over it when it arrived as it was not a regular allocated Reatta. I did not think to remove and replace it with standard emblem. If it had come separately, I would still have it today. I drove the car a few miles and then sold it. Other than the emblem, I do not recall any other differences. If I still had my old car deal files, it would be easy to find this car with all the associated information including copy of build sheet, invoice and so forth. Reattas were HOT then.

Tom Payette

[reattadudes]

there is no way to have a windshield tinted brown instead of blue. these are certainly not "made to order" items. throughout the entire Reatta production, there was only one company that made a Reatta windshield, and that was L-O-F. L-O-F (Libbey-Owens-Ford) was sold to a British company, Pilkington, in the mid-1990's. the only upper windshield tint color was blue, and all Soft-Ray (GMspeak for factory tinted glass) glass had the blue shading.

I am in complete agreement with other forum members here: first, Padgett, as they do indeed fade to a gold-brown color as they age, and to Mr. F14, who believes this windshield is not new, but "new to this car."

Mike

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Mike: ya mean Rattaboy. I haven't commented on this post

[manikmekanik]

I sent a question to the seller thru eBay asking for a photo of the equipment tag showing what I called an x-code, as not to give away the actual code number, in order to check their reply for accuracy.

I will post their answer if they provide the correct response only. I promised them confidentiality if the code was'nt there, as not to spoil their auction in midstream.

Reattitude Randy.

[Reatta Fan]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> If anyone is interested, I've attached an image of the service tag for this car.

Good luck & happy hunting!

</div></div>

Randy,

You don't have to wait. I originally attached a copy of the Service Equipment tag to my first post above. If you're having trouble downloading it, PM me and I'll send it to you via email. (The car does not have the code.)

[padgett]

In case anyone wondered what it said on the right side...

[manikmekanik]

I mainly sent the message to the seller so THEY can find out for themselves, and to offer to buy/replace the S/60 badges.

She replied saying she has pins in her spine and can't drive it, but has numerous data on the car and is sure it is a S/60.

Even if it's not, it's a nice Reatta at a fair price, which happens to have S/60 badges on it.