1988 Buick Reatta | Retro Review 

Other than the transmission recall being highly unknown and there being a lack of internet at the time to find these things out. My 1989 was an awesome car. It's still running today, with 371k on the original engine.

What a unique looking car for the time - gotta hand it to GM for trying something new. And that touch screen looks so retro sci fi lol.

That legendary 3800... Always loved the way they sounded accelerating...

Thank you Motorweek for the review! I'm going to pull the trigger one of these and go to my local Buick dealer to order a brand new 1988 Reatta right now!

I LOVED the way this car looked and still do. I was also pretty smitten on the similarly styled but less sporty looking Oldsmobile Trofeo.

I remember the Buick Reatta well. I was a salesman at Rae Keech Buick in Ellicott City, MD when I sold my first one. That car was something to talk about, for sure.

I rented a Riviera back in 1986. All I did was sit in the parking lot playing with the Touch Screen. It seemed like from Outer Space

I love that throtty exhaust note. The 3800s have always been one of my favorite engines. 😇

The 3800 V6 is one of the best engines GM ever made!

One of the prettiest cars from the 80s and 90s. ❤️

I was on my summer vacation here in Germany and was very surprised that one of the neighbours had a Reatta on his driveway. It was neglected, but it was a Reatta. In Germany. In 2021. They were never sold here, at least not official.

“Overly digitized dash” ..oh just you wait, 1980’s John. Just you wait.😂

Man! Even today I still love that Buick. I first saw it at the L.A. Auto show back in '88 when I was 14.

"A brisk 9 seconds", those were the days!!🤣

Thank you for this GM/Buick video. Thank you for the efforts to bring them back. It is was interesting how many GM parts this car shared with Buick Riviera.

If the Reatta had gotten the Series 2 3800 V6(normally aspirated(205hp) and supercharged(240hp)), it would have lasted longer on the market! It would be even more remembered than it is now!

“IBelow bumper grille work as big a a shark’s mouth”... fast forward to 2021:we have grilles as big as a whale’s mouth

Rear wheel drive and a supercharged model would made this car desireable

Imagine if the Solstice/Sky was also sold in Reatta form...maybe even a Reatta GS for the Ecotech turbo versions, almost nobody woulda bought it but still a cool thought, lol

My Reatta gave me 360,000 miles of pure joy. The car spoiled me rotten. Only an accident took it away from me. Yes the rear brakes could be noisy but that was fixable. The 3800 was ballet proof. Miss it.

4:22 I was NOT expecting that thing to burn rubber like that, holy shit.

Good fucking lord, that start up. I love 3800 sound so much

I never worry about whether or not a car is perfect I see imperfect cars as guinea pigs a blank canvas that I can express my creative juices on.

“Below bumper grille work as big a a shark’s mouth”... fast forward to 2021: we have grilles as big as a whale’s mouth

Still a slick-looking car. I can confirm this was not a sports car though. Not even a sporty car. My sister had a 1990 Reatta that I got to drive once. The steering wheel was huge and the steering feel was vague. Think traditional 80s Buick steering. The 3.8L V6 was a huge engine for such a small car, but it honestly didn't feel all that powerful. The 0-60 in 9sec confirms that. It was an excellent engine though. One of GMs best over the last 40yrs. The seatbacks didn't have an adjustment or locking mechanism, so you were stuck with the recline position. If the passenger seat was unoccupied and you hit the brakes hard, the seatback would flop forward. The 80s were a different time for automotive engineering. That's for certain.

Such a beauty!!!! 😍😍😍 And that spinning fan icon is super cool

I used to watch this every Saturday morning as a kid 😀

Under the thigh support has been long overlooked since then.

A car ahead of its time

I owned one for a few years and really liked it, my only complaint was the engine was a bit of a dog, I drove it from SF to Monterey Bay Aq. and the hilly roads of Hwy. 17 was a task for the car Constantly down shifting in order to power up the grade..It got to be annoying quickly. Other wise around town was fine.

My neighbor was a big Buick lover and remember he used to have 2 of them, a red one and a silver one, back in the day. He'd get pissed if someone accidentally called it a Miata instead of a Reatta lol.

I always wanted this one... I still want but I can't afford it and there is like one post-lift version without the touch screen :/ I'd love to have one with touch screen panel. This car is still beautiful :)

I have an 89 Reatta and I love it. So much fun to drive. Today this car still runs well and has less than 107,000 miles on it. Original Engine. I love the interior space as well as the large truck space.

I used to think these were the coolest cars when I saw them on the road.

That's probably the only American car of that era that would still look good today; it looked better than most of its competition from Japan and Europe, and I've never said that about any other American car!

A very attainable way to get into the classic car club! Still looks modern, blows people away when you say it came with the touchscreen, some 30+ years ago! I’ve had an ‘88 since 2014, still love it every time I drive it. Hugs the road, gets decent mileage, the 3800 is almost bulletproof, you won’t see dozens of them at any car show, can haul a surprising amount of gear/luggage/purchases. Yes, the dash is a bit dated, but the amount of passenger room it allows is crazy! Will you get rich selling one? No, but that’s not why we Reatta owners have them. It’s a tight knit community, with an amazing supporter in EastCoastReatta, Marck Barker. He’s dedicated his career to this car, he’s young, knowledgeable, & a pleasure to do business with. (And to those who say the Reatta took name from Miata, remember, it came out a full 2 years before the Miata. Different cars for different purposes. I’ve actually had mine called a “Regatta” more often than a Miata. 😂)

From the GNX to this. Not that I don’t like it, but what a change up.

I’ve always thought these cars were amazing looking, I think it looks like it could be sold today… maybe update the touch screen to CarPlay 😝

A technological tour de force of its time 👍🏽

Holy shit a touch screen in 1988???? I didn’t even know that was a freakin thing

This has to be the blueprint for cars today…Amazing !

Buick's first & only 2-seater!!!!! One of my all-time favorite late'80's cars which was built by a manufacturer not normally known for building these kinds of cars, Buick............yes, BUICK!!!!!! The same GM division which built my grandparents' LeSabres decided to have a little fun, & from (calendar year) 1987-1991, they produced THIS little number, the Buick Reatta. Based on the Riviera, it shared that car's interior & drivetrains.

This was my dream car back in the day!

I want one so bad. It would look amazing next to my Roadmaster

I really liked this car when it came out. Didn't even have my license. One of those ahead of its time designs.

Happy Halloween from Motorweek 👻🎃

Been waiting so long for this review. Love this quirky car

Pop up healight AND touch screen , that car was perfect

Having read an article in Collectible Automobile on this car, I can tell you that it was not what anyone had hoped for. It turned out that the Reatta had an identity crisis, unable to establish itself as whatever it may have been intended to be. It certainly wasn't "your dad's" Buick...but nor was it your mom's, nor really a car for many sons or daughters. So what was it? A slalom-searing missile-on-wheels like the Corvette? Not with V-6 power and FWD with its corresponding crushing understeer. A simple fun sports machine like the Mazda Miata? Not with power-everything and an average $30G price tag. A luxury tourer then, like the Cadillac Allanté or Mercedes SL or Lincoln Mark VII? Close...but even faithful Flint fanatics have to concede that the trademark tri-shield does not carry the same level of prestige as the wreath-and-crest, let alone the three- or four-pointed star. Automotive history has shown consistently that cars with confused identities don't last long, and sure enough the Reatta was gone by May 25, 1991, despite some improvements such as proper gauges and switches to replace the distracting digital displays (which ironically made a comeback of sorts 30 years later). That said, before I draw any vitriol from fans of this car, I need to say that I always really liked the looks of the Reatta from the beginning. I have to disagree with the reviewers of Motorweek regarding their criticism of the rear deck, which I thought absolutely excellent. A car with its rear wheels set behind the C-pillar base just has character to it. That access hatch in the cab to the trunk has an extra benefit as well, besides carrying a bag of golf clubs: If for any reason the trunk latch breaks, making it impossible to open it normally, one can still access the trunk and the broken latch through that access hatch. I cannot say that about a contemporary Audi Series-80 I owned in Germany, which suffered just that malfunction, forcing destruction of one of the rear panels to get into the trunk to fix the broken latch. I always thought the Reatta was one of the finest-looking small cars I've ever seen, and to this day I would not mind at all owning a copy of it. I would, however, prefer the hardtop coupe; the 'vert, however rare and thus novel, has one deficiency: It has no power-assist to it...which isn't too much of a problem for a car this small, but on the other hand is rather crude for a car that was fitted with power-everything-else.

....and that same shifter knob that was on every GM car - from Cavalier to Corvette - for 20 years.

That 3800 sounds sweet, almost like a V8!

I’m a fan of this car. Especially the convertible. Nice luxurious cruiser.

This thing would be amazing with a manual

With the Century coupe, Regal, Riviera, and Reatta there was just so much model overlap. It must have been a real job to be a product planner at Buick back then.

I want this car back.

Body has aged well, but man, that dash...

Owned a 88 back in the 90's. The gals loved it ! Lol

"Overly digitized dash" should have become an industry norm in 1988.

I always loved gm cars like these. They were the cars of my high school years, all the guys that didn't have rich parents bought cars like this and we all put subs in them and just cruised around. We beat the shit out of them and they just kept going. I remember how scary it was when your walking at night to catch the bus or something and a old Buick comes creeping down the street with blacked out windows and then slows right down beside you.

$25k in 1988 was not cheap for sure...

A Grand little automobile, wasn't built for the masses but I love it though ❤.😅

25k back then is 55K today! Jeez that car was expensive!

Looks like a cross between a Volvo 480ES & Mazda RX7 & I agree that rear wheel placement looks a bit awkward. I love that digital dash, that's a proper 80s fest!

I always loved these cars, but the crickets chirping in the background pretty much sums up their performance.

I have been waiting for this one. So computerized and futuristic at the time

My friend owns one. Its very comfortable, but slow and soft. Its no sports coupe, its more like a two door Cadillac. Looks cool, drives like a sloth, but again, super comfortable for cruising

that dash is so cyberpunk

Loved that car!! I had a1990 model .. Good handeling and fun to drive!

I’m getting Mazda Eunos Cosmo vibes from the design

The brake accumulator from the Reatta fits perfectly in my XJ40. Saved me a bunch.

"One of the most anticipated new cars to come out of Detroit in a long time." Too bad it never really caught on, dare I saw almost forgotten, though in all fairness, it was meant to be a low production car. Two seat models and sports coupes with daring styling... yeah those were the 1980s for sure! That touch screen was way ahead of its time! (as were many of the other features).

I think had this car been rear wheel drive, and been equipped with the L67 (assuming it could be made to fit under the low, sloping hood) in it's final year, it might've been better received.

Imagine this car with a supercharger and rear wheel drive?

The convertible is a gorgeous car, doesn't have that awkward rear pillar section they mention here. Good ones are cheap too as the car is so unknown, I think it may be a fuiture classic.

I'd still love to have one of these.

AH yes the Buick reatta, a clever mix of sharing the Cadillac allante chassis and the Buicks Riviera,s drivetrain

Best burn in MotorWeek history. Is it a sports car? No. Its a buick

The most interesting part of these Video's to me is the high number of Cars that have been virtually phased out of existence. I was Born in 86, and the number of Cars that had I idea existed is kinda shocking..

Great work thanks

We had a 6 Caravan and a 88 Cadillac, plus I believe my old 94 Jimmy, that had six-way seat adjustment. Should be standard since then.

A mile down the road there is a blue one of these just sitting in a yard for years. Not a fan but it's old and kinda interesting.

I hope you do the Oldsmobile trofeo

I saw a test car Reatta on the Las Vegas strip in 1987. It was loaded with test gauges on the dash.

Biggest failure on Reatta was light bar at rear. The sun damage was already bad in the later 90s.

Such a clean design. Shame it wasn’t RWD.

Uh,.....why does it sound like they dubbed in the exhaust sounds from a Z28 with glasspacks??

I always loved the styling of this car. I always found it to be smooth and timeless. I seems a shame that this car never got a hot engine. It deserved it. I always wondered what it would've done if it had been released during the time of the Supercharged 3800 series 2. And lastly, why was it that manufacturers of the day (like all of them) seemed to treat foglights like an afterthought? They always seemed poorly integrated and tacked on, like they all sourced JC Whitney to handle the fogs.

I built a model of this car. It was so unique when it came out.

I got one! 1991!

I owned an 1988 Red like the one shown, I Really liked it. My only complaint was the engine didn't have much torque. Driving to Santa Cruz through some hills it constantly had to down shift.

MW MISSES: -- Digital Dash -- High Trunk Sill -- Roof to Rear Styling

I wonder what the wire dragging on the ground at 4:43 is supposed to be.

Thought these were pretty cool, I remember sitting in one that was on display in the mall.

The Buick version of a Fiero, basically. Remember that GM made like ten versions of the same thing... while Ford-Mercury-Lincoln did five versions of the same thing.

I can't stop thinking of the Fiero looking at the Reatta. It's just front engine/wheel drive instead.

Lol “ let’s park it in the grass near a lake or something” 😂 all you can hear is crickets chirping in the background .. they didn’t have the tech to deafen background noise back then ? Or mute audio and do voiceover ?

The Buick that inspired a Fleetwood Mac song or was it the other way around?

I always thought this car is what happened when a C4 Corvette mated with a Mazda Miata.

Use to see them on the road many years ago. Most all were driven by older women. The car did look good and stood out too.

Wow!....look at that touch screen!