Featured Advertisement: The ‘Unique Joys’ of the 1988 Buick Reatta

Step into our Ad of the Week segment! Vintage advertisements hold a special allure. They harken back to an era when enthusiasts primarily sourced information from printed magazines, TV and radio commercials, and billboards designed for colossal vehicles. Each week, we’ll delve into one such ad to dissect the promises, context, and their real-world outcomes.

The E-body coupes within GM’s lineup downsized in 1986 due to their switch to unibody construction. Buick soon realized that their V6-powered seventh-generation Riviera wasn’t poised for remarkable sales figures. Consequently, the brand’s engineering team embarked on numerous expeditions to countries like Japan, England, Spain, and Portugal to create a new flagship model. Most of the development was managed by GM’s British subsidiaries. The completed vehicle assembly line was transported back to the Reatta Craft Center in Lansing, Michigan, culminating in Buick’s inaugural production-bodied prototype by December 1986.

Introduced in 1988 with a transverse 3.8-liter Buick V6 engine, the Reatta hit the market. This year also marked the swan song for the Pontiac Fiero GT, a mid-engine vehicle featuring a 2.8-liter V6 and a new multilink rear suspension developed in collaboration with Lotus Engineering. While the rare 1988 Fiero GT carried a price tag just shy of $15,000, the Buick Reatta was unveiled with a $25,000 price point. Despite the disparity, General Motors aspired to sell 20,000 units annually. In reality, 21,751 models were sold over four years, including 2,437 ASC-designed convertibles in 1990 and 1991.

To validate its price and assert that rivals like the 1988 Oldsmobile Toronado Troféo couldn’t match its position as a “premium American motorcar,” Buick flooded the advertising space with comprehensive details that would intrigue any enthusiast. Even if readers lacked a comparative reference for the .34 aerodynamic coefficient or the most angular vehicles they could imagine, such as the US Army’s Humvees.

Buick aimed to persuade consumers that they deserved to indulge in their front-wheel drive flagship vehicle, regardless of the price point. Every aspect exuded opulence: the 165-horsepower V6 engine featuring sequential-port fuel injection, counter-rotating balance shaft, and roller valve lifter. The four-speed automatic transmission, independent suspension with ABS on all corners, standard six-way power leather seats, lockable storage compartments, and notably, Buick’s latest touchscreen-activated Electronic Touch Climate Control system.

If you found yourself having delayed certain pleasures on your journey to success, the Buick Reatta, along with its 1990 convertible variant, could compensate for those missed experiences until GM discontinued the model in 1991. Buyers had to endure a 25-year wait for Buick’s subsequent convertible offering, which turned out to be an Opel Astra. The road was undoubtedly challenging for Buick.

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