Absolutely! Sadly, if it were a 2023 it would probably come with just one interior color - black. Regardless of who the manufacturer was.
1991 Reatta: She's home!
- Thread starter 14Accent
- Start date
Oddly enough, color matched exterior trim was a no-cost option for all body colors offered! It works on some colors, but the Bright Red car's look a bit... bland without the visual separation the black trim provides.
Painting the wheels might be a BIT of a stretch... however the original wheels to have a black painted inlay that I thought might look cool painted red instead. We shall see.
Having owned both... I can say with absolute confidence that the Reatta is the antithesis of the Fiero. The Fiero was a cobbled together, mass produced kit car at best.
The Reatta, on the other hand, took a proven platform and wrapped it with gorgeous body work along with a top-tier interior.
No doubt, Not bashing. I'm just stating as a development era of where GM was at the time w/2 seater "Sports" cars.
The Fiero was originally not intended to be a sports car, it was supposed to be a light commuter car that would raise GM's CAFE, which is why all it had was a sub 100 hp 4 cylinder at launch. The styling team just hit one out of the park.
I guess I'm biased against this thing. We had one that basically took up an entire bay at the dealer and no one including the guy Buick sent could fix the electrical issue... I don't recall exactly what the issue was...
Of course the Allante's weren't a lot better i would run from either one nowadays, though they are both good looking and intriguing.
By the time Fieros were discontinued they were actually decent, I almost bought a Yellow GT but my dealer principal wouldn't get real so i bought a CRX Si...
If any one ever asks you to put a clutch in a V6 Fiero, politely decline...
Of course the Allante's weren't a lot better i would run from either one nowadays, though they are both good looking and intriguing.
By the time Fieros were discontinued they were actually decent, I almost bought a Yellow GT but my dealer principal wouldn't get real so i bought a CRX Si...
If any one ever asks you to put a clutch in a V6 Fiero, politely decline...
Your story doesn't surprise me in the least! While the Reatta wasn't exactly "hand built", it was hand assembled.
Unlike the Allante, the Reatta used mostly standard GM electronics. The same can't be said for the Allante... it's center control stack alone is a one-off piece that was sub-contracted to a Japanese firm. As such, it's been un-serviceable for YEARS.
And circling back to the Fiero for a moment: I feel the same way about the black vs. body-colored trim on them too..... Body-colored trim looks great on some colors (mainly darker ones) and bland on others. The brighter colors need that little bit of detail that the black trim provides.
The Reatta had a decent 3800 iron engine, the Allante had a HT4100 then a just as bad HT4500 then a first gen N*, all terrible engines.
The 4.1 in the Allante may have been slightly different but it did suffer all the same failures as the HT4100, the 4.5 was derived from this engine and it was only a slightly better lump.
Think about it if the 4.5 was as GREAT as you claim why did they only use it 89-92 until they used the first gen N* while later models of this engine were pretty good the first gen was a piece of crap, oil leaks and pulled threads for the head bolts to name a few.
Think about it if the 4.5 was as GREAT as you claim why did they only use it 89-92 until they used the first gen N* while later models of this engine were pretty good the first gen was a piece of crap, oil leaks and pulled threads for the head bolts to name a few.
Rate find. Don’t change the color of the wheels if you repaint them.
It's clear you have little or no experience with these. And that's fine, but you might want to refrain from making assumptions.
As far as the core engine (not counting externals like fuel injection), 4.1 underwent several revisions. The 1988 4.5 built on that, which was again slightly revised in '90 with different pistons, rods, heads. Those '90 revisions carried over to the '91-'95 4.9, which is regarded by many Cadillac enthusiasts as one of the best Cadillac engines ever.
1982-1995. 13 years isn't a bad run for a luxury-make specific engine.
As far as why it was replaced, it's the same reason all engines get replaced: because it Cadillac had to stay competitive.
200hp wasn't going to cut it in the early 90's when everyone else was approaching 300hp. This wedge head architecture wasn't up to the task of generating the peak numbers, the power density, or the perceived sophistication needed to compete with Asian and European OHC engines. Yes, a 2 valve pushrod engine works just fine in a pickup truck, but no one was going to cross shop the LS400 and something equipped with one of these engines,
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First you said..
I don't know about you but if GM wanted yearly coolant changes and the addition of sealing tabs something was not right and a sure sign of a bad engine.
You mean like the SBC, SBF, GM 3800, MB diesels, BMW L6, and dozens of others. 3 years is a very short run and the reason was not because they wanted to stay competitive, if the engine was any good there is no reason a 4.5 ltr cant muster 300hp.
It was an HT4100, it still twisted the block at the main bearings so much so it could not be line bored. I worked on these when they were brand new at an Opel/Cadillac dealer. They still sell GM cars and Cadillac in Germany, not a big seller but some people like them.
I don't know about you but if GM wanted yearly coolant changes and the addition of sealing tabs something was not right and a sure sign of a bad engine.
You mean like the SBC, SBF, GM 3800, MB diesels, BMW L6, and dozens of others. 3 years is a very short run and the reason was not because they wanted to stay competitive, if the engine was any good there is no reason a 4.5 ltr cant muster 300hp.
A, yes, because the most successful luxury names typically retain antiquated architecture in their vehicles.
GM lived through your suggestion. Didn't pan out. Somehow, the Mercedes M119 and Lexus 1UZ far outclassed the 5.7 LT1 in the Fleetwood. For some reason, luxury clients don't care for a car that's powered by the same architecture as the cable technician's van!
GM lived through your suggestion. Didn't pan out. Somehow, the Mercedes M119 and Lexus 1UZ far outclassed the 5.7 LT1 in the Fleetwood. For some reason, luxury clients don't care for a car that's powered by the same architecture as the cable technician's van!
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Abandoned History: General Motors' High Technology Engine, and Other CAFE Foibles (Part IV)
We return to the saga of GM's High Technology engine today, after taking a diesel detour in our last entry. Concurrent in the High Technology engine's timeline, the Oldsmobile diesel's failure was quick, but certainly not painless. It put the majority of American consumers off the idea of a...
www.thetruthaboutcars.com
^^^Yes, that's a complete, if lacking in detail, summary. I don't see anything in their we don't already know.
An engine, rushed into production to deal with CAFE standards, years later revised into a decent engine. Actually a relatively common story during this time period.
Did I miss something?
An engine, rushed into production to deal with CAFE standards, years later revised into a decent engine. Actually a relatively common story during this time period.
Did I miss something?
Only the fact they used these in their flagship product. A specially built and transported body from Italy, a nice leather gut and then make it FWD with that engine under the hood. Who knows what were they thinking.
Again with the Fiero.
I believe the Fiero was GM's first car body assembled using a "big swallowing machine" which aligned panels, created lands, spot welded and maybe drilled holes.
It was somewhat a partially experimentally assembled car.
They left the engine bay huge as powertrain was an afterthought.
Some V8's will fit in but Pontiac's trannie and axle was for less powerful engines.
That car of yours is sure red. Call it 'Red'.
What headlights does it take?
I believe the Fiero was GM's first car body assembled using a "big swallowing machine" which aligned panels, created lands, spot welded and maybe drilled holes.
It was somewhat a partially experimentally assembled car.
They left the engine bay huge as powertrain was an afterthought.
Some V8's will fit in but Pontiac's trannie and axle was for less powerful engines.
That car of yours is sure red. Call it 'Red'.
What headlights does it take?
