Why you Need Private Health Insurance
But the Roadmaster would die after ’96 to make room for more-profitable sport-utility vehicle production at the Arlington, Texas, new condo for sale in bangkok factory that also built the Caprice. Like Reatta, the ’90s Roadmaster served a purpose, but it was clearly a car of Buick’s past, not its future. Smaller cars, particularly intermediates, were far more important to Buick’s fortunes in the ’80s. All continued the 1978 A-body design that was renamed G-body for ’82, when the Centurys became Regals and Buick’s 4.1-liter V-6 replaced a 4.3 V-8 option. For 1981 these comprised the workaday Regal coupes and a mostly carryover group of Century sedans and wagons.
An unfortunate styling resemblance to Buick’s N-body Somerset/Skylark didn’t help, and hardly anyone liked the gimmicky Graphic Control Center, a touch-sensitive TV-type screen that needlessly complicated even simple tasks like changing radio stations. Hoping to turn things around, Buick made the ’89 Riviera look more “important,” adding 11 inches to overall length, ladling on chrome, and restyling the tail to resemble that of the 1979-85 models. Did it work? Yes and no. Production leaped from about 8600 for ’88 to over 21,000 for ’89, but the latter wasn’t even half the total of a decade before.
Though no more potent than the 425, it was smoother and quieter. The hot GS 400 returned minus coupe, while GS 340 gave way to a GS 350 with a bored 350-cid V-8 packing 280 bhp. A new Special/Skylark option was a cast-iron 400, a bored-and-stroked 340. This formed the heart of a new Skylark subseries called GS 400 offering convertible, two-door hardtop, and pillared coupe with handling suspension, bucket seats, and other sporty touches. A 230-bhp version was a new Special/Skylark option and standard for Sportwagon, Skylark Custom, and LeSabres; all these offered the tuned unit at extra cost. Skylark sold in record numbers for 1968, partly because Specials were trimmed to just three DeLuxe models.
Buick took pains to note that Reatta was not a sports car but a “mature” two-seater emphasizing luxury, comfort, even practicality. You had to contend with the dubious Graphic Control Center in 1988-89 models, but the roomy two-place cabin and a largish trunk with drop-down pass-through panel invited long-distance touring. Even better, Reatta was shrewdly priced: around $25,000 initially, about half as much as Cadillac’s slow-selling Italian-bodied Allanté convertible. Extensive standard equipment limited options to just an electric sliding sunroof and a driver’s seat with no fewer than 16 power adjustments.
In 1993, the influential J.D. Power organization ranked this elderly duo near the top of the industry for initial vehicle quality. Sales, of course, were the most important payoff, and Century model-year production remained well above 100,000 for 1990-95. This was achieved with remarkably few changes: a more-orthodox face for ’91, new downpriced Special models for ’92 (recycling yet another familiar Buick name), a new 2.2-liter base four for ’93 (ousting the old Iron Duke at last).
Riviera also bulked up for ’71, gaining three inches between wheel centers (to 122). It also gained about 120 needless pounds, though it looked like more. This was claimed to provide even better ride and handling than the GS, and probably should have been standard to handle the size and weight of these beasts. The GS option, a last vestige of sport, vanished after 1975, but Buick tried to keep enthusiasts interested with a “Rallye” package offering reinforced front antiroll bar, a new rear bar, and heavy-duty springs and shocks. Dominating swoopy new Bill Mitchell styling was a dramatic “boattail” deck that proved controversial and was thus short-lived — gone after ’73.
