The Buick Reatta Was a 1980s High-Tech Marvel

Comments · 6.8K

• DO

  @DougDeMuro · 6 years ago · pinned

  Behold — the glorious touchscreen! This is one of my favorite recent videos. Enjoy!

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• AR

  @armchairracer007 · 6 years ago

  1989: touchscreens are the future!<br>2020: give us our knobs and switches back!

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• OL

  @oliverroo59 · 6 years ago

  Imagine a touchscreen from 1988 that has less lag than a modern Range Rover

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• PR

  @prime5056 · 6 years ago

  That display is incredible for that time period.

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• MI

  @Mike_C-79 · 5 years ago (edited)

  I hope the team who designed the tech in this car was alive to see their ideas, not just reimagined, but become the standard decades later.

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• KO

  @KozyEquus · 6 years ago

  Damn, this 80s touchscreen has less lag than some of the cheap new cars I see today

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• TA

  @TakoIbarra · 6 years ago

  A few details that were missed on the review:<br>-Mid gate trunk access (Ski Door), the door also uses the same handle than the storage compartments and glove box, but its operated with the key, the handle doesn&apos;t work.<br>-In cabin luggage holder strap clips, for even larger hauling capacity.<br>-Plastic front fenders<br>-If you leave the &quot;TEST&quot; button pressed you are gifted with &quot;The Light Show&quot; which makes the gauges lights blinks in patterns while the numbers count from 00 to 99 in a very unique way.<br>-Unfortunately this model wasn&apos;t equipped with the &quot;16 Way&quot; power seats which include power adjustable leg rest and lumbar support.<br>-Touchscreen&apos;s MEMORY function, allowed to recall your favorite Radio station and Air conditioning settings for two different drivers, not sure if the seat&apos;s position was also stored on this memory.<br>-The Reminder actually allows you to write full sentences like &quot;GO BUY LAUNDRY DETERGENT&quot; or whatever.<br>-The &quot;Emergency Brake&quot; on the floor reads &quot;PUMP TO SET&quot; which means yo have to give it two to three pumps to set it firm. Then you can pull the lever to release it.<br>-On some models, instead of just the Fog Lamp and Lamp Retract buttons on the bottom of the console, they had the &quot;Fuel Access&quot;, &quot;Trunk Access&quot; but most importantly, a &quot;Glove Box&quot; button that made the glove box lid pop open.<br>-The front &quot;Dome Lights&quot; were in the rear view mirror and can be turned on manually individually to be used as map lights.<br>-All the dashboard, center panel and door trim bezels are made of real brushed aluminum.<br>-The entire perimeter of the interior of the car is surrounded by a wrap around trim made to simulate a sail boat&apos;s cockpit, hence the car&apos;s name &quot;Reatta&quot; which was some mispronunciation of Regatta (A sail boat&apos;s race).<br>-Illuminated key holes on doors.<br>-If you are outside of the car while its locked and you pull the door handle, the keyhole and dashboard lights up, maybe to scare thieves I guess.<br>-If you open the rear trunk with the key it still uses an electric latch popper, so if your battery is dead you can&apos;t open the trunk.<br>-Also, if the electronic fuel door fails, there&apos;s a secret in trunk button and sticker showing how to manually open the fuel door.<br>-The large doors open so wide that they have White and Red warning lights to make sure other cars can see them and don&apos;t hit your doors when you are parked on a curb.<br>Loved the review, glad to see these cool obscure cars getting the love they deserve.

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• PA

  @ParthKapadia07 · 6 years ago

  Car: has more responsive touchscreen controls than half modern cars<br><br>Doug: Rear lightbars are making a comeback in modern cars so one could say the Reatta&apos;s design was ahead of its time.

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• PR

  @primeholyassasin20 · 5 years ago

  A touchscreen in an 80s car that actually works ok? I&apos;m genuinely impressed. Almost gives this buick the aethetic of a futuristic flying car on the set of blade runner.

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• DA

  @Daedalus-BC304 · 6 years ago

  Fun fact: Car reviewers criticized the touchscreens on this era Buicks because they thought it would be distracting to the driver. Ironic considering that today people write novel sized texts behind the wheel.

  102

• AM

  @amaxlimo9979 · 6 years ago

  “Cars and bids” should have been named “this and this and this”

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• FL

  @Flnative06 · 6 years ago

  Doug gets pulled over: “THIS... is my license and registration”

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