Early Photos of Prototype Design 1984-1986

[Cberry1962 8]

My father was assistant chief engineer on the Reatta program.  He has since passed away and left me with many photos of early design work spanning 1984 - 1986.  Some photos are when they were in the United Kingdom working with Hawtal Whiting on design aspects.   Not sure if anyone would have interest in these photos as a historical aspect to go with their Reatta.  Unfortunately they are all Kodak prints and not in digital format.  I took photos with my cell phone and uploaded a sample of the over 100 photos that I have in total.

[Ronnie 405]

Welcome to the forum!!! Thank you for posting the photos. I would love to have any photos that you might have. You can email me .

 

I can scan the photos and post them here to share with members of the forum.

 

 

[Ronnie 405]

Great photos. I look forward to getting more.

 

As a machinist I find all the photos that show how the Reatta is constructed interesting. The one below is especially interesting. It shows the prototype had something other than the 3800 engine that was used in production. Take a look at the valve covers and the location of the coils. Maybe an older 3.8? Maybe a 3.1? Also it appears to have a standard brake system instead of the TEVES.

 

[2seater 243]

13 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Great photos. I look forward to getting more.

 

As a machinist I find all the photos that show how the Reatta is constructed interesting. The one below is especially interesting. It shows the prototype had something other than the 3800 engine that was used in production. Take a look at the valve covers and the location of the coils. Maybe an older 3.8? Maybe a 3.1? Also it appears to have a standard brake system instead of the TEVES.

 

Great photos to be sure! I would think that is an LG3 3.8 engine, the predecessor of the 3800, which didn't exist at the time. One of GM's first models of a fwd V6. Not only a standard brake system but the whole firewall is a blank slate so to speak. Thanks for sharing

[Ronnie 405]

On 12/8/2020 at 2:35 PM, Cberry1962 said:

Not sure if anyone would have interest in these photos as a historical aspect to go with their Reatta.  Unfortunately they are all Kodak prints and not in digital format. 

Thank you for sending me the photos. They are much appreciated. I hope you will come back and visit us often.

[Cberry1962 8]

Absolutely, I am glad there is a forum to keep the Reatta tradition going strong.  Maybe I will convince my wife that we should buy a Reatta, have been looking at them online lately.

[Ron Walker 30]

Just noticed this post. The photos are great and thankfully preserved pretty well for cell phone shots of old Kodak print. (I printed the two showing the "inards" of the door - may allay some fear of replacing that exterior door handle.)

Pride goes both ways - Cberry1962 can be proud of his father for his part in engineering this fabulous vehicle, and, I'm sure Cberry1962's father is proud of him for sharing these photos with a bunch of people that like to see the Reatta carry on. 

[Bertimus 51]

These are absolutely amazing

[Philbo 68]

Love seeing the old photos. Thanks for sharing!

[Ronnie 405]

Cberry1962 was kind enough to send me all his father's photos. the must be about a hundred of them. Cberry1962 has already post the ones that most people would be interested in. Most of the ones that haven't already been posted are of views of pieces of the car as they were being developed. I intend to post some more of the photos when I get time to scan them into my computer so they can be posted here.

[Cberry1962 8]

I am so glad that these photos have received so many views and many positive comments.  My father was a true "car guy", loved cars and enjoyed working working on them and sharing everything he knew about cars.  Even though he passed away, he lives on forever every time when I see a Reatta driving down the street.  The uniqueness of the Reatta has made it a true classic collector's car.