Erich Bitter built his first car in 1973 based on an Opel floorplan and running gear, and between 1973 and 1986 he built 395 Bitter CD's and 488 SC's. Three of these cars were displayed by the Bitter Owners Club at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.
This is a 1974 Bitter CD, and was described as follows:
'395 examples of the CD were built by Baur of Stuttgart for Bitter between 1973 and 1979. This CD is the only CD in the UK and was a personal import. The car is based on a shortened and stiffened Opel Diplomat chassis and fitted with a 5354cc American V8 (short block Chevy) and will achieve a top speed of 130mph. This was the 10th CD built and exported to South Africa by GM to try and establish the Marque there but no others followed. It was brought to the UK from South Africa in 2015 by its current owner. There are now less than 200 CD's left, mostly in Germany with a few in the Netherland, Belgium and the USA.
The car is owned by Andrew Grace.'
This is a 1985 Bitter SC Coupé, and the description says:
'This left hand drive 3.9 litre example SC 500, is owned by Steve Bunney who is the Technical Secretary of the Club. He acquired it from Connecticut USA in early 2017 with the much appreciated assistance from member Brian Dodd. The car had been owned from new by Bruce Wennerstrom of Greenwich Connecticut who bought it from Bitter of Beverley Hills on the 28th of May 1985 for $41,350 which is the equivalent of $97,000 or £76,000 today (August 2018). The car was fitted with a factory sun roof which was an extremely rare option as all SC's came with Air Conditioning as standard. SC 500 replaced my SC 408 which coincidentally was the demonstrator at Beverley Hills until 1988 so both cars "knew" each other in the showroom.'
This is another 1985 Bitter SC Coupé, with the following description:
'420 examples of the Coupé were sold between 1981 and 1986. The first 100 had the standard Opel Straight Six 3 ltr. Cam in Head engine as fitted to the Senator and Monza range. From the summer of 1984 the Mantzel modified 3.9. ltr engine was used with the 3 ltr. becoming an option. Sales were mostly to the USA and Germany but 25 right hand drive versions came to the UK. At the end of production in 1986 the car cost over £40,000.
This example has been owned from new by Ronald Gross and is identified as SC 374.'
'395 examples of the CD were built by Baur of Stuttgart for Bitter between 1973 and 1979. This CD is the only CD in the UK and was a personal import. The car is based on a shortened and stiffened Opel Diplomat chassis and fitted with a 5354cc American V8 (short block Chevy) and will achieve a top speed of 130mph. This was the 10th CD built and exported to South Africa by GM to try and establish the Marque there but no others followed. It was brought to the UK from South Africa in 2015 by its current owner. There are now less than 200 CD's left, mostly in Germany with a few in the Netherland, Belgium and the USA.
The car is owned by Andrew Grace.'
'This left hand drive 3.9 litre example SC 500, is owned by Steve Bunney who is the Technical Secretary of the Club. He acquired it from Connecticut USA in early 2017 with the much appreciated assistance from member Brian Dodd. The car had been owned from new by Bruce Wennerstrom of Greenwich Connecticut who bought it from Bitter of Beverley Hills on the 28th of May 1985 for $41,350 which is the equivalent of $97,000 or £76,000 today (August 2018). The car was fitted with a factory sun roof which was an extremely rare option as all SC's came with Air Conditioning as standard. SC 500 replaced my SC 408 which coincidentally was the demonstrator at Beverley Hills until 1988 so both cars "knew" each other in the showroom.'
'420 examples of the Coupé were sold between 1981 and 1986. The first 100 had the standard Opel Straight Six 3 ltr. Cam in Head engine as fitted to the Senator and Monza range. From the summer of 1984 the Mantzel modified 3.9. ltr engine was used with the 3 ltr. becoming an option. Sales were mostly to the USA and Germany but 25 right hand drive versions came to the UK. At the end of production in 1986 the car cost over £40,000.
This example has been owned from new by Ronald Gross and is identified as SC 374.'
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