1974 Bitter CD

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 and this is one of them.

It’s 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.'

Ford Popular 103E

This is one of the vehicles I photographed at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a customised Ford Popular 103E and the only information about it was a note in the windscreen saying that it was a Ford Popular. The DVLA record says ‘Vehicle details could not be found’.

1971 Triumph Vitesse MkII

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1971 Triumph Vitesse MkII, the last of a line of cars that started with the Triumph Herald in 1959. The first Vitesse in 1962 had a 1,596cc 6-cylinder inline (instead of the 4-cylinder engine of the Herald) and this was increased ton1,996cc in 1966. The Vitesse MkII was introduced in 1968 with an uprated 1,996cc 6-cylinder engine and ceased production in 1971, being replaced by the Triumph Dolomite.

1972 Volvo 144DL

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a 1972 Volvo 144 and a note in the windscreen of the car gives the following information:

Volvo 144D

1972

This car has been owned by Matt since 1993 when he bought it for £250 at the age of 18.

The car was involved in an accident with a lorry 2 years later (no injuries to Matt, and as the policemen at the scene said, “if you had been in anything else you wouldn’t be here”).

Unable to part with the car Matt kept the car covered up until the right person could be found to work on her. That was in 1997, when she was put back on the road.

As time moved on the bodywork started to age badly and for many years the 144 came off the road, that was until Matt was asked to take some pictures of the car for Practical Classics to show the common rust spots. As he photographed his old friend, in her rusty state, he decided that time had come to bring her back to life.

So after some fairly extensive bodywork by Mark Hill of Classic Customs, here she is, not quite finished yet, (but are they ever really finished) but definitely getting there and looking fantastic.

HYB 250K recently won ‘Best Volvo 140 Series’  at the Volvo Enthusiasts Club, 2017 National Gathering.

Owned by Matt Stadden - Hampshire

1965 Trojan 200

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity, Manchester in September 2018.

It's a 1965 Trojan 200, a Heinkel bubble car built under licence by Trojan. The notes at the side of the car read as follows:

1965 Trojan KMV 106C

Owned by Alan and Mark Fisher from Hull

At a previous classic car exhibition we were approached by Roy Drudge of Lincoln who had previously owned the car and was selling it so that the car could go back on the road. He and his brother had owned the car for the last 32 years and it had been stored in a Nissen hut near Newark for the last 12 years. The car was solid and just needed a couple of patches underneath repairing - the brakes, suspension, lighting and engine were all overhauled and in May 2005 the car passed its MOT and was back on the road. We have decided to leave the bodywork and Interior as it is for now and have protected the body to from getting worse. (This is our next project!!) This car is one of the last 80 Trojans made and some of the parts are different because of this (lights, quarter lights etc). The car was first registered on the 4^th January 1965 stopped the manufacture of bubblecars in 1964 so this one probably sat for a year on a garage forecourt before being sold.

 

In 2015 Mark and Lisa started to plan their wedding and decided to use the Trojan as the Bride’s car. So work started restoring it. Lisa decided on the colour of the car. The wedding took place on the 7^th October 2017 . It was Lisa’s Dad drove the Trojan for the first time.

1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Car

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

I don’t remember there being any information about the car at the show, but it’s obviously a customized Chevrolet Bel Air. It’s got the ‘Ferrari-inspired’ front grille of the second-generation Bel Air that was only available in 1955, the first year of production. It seems that a large number of potential customers wanted a more conventional full-width grille so the car was given a facelift for 1956.

Toyota Corolla KE20

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a Toyota Corolla KE20, a second generation of the Corolla E20 which was produced between 1970 and 1974. It was available with a 4-cylinder inline engine of 1.2, 1.4 or 1.6 litres.

1969 Jaguar XJ

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1969 Series I Jaguar XJ and has a 6-cylinder inline 4,235cc engine. The Series I car was introduced in 1968 and replaced by the Series II in 1973.

1949 Jowett Javelin

This is one of the photographs that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a 1949 Jowett Javelin which has a 1,486cc ohv flat four engine. Over 23,000 were produced between 1947 and 1953.

1993 Volvo 480 ES

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1993 Volvo 480 ES, a car that was produced from 1986 to 1995 and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,998cc engine. It is the first Volvo to have front-wheel drive and the only one to have pop-up headlights.

1968 Volvo 131 Amazon

This is one of the photographs that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a 1968 Volvo Amazon, a car that was produced from 1956 to 1970 with a choice of 3 different sized 4-cylinder inline engines and this one has the 1,778cc unit – though the DVLA say that it’s 1,780cc. The Amazon was apparently the world’s first car to have front seat belts fitted as standard.

1936 Ford Pickup

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1936 Ford Pickup and this is what the note in the windscreen said:

The Rainy City Cruisers are a group of motoring enthusiasts from Manchester whose name reflects the fact that many people think that it always rains in Manchester. The DVLA record says that the engine of this car has a capacity of 5,300cc.

1990 Audi Quattro

I took these photographs at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a 1990 Audi Quattro which has a 5-cylinder inline 2,226cc engine and was in production from 1980 to 1991. The DVLA record says that the car has been untaxed since July 2003 and currently has a SORN.

1990 Honda Prelude

This is a photograph I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a 1990 Honda Prelude, a Third Generation car, and has a four-cylinder inline 1,958cc engine. The DVLA record says that its last MoT certificate expired in March 2020 and it currently has a SORN.

1965 Ford Falcon

This is a photograph I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a 1965 Second Generation Ford Falcon with a 4,733cc (289 cu in) V8 engine.

1989 Toyota MR2

Here are two photographs that I took of a car at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a late First Generation 1989 Toyota MR2 and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,587cc engine.

1974 Rover 3500

This was one of the cars on display at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1974 Rover P6 3500, a car which was produced by British Leyland from 1968 to 1977 based on the Rover P6 2000 that was introduced by the Rover Company in 1963 and is powered by a 3,528cc V8 engine.

1966 Triumph Herald

This is a photograph I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1966 Triumph Herald, a car that was produced from 1959 to 1961 undergoing several updates and 4-cylinder inline engines ranging from 948cc to 1,296cc. The DVLA record for this car shows that it has a 1,998cc engine, presumably the 6-cylinder inline unit that powered the later Triumph Vitesse.

1980 Peugeot 504

This is one of the cars that were on display at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a 1980 Peugeot 504 Series 2 Coupé with a 2,664cc V6 fuel injection engine.

1959 Austin A35 Countryman

This is one of the cars that I photographed at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1959 Austin A35 Countryman and has a 4-cylinder inline 948cc engine. The A35 replaced the A30 and over 280,000 Austin A35s were produced between 1956 and 1959. The external differences between the two cars were that the A35 saloon had a larger rear window and a painted grille instead of the A30's chrome one. The A30 also had semaphore trafficators in the B pillars whilst the A35 had front and rear flashing lights.