An Extraordinary Make of Cars: Bitter Cars
In 1971, a German automobile company was launched by the name of BITTER. It was established in the town of Schwelm, Germany, by Eric Bitter who is a former race car driver. The Bitter automobile company manufactured cars for 16 years from 1973 to 1989. The Bitter Company mostly manufactured CD’s and SC’s in their 16 year run. Between 1973 and 1986 Bitter has sold about 395 CD’s and 488 SD’s on proven Russelheim platforms and running gear. Eric bitter produced several prototypes between 1987 and1997 but he could not raise sufficient finance to put them into production. Recently Bitter automobile company displayed a Holden Monoaro based CD2 at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show and in 2007 he came back the Bitter Vero, four door salon based on the Australian Holden Statesman.
Eric Bitter was born at Schewlm, 30 miles east of Dusseldorf in Germany, in 1933. His father ran a bicycle shop in Schewlm. At the young age of 16 Eric Bitter quit school and started working with his parents. Consequently he started a career in cycle racing and by the age of 20 he turned into a professional cyclist. Eric Bitter competed in the Tour de France and in the years to come he became one of the best professional cyclists Germany had got. During his cycling career Eric made good relations with NSU, which dealt in manufacturing of cars other than bicycles and proved to be great help when he planned to switch over to automobile racing from cycle racing. At the age of 25 he started entering competitive events and it wasn’t long before he started winning in an NSU. During his racing career from 1958 to 1969, he raced Ferraris’, Mercedes 300SL’s and Porsches.
After retirement, Eric Bitter made a decision to approach opel to start car business and in 1971 he launched the Bitter automobile company.
BITTER CD
Eric Bitter started out his car manufacturing business with a Bitter CD which was an Opel-Diplomat based car. After a successful showing at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1973 it was ready for market. Eric bitter took 176 orders for Bitter CD right at the show itself. This three door hatchback coupe having a Chevrolet 327 V- 8 engine was produced between 1973 and 1979. With a top speed of 130mph or 210km/hr these cars could reach 100km/hr in 9.6 sec. Bitter took a shortened form the opel Diplomat chassis for styling the CD. These cars were of exotic design with a very reliable V8 engine .The manufacturing of the Bitter CD ended with a total production of 395 in 1979.
BITTER SC
After the Bitter CD, the Bitter automobile company came up with the Bitter SC. It was based on the opel’s contemporary model, the Opel Senator. The Bitter SC was manufactured and sold between the year 1979 and 1989. They produced the Bitter SC as a coupe, sedan and convertibles . The Bitter SC is equipped with a fuel injected Opel 3.0 l-165 (177 hp) or a bored-out 3.9 l-16 that developed 207 hp (154 kW) .The first model to be launched by the Bitter SC was Coupe(1979), after which came the Convertible(1982), which was later followed by Sedan(1984). The manufacture of Bitter SC ended in 1989 with 461 coupes, 22 Convertibles and only 5 sedans built. The total production of SC’s was 488 till the year 1989.
BITTER VERO
Eric Bitter made his comeback in the automobile industry in 2007, offering a new car model, The Bitter Vero. He presented a silver Vero and a dark red Vero before the public in 2008 at the Geneva Motor show. This model is derived from the Holden WM Statesman. The Bitter Vero is powered with a V-8 engine with six speed transmission.
Bitter also unveiled a “Vero sport” at Geneva Motor show 2009. This sport model is based on the short-wheelbase Holden VE commodore SS sedan.
- Ashish Chandra
Tags: bitter, bitter car, bitter cd, bitter sc, car, cars, eric bitter, the bitter automobile company, the bitter vero
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