Back when I was in high school I first became aware of Bitter Motorcars. The small German firm headed by Erich Bitter was building low volume cars based on Opel mechanical components. The first time I saw a Bitter SC in Road and Track, it looked a lot like a Ferrari 400 coupe of the time, particularly in profile. Bitter built almost 900 cars between 1973 and 1986, when he introduced a new model based on the then current Opel Omega. Unfortunately, the money to actually produce anything beyond a few prototypes of the new car never materialized and eventually Bitter Motorcars ceased being an operational entity. Bitter continued designing cars and doing contract construction through the '90s and into the new century.
The rear wheel drive underpinnings of the Omega eventually went out of production in Europe, but Holden kept the platform alive in Australia. In 2003, Bitter unveiled a new prototype based on the Holden Monaro (Pontiac GTO), and it's been shown a few times since, but never produced. Autoweek.nl is now reporting that Bitter may attempt another comeback this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show with a new car based on the Holden Statesman luxury model. The statesman shares the new GM Zeta platform with the Commodore and the new Pontiac G8. It should be interesting to see what Bitter conjures up this time around and whether the new platform will allow him to raise the funds
needed for production.
