The Bitter SC is an automotive curiosity that made numerous attempts to become a contender in the grand touring segment. While it encountered numerous challenges like any small coachbuilder could expect to wrestle with, largely due to not ever having enough capital to manufacture vehicles at a volume where you could actually hope to make money, Erich Bitter pressed on with numerous attempts at solvency. The Bitter SC shown here on craigslist is the model that saw the greatest success, and it’s offered for sale in New Jersey for $45,000.
The SC makes no attempt to hide the fact it’s designed to resemble the Ferrari 365 GTC/4, or the later 400i. The biggest difference, of course, is that the Bitter did not have a V12 under the hood but rather a humble inline-six. This stems from the fact that Bitter’s very existence depended on the Opel model upon which it was based. In the case of the SC, it relied on a Senator to provide the underpinnings and engine to give it life. Even the moniker “SC” was short for “Senator Coupe.” The interior accommodations were luxurious, and while a 5-speed manual was offered, the 3-speed automatic was often chosen as a no-cost upgrade.
Bitter, to its credit, wrestled its way through many challenges, most of them due to the fact it couldn’t produce its own bodies. Relying on subcontractors is a dangerous way to make money when you’re just starting out, and Bitter eventually landed on a Turin-based company called Maggiore to assist with manufacturing. Although this more or less worked, Bitter still struggled to reach a scale that gave it stable financial footing. One of the better decisions it made was to connect with a known Opel tuning company called Mantzel to enhance the humble straight-six, adding a new camshaft and upping displacement to almost 4.0L.
I don’t know the brand or models well enough to discern from this photo whether it has the bigger engine. The option for the 3.9 was tied to the 1984 model year, so it’s quite likely this Bitter has 207 b.h.p. and 260 lb.-ft. of torque, both of which represented healthy jumps over the original output. Bitter would go onto to introduce a convertible and sedan offering, along with a 4WD model utilizing a Ferguson Formula gearbox, but none of these innovations would help it succeed at a significant scale. This is an intriguing option for an unusual classic, and thanks goes to Barn Finds reader Rocco B. for the tip.
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