This next car is number 3 of 12 in a special feature we are doing inspired by a vintage Car and Driver article that covered cars offered for new in 1992 for less than $10k and had air conditioning, a rear defroster, and an AM/FM radio. These economy cars compact economy cars were ranked by […]
This next car came as a tip from Matt C who wrote: Bitter SC heading towards auction. And I thought to myself; Oh great, another opportunity for an oddball cheap and interesting car to get slathered with a thick veneer of nostalgia from a group of self-appointed experts in the comments of one of those 5% buyers-premium auction sites and then bid into silly money range by the deep pockets of…oh…wait…an insurance auction? Suuhhh-wheat!! A dirty car that might not have keys and will need a trailer to get home? That’s more my style. Find this 1985 Bitter SC on the IAAI auction website in Atlanta, GA.
Erich Bitter was the German equivalent of John Z DeLorean — no he didn’t get wrapped up in some ridiculous drug sting by overzealous DEA agents, but he was involved in the automotive industry for a number of decades before deciding to launch his own marque..and it was surprisingly successful…for a few minutes. Find this […]
The asking prices for aircooled Porsche 911s have been through the roof in recent years, but the late 70s examples are (still) the cheapest way to get into a Stuttgart stallion. In California that might change if the smog test exempt cutoff year changes from 1975 to 1980, and those 1976-1980s cars might look more […]
The tenth generation Ford Thunderbird was released in 1989 (along with the Mercury Cougar) on the MN12 platform, which distanced it from the Mustang it had previously shared the Fox platform with. New to the 10th gen T-Bird was an independent rear suspension, a supercharged V6 and a Mazda sourced 5-speed manual gearbox. But if […]
I am a big fan of what Tesla is doing in the automotive industry, and I’ll be the first to admit not giving them much chance of survival when launched (hence rule #12, never underestimate Iron Man Elon Musk). However, given the choice between dropping almost six figures on a used Tesla Roadster or picking […]
Erich Bitter was a German born bicycle and automobile racer who launched a tuning/performance company called Rallye-Bitter in 1962. A few years later he was importing Abarth badged cars into Germany and a short but frustrating relationship with Intermeccanica of Torino, Italy. In 1973 he started producing his own custom designed cars using Opel mechanical […]
The Bitter SC (1979-1989) was a coach built German luxury grand tourer that used the Opel Senator chassis for its moving parts. In 1979 it may have closely resembled a Ferrari 400i, but it was a closer competitor to Porsche’s recently released 928 or a BMW 6-series. Today the Bitter SC is traded for something […]
If you drink all the kool-aid about driving a vintage Porsche 911, you might expect the cars to be fast and bulletproof but the truth is that the stock 911 powerplants leave much to be desired. Power in the low 200 hp range isn’t much to write home about these days (expect V6 Camrys to […]
The Bitter SC was a coach built German luxury grand tourer that used the Opel Senator chassis for its oily bits. Former race car driver turned entrepreneur Erich Bitter started his own car company in 1971 using the old formula of building a sexy body on a cheap donor chassis. The only problem with the […]