Erich Bitter: remembering one of the car world’s unsung heroes | Axon's Automotive Anorak

Born in Schwelm, Germany, in 1933, Bitter successfully cut his teeth racing rear-engined NSUs, soon moving on to Porsches, Saabs, Ferraris and probably most famously his well-known ‘Black Widow’ Opel Rekord C in the late 1960s. Alongside his successful racing career, Bitter gained the exclusive import rights for Abarth in Germany in the 1960s.

He also worked with the low-volume Italian specialist sportscar maker Intermeccanica. It was through his Chevrolet V8-powered Intermeccanica connections, plus his late 1960s competition success on the Opel Rekord C, that Bitter became familiar with the engines and workings of General Motors (GM) and its then German-based Opel brand in particular.

Opel ‘borrowed’ a Corvette V8 from its American cousin in 1968 for its range-topping Diplomat luxury saloon, aimed directly at the jugular of its domestic Mercedes-Benz S-Class rival. In 1969, respected Italian design house and carrosserie Frua selected the Opel Diplomat is the basis for its exotic CD (Coupe Diplomat) concept car. This exciting V8-engined Frua CD sporting GT set tongues wagging at its IAA Frankfurt Motor Show debut, with strong rumours that Opel might build it in limited numbers. Despite direct input from GM’s own in-house Detroit design team, the exciting CD concept was not a priority for Opel’s GM masters however, despite Frua creating a second Diplomat-based CD coupe, with more conservative but very productionable and handsome coachwork.

This stylish Frua prototype caught the attention of Erich Bitter, who by the early 1970s was looking to build a car under his own name, having already established himself as a specialist car importer. With Opel showing little intention to build the Frua CD, rather than let this promising concept wither on the vine, Bitter approached Opel with a proposal to build and market the car, still using Diplomat V8 running gear.

Opel agreed to Bitter’s plan, and in 1971 Erich established Bitter Automobili in his home town of Schwelm to build and sell the stylish ex-Frua Opel-based CD three-door coupe. With limited financial resources and production know-how, Bitter sought the assistance of long-established German coachbuilder Baur to build the CD. With both Baur’s and Opel’s technical support, Bitter was finally able to launch his mildly modified CD coupe at the 1973 IAA Frankfurt Show. He took an encouraging 176 orders for his desirable new V8 coupe despite the 1973 fuel crisis just getting underway, although that ultimately impacted on many of those initial orders on what was an expensive and thirsty luxury car, which were later cancelled.

Sold directly by Bitter, as well as a handful of selected German Opel dealers, the CD sold in small but steady numbers. There were 395 examples built up until 1979 when the fastback three-door CD Coupe was replaced by Bitter’s next new model, the more luxurious three-box SC. Once again, the SC was Opel based, with attractive styling inspired by Pininfarina’s Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2GT/400. The SC stuck with Opel running gear, but with the V8 Diplomat no longer in production, the new Bitter used Opel Senator/Monza V6 power instead.

A 2+2 Convertible SC joined the Coupe derivative in 1981, with a stretched four-door Berlina later added to the line-up. These were followed by an expensive FF four-wheel-drive option developed in the UK by Ferguson Formula. Despite launching into lucrative new markets including the UK (via Ferrari and Porsche dealer Gordon Lamb of Sheffield), US and Japan, by the late 1980s demand for ‘mainstream’ powered sporting GTs was declining, thus the SC ceased production in 1989 after almost 500 units had been made.

With no natural successor immediately planned, Bitter briefly changed direction. He had already launched a modified, more up-market Chevrolet Blazer 4x4 and niche Opel Kadett C-based targa-topped convertible Bitter ‘Aero Sport’ during the 1970s, but he abandoned the luxury GT market to chase greater sales volume with a then-new Mazda MX-5 rivalling soft top sportscar.

It was based on the mechanicals of the ageing Opel Manta; the Rallye GT, but it sadly failed to capture the imagination of buyers, not helped by a hefty price tag in comparison to the new mass-produced Mazda. Just ten Rallye GTs were built, prompting Bitter to return to the more upmarket, higher profit margin luxury GT again.

He introduced the new Type 3, which came in three guises: an expensive rear-wheel-drive coupe, a prestige saloon and a convertible roadster. It was based around the contemporary Opel Omega V6 (Vauxhall Carlton MK 2 in the UK). Despite its attractive design and capable but unexciting base, the Type 3 failed to sell, the Bitter model’s price being way in excess of the Opel model, despite the performance potential being very similar.

The disappointing failure of the Type 3 prompted Bitter to revisit his luxury roots, with the 1994 introduction of the new Bitter Berlina, a four-door saloon this time based on the new Opel Omega B MV6 (Vauxhall Omega MK I).  Despite a promising launch, production the Berlina never really got going, possibly not helped by Bitter being briefly distracted by a pipe-dream Tasco mid-engined supercar project.

After on-going financial problems and a few years in the automotive wilderness, Erich Bitter made a surprise comeback at the 2004 Geneva Salon, with a new two-door Coupe model called CD 2, based on the V8 Holden Monaro (Vauxhall Monaro in the UK). Two prototypes were made, but the CD 2 amounted to nought.

Now in his 80s, Bitter realised that the days of him being able to make a living by building bespoke GM/Opel-based cars were over. Not being one to quit, however, with the help of this son, Erich continued his loyalty to Opel by selling unique upmarket body styling kits and luxury appointments for existing Opel models. His offerings included tailor made frontal styling for volume models such as the Insignia, Mokka, Cascade and Adam, with a giant ‘B’ logo (his marque emblem) replacing the Opel ‘blitz’ logo on the car’s grille, luxury leather upholstery, wood trim kits, and so on. 

These were sold right up until Erich Bitter’s passing in late July. The Bitter Opel modifications are seemingly still being available now through Opel’s German dealer network. This is a lasting testimony, one hopes, to one of the motor industry’s unsung heroes, and one of the great tryers.