1974 Bitter CD (Coupe Diplomat)

Country of Manufacture: Germany
Year:              1974
Vin #:             5250049
Model Type:  2 Door Coupe
Body Designer: Initially Opel’s Chuck Jordan, fine-tuned by Frua, then Erich Bitter and Dave Holls (Jordan’s
replacement at Opel). German coachbuilder, Baur of Stuttgart was responsible for building the      car.
Engine:           Chevrolet 327 V8 (5354 cc)
Horsepower:  230 bhp at 4700 rpm
Torque:          314.6 lb. ft. at 3000-3200 rpm
Transmission: GM 3 speed Turbo -Hydra-Matic, automatic
Suspension:  
Front- Independent, wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear- de Dion, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Brakes:          
Front- 10.7 inch ventilated discs, servo booster
Rear- 11 inch ventilated discs, servo booster
Top Speed:    128.9 mph

History:  Bitter GnbH was foundered in 1971 by Erich Bitter, a former competitive bicycle and sports car racer. He supplemented his racing earnings by buying, selling and repairing cars and later  marketing tuning kits and car accessories. In the 1960’s Bitter became the German importer for Abarth and Intermeccanica sports cars. Eventually determining that reliability and build quality were not to an acceptable standard, he abandoned Intermeccanica representation and started his own automobile company. Because Bitter had a close relationship with GM’s Opel, which was also supplying parts for Intermeccanica’ s Indra model, it was no coincidence that GM/Opel decided to discontinue supplying parts to Intermeccanica, simultaneous with the launch of Bitter which used many of the same Opel sourced parts. Bob Lutz who was running Opel at the time, was also a key figure in the Intermeccanica/Bitter drama and played an instrumental role in the demise of Intermeccanica and the rise of Bitter.  
The Bitter CD was the company’s first sports car. It was built on a shortened (6”) Opel Diplomat chassis and comprised the complete Opel CD drivetrain. Opel provided considerable engineering support and Baur, a highly regarded German coachbuilder, produced the bodies and interior. The result was the very high quality sports car that Erich Bitter sought.  A subsequent model, known as the Bitter SC was put into production as a result of Opel dropping the Diplomat and substituting the V6 powered Senator as the basis for future Bitter cars. In more recent years Bitter has developed various prototypes but none have made it to production.

Production:   The 1973 oil crisis suppressed initial demand and only 390 Bitter CD’s were built 1973-1979

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