Mystery Car no. 2

[PaulKanters]

The last car was guessed by Smokie in the absolute last nick of time, so it's time for the new Mystery car for this week.

It's a bit easier again, as it's slightly more modern motor, but that's as far as the clues go:

Here it is:

http://homepage.eircom.net/~pkanters/mysterycar2.jpg

Let hear it from you all...

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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring! welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
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[BeCos]

Maserati Khamsin?!!

[PaulKanters]

Nope, but a good guess Becos. The Khamsin is actually a bit more wedgeshaped with a longer nose and a glass/see-through rear end.

Keep those guesses coming. It's roots are actually a bit more humble than a Maserati.

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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring! welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
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[Phil]

Is the make/model of the car a Lotus, by any chance Paul???

[BeCos]

De Tomaso? Although I know its not a Pantera,but there is a slight resemblance.

[PaulKanters]

It's not a Lotus and it's not a DeTomaso...
Keep up the good guesses :)

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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring! welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
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[Phil]

Paul, you have thought of everything. I tried to be sneaky and follow the link of the picture back to your site thinking that there may be a bit of info about the car. Oh no NOT A SAUSAGE!!!!

I give up for now.

[PaulKanters]

LOL :D

Nice one Phil, this time you'll get the prize for dogged determination!!
You didn't think I would have been that careless as to leave the filename "fordfocus.jpg" or something ;)...
However, it was worth a try!!!

But seriously, you're not giving up now are you. Come on give us a few more guesses. If you look carefully on the back of the car, the country sticker is actually also the country of origin.

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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring! welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
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[ICCC]

Bitter CD ... those humble origins being the Opel Senator...

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Drive Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar & more...join the ICCC - www.irishclassiccars.com (http://www.irishclassiccars.com)

[PaulKanters]

Well Done Clement! Now, honestly, did you know it off hand, or did you look it up somewhere :)

It is indeed a Bitter CD from 1973-79. Designed by a German engineer Erich Bitter, who worked for a company called Intermechanica, and decided to take his own design onto the market. He was able to convince the higher heads in Opel Germany about the viability of his projects, and he was allowed to use Opel floorpans, engines and other components.
The car is based on the platform of the Opel Diplomat and not the 'Senator' Clement, as the Senator only arrived in 1979. It's Bitter's second car, the SC, that was based on the Senator/Monza floorpan.
The CD has the 5,4 litre V8 Chevrolet engine, as Opel was part of GM, and the Opel Diplomat was using this engine too. The styling is actually quite good for a "first try", but it looked better than it went. Performance wasn't blistering as it used Opel engine and running gear. Top speed was only 130mph. Bitter ultimately petered out in the late eighties and there were only these two models.
You seldom come accros these exclusive German Opels in a designer jacket, and they actually have a quite strong dedicated following. Cars still fetch good money. Check out this immaculate SC from 1982, which is for sale in the Netherlands right now for approx 15,000.

http://homepage.eircom.net/~pkanters/bitterSC.jpg

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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring!
welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
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[This message has been edited by PaulKanters (edited 21 April 2000).]

[ICCC]

Knew it as soon as I saw it Paul - if I had bothered to look it up somewhere I would have got the Diplomat/Senator thing correct.. :)

As the resident expert ;) , I hope you don't mind me correcting you in that the company did not quite peter out in the 80s, and the CD and the SC were not the only models produced. From late eighties to mid 90's they produced a limited no. of the Bitter Type 3, another luxury saloon based this time on the Opel Omega. They also produced two other prototypes - TASCO and Berlina. I'll see if I can find some pictures.

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Drive Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar & more...join the ICCC - www.irishclassiccars.com (http://www.irishclassiccars.com)

[This message has been edited by ICCC (edited 21 April 2000).]

[SpyCamera]

I guess ICCC this is just to easy for you. I think were going to have to get Paul to dig down deep to find a car that will leave you stumped for a while. One that the rest of us will never get.

I have to say Paul that I'm not much of an expert on old cars, but I like the quiz that you have here. The first and third cars that you have picked so far, look really good compared to today's standards. The first car that you showed us, would that be easy to come by and what kind of money would we be talking about?

[BeCos]

Well done Clement. This is really good fun.I would have recognised the Bitter SC but didn't realise they produced an earlier model. More, more....

[PaulKanters]

Don't worry BeCos, there will be more! Tomorrow I should have another car for you all. (It's just that I have to dig deeper and deeper to get some really obscure ones, so that Clement won't guess them first time around ;))

Clement, about your remark about the "petering out" of the Bitter company and the other models produced, I knew they produced some more prototypes, but since the eighties Erich Bitter has been continuously strugling to get his finances together, and he was on the brink of bankrupcy several times, and everytime when people thought this was it, he managed to come up with yet another new prototype. But somehow the trust in the company had gone, and he never really managed to sell significantly.
I'd love to see some pics of the model that was actually produced in limited numbers, as I am not too sure which model that was.

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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring!
welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
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[This message has been edited by PaulKanters (edited 25 April 2000).]

[ICCC]

There are plenty of very obscure cars - it should not be too difficult to find them. Another idea is to post a shot of a small area of detail from a car i.e. the engine bay, or rear seats, or silhouette etc.

Sorry this is so huge but here is the Bitter Type 3 :


http://www.irishclassiccars.com/bitter3.jpg



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Drive Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar & more...join the ICCC - www.irishclassiccars.com (http://www.irishclassiccars.com)

[PaulKanters]

Doesn't appeal to me at all, I have to say. Looks like a boring American Chrysler or Pontiac...

Your suggestions about showing just a detail of a car is a very good one! I will try it out in future.
I know there are plenty of obscure cars, it's just finding a car that you wouldn't know off hand, and that could still possibly make some sense to all to the other readers of this forum :)

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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring!
welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
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[ICCC]

OK Paul - in future I won't spoil the fun for the other forum members - but I'll be Bitter if I don't get my T-Shirt ;)

[PaulKanters]

Maybe, if you know the car off hand, you can send me a direct email to let me know you know, and if your don't join in the guessing game!!! You've earned your T-shirt anyway, although I learned from Ciaran that this will take a bit more time, before we have the first batch in.

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Paul Kanters
Nothing beats Classic Motoring!
welcome.to/classiccarsireland (http://welcome.to/classiccarsireland)
--------------------