One of the rarest manufacturers in the 1970's and 1980's with the CD and the SC series - only 395 of the CD were produced and the SC versions were produced in similarly small numbers, only 461 coupes, 5 saloons and 22 cabriolet's

Ours in the last Cabriolet and was first registered in August 1990, to a baker (obviously a very successful baker) a Mr Pawlak who was a personal friend of Erich Bitter in Berlin

He kept the Bitter until 2005 when he had covered only 149.163 kilometers, at which point our chum brought the Bitter, took her here to be registered and used for trips to his various holiday homes in Portugal, Spain and Andorra

On one such trip (in 2008) the original Opel Monza 3.0 litre 6 cylinder engine gave up the ghost near Madrid - completely

Shipping the car back to the UK he thought about what he should do - he already had an Opel Monza coupe, which shared the same under pinnings and mechanical specification

So a plot became clear to him and within flick of an eye lid the Bitter would become a V8 with manual gears................

Many years later, and now fitted with the LS2 V8 of 6.0 litre capacity from a Holden Mareno, which happily produces 404bhp, this Bitter is simply sensational

The engine is mated to a 6 speed manual Tremec gearbox and whilst the drive train was sourced through Paul Spinks of Wortec Ltd, Funtington, near Goodwood the transition was carried out, and conceived by Derek Hunt of Automonza in Watchet, Somerset

The works would take nearly 10 years to complete and the time was taken to ensure that the development was part of the job - not something the owner was required to do, thankfully!

Now after 3.500 trouble free miles, this car is more than amazing

We have driven her extensively - starts on the button, never grumbles in traffic, looks terrific and sounds even better

Obviously there is a raft of specification which we could list here (ceramic free flow manifolds, stainless exhaust system, substantially reinforcing the chassis /sills / body so that there is no flex at all now, bespoke instruments which actually work accurately etc etc) but the sum of the parts does not equate to the whole, which is so much better

We are very much used to being accosted by members of the public, who just love to chat about whichever car we are using (lucky us - we know) but the Bitter takes this to another level

Everyone loves the look and the noise too - and so many people, even though they don't know what is it, are blown away by how pretty she is

The pictures, and all pictures you see on the internet too, just don't do justice to this delicate form

Come and see for yourself