One of the joys of my commute -- and ordinarily, I don't need more than a few fingers to enumerate them -- is going by a particular car repair shop in my town. Invariably, I'll see some kind of wacky European iron in the lot, awaiting the ministrations of the mechanics inside ... all of whom are surely named "Klaus" or "Giuseppe."
Going by usually yields a glimpse of an older Ferrari or Aston Martin. My favorite sighting was a Lancia Thema 8.32, a front-drive sedan (from the old Saab 9000 architecture) with the engine out of the Ferrari 328GTB/S. What fun! What exclusivity! What torque steer!
But yesterday when going by the shop, I found a surprise in the lot.
When I first saw the car, I noted the very crisp C-pillar line raking from the roof back to the trunk lid. The angle of the backlight and the 80s-vintage alloys made me think Ferrari 400i -- a great find in itself.
But no. Moving to the front revealed a slanted nose with pop-up headlights and driving lights in the egg-crate grille. It was slightly chunkier than the 400 -- and slightly less-exclusive looking.
I suddenly realized: it was my first Bitter!
The Bitter SC was a limited-production, coachbuilt sports coupe designed and built by former German racing champion Erich Bitter. It was based on the underpinnings of the Opel Senator, which was a great car for the late 70s/early 80s period. Bitter has largely flamed out now, and one website suggests there aren't more than about 250 Bitters in the US.
And I saw one.
Honestly, it's like I went to the zoo and saw an echidna or something. It's just that rare.
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