Back in March 2019, Tony Wawryk featured a rather tasty-looking and obviously very rare 1985 Bitter SC as one of our weekly Prime Finds. Several of the ViaRETRO team were awfully tempted at the time. Which only made it all the more delightful when one of our readers recently contacted us and confessed that they had been the lucky highest-bidder at the auction for the Bitter. Having now owned and enjoyed the rare German coupé for more than a year, they felt it was time to share their experience with the rest of the ViaRETRO community.
So with no further ado, over to you Letitia Mace…
Bitter?… Not me!!
I never thought that I would own a Bitter Coupé. Yet, I’ve always loved unusual cars and back in the early 80’s I delighted in the blank expressions on the faces of my college friends when I announced that I wanted a Jensen Interceptor. All the guys wanted a Ford Escort Mexico or Ferrari Dino… None of them had any idea why – these were just the cars to aspire to at the time. All the girls were impressed by this… except me!
I knew exactly which cars I wanted, and why. I remember seeing the Lynx Eventer advertised in Horse & Hound – a practical XJ-S with no buttresses – this was on my list too. I cannot remember where I first saw the Bitter Coupé, advertised brand new back in the 1980’s, but I knew I really wanted one. Stunning and rare – it ticked all the right boxes for me! Even so, I never dreamt that years later I would meet a beer salesman who shared my same love of Jaguars and unusual cars – he too had always wanted a Bitter, but not the usual craft beer that he had become associated with.
We were attending the 2019 Restoration Show assisting on the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club stand. Rob Jenner is a former Chairman of the club and our primary interest is in Jaguar cars, which is how we initially met. Together we have attended every Restoration Show for the last few years, as well as the Classic Motor Show in November, assisting on the JEC stand. We’ve always taken a look around the auction while we were there, but we’ve developed a bad habit of bidding as well. Two 3.6 Jaguar XJ40’s have come from “Classic Car Auction” sales, as well as a rare manual 228, Maserati being another weakness of ours. Being seasoned CCA clients, we were on the catalogue mailing list and we would always look through it, each pick our ‘dream car’ and see if we both chose the same one. Usually we did – the black manual Maserati 228 being one of them.
From the 2019 Restoration Show CCA Spring Auction catalogue we both homed in on the Bitter SC finished in “Champagner”, but it wasn’t until we actually saw it at the show and inspected it that we really began to fall in love with it and hope that everything would go in our favour and allow us to become its next custodians.
With the advantages of modern technology, Rob was able to do some online research, despite being at the Restoration Show from Thursday’s set-up onwards. The Bitter was fortunately one of the final lots, which not only went in our favour for bidding, but also gave us time to do our research. Being such a rare car, it was not long before Rob had tracked down the Bitter Owners Club officials. They knew who had worked on the car and the owner. We were now in a position to bid confidently, rather than hoping the car was what it appeared to be.
Our friends on the JEC stand were watching and listening as bidding commenced – they had become accustomed to our Restoration Show auction purchases and were not surprised by the outcome, so having paid our deposit and arranged insurance, short-term storage and delivery, all we had to do now was assist in packing up the club stand and be on our way home!
We had her delivered to David Marks Garages in Nottingham for rectification of a couple of minor issues and a general health check before being delivered to us in Scotland. Presented in immaculate condition, she was ready for the 2019 show season with no extra cleaning from us. Her tyres were a bit tired, so she had a new set of boots before we ventured anywhere. Despite being sold with a cherished registration number, we felt it was only right that she should be returned to her birth registration – C606TLT. She is one of only five Bitter SC’s, worldwide, painted “Champagner” from the factory – and the only right hand drive example, so I christened her “Bubbles!”
Her first outing was to a Breakfast Club Meeting in The Scottish Borders, where she caused quite a stir and a lot of speculation as to what she might be. Despite clearly being badged “BITTER” so few people know of this brand that they don’t know what they are looking at even when the badge is there in front of them. The few who do know what she is get very excited!
We took her to a few local shows before driving her to Orkney in August 2019 for the Classic Car Show. The trip proved interesting as we originally planned to take the Maserati 228, but at the last minute Rob decided to take the Bitter, because with its basic mechanics it was less likely to break down. As it happened, disembarking from the boat in Orkney she failed to proceed, making quite a spectacle of herself on the pier. Despite the doubting onlookers, Rob and our son-in-law, Carl, were able to sort the problem and restart her, with the applause of all those waiting to board the boat for the next departure.
She limped to a friend’s garage in Orkney with a misfire and we swapped her for a van while our friend, Eddie, sourced and fitted 6 new spark plugs. The ones he removed were shocking – the worst I have ever seen. That done, she behaved impeccably for the remaining time in Orkney, including the show and the long trip back home to the Scottish Borders. Our eldest grandson, who was 5 at the time, has already decided that a Bitter is his dream car.
Attending the Orkney Classic Car Show with Carl, Esta-Jane, Clark & Seth with
their 2002 BMW E46 M3 and Rob & Letitia with their Bitter SC.
We were then invited by The Bitter Car Club to display her on their stand at the NEC in November. Admittedly, they don’t have many cars to choose from, but in Bubbles favour, of the three Bitter’s that were displayed on the stand, she was the only one that wasn’t trailered there, having driven down from Scotland the day before – under her own steam as it were! The club officials pointed out that her vibrant gold coachwork drew more onlookers than the Silver SC and the Dark Blue CD alongside her!
The Bitter Car Club display at the NEC in November 2019.
Not knowing what to expect performance wise, we were quite taken aback by her lack of performance, which on paper compared nicely to an early XJ40, but in reality was shockingly inferior. Overall she drove very well, with everything working as it should, except for the automatic transmission – there was clearly a problem going into top. Research into this suggested that the 3-speed automatic was not a particularly desirable ‘box and many had been swapped for manuals. Still we decided not to go down this route as it would compromise the cars’ otherwise excellent originality. Instead we changed the transmission fluid to begin with, then the vacuum modulator, but to no avail. It seemed that a gearbox overhaul was unavoidable, so back she went to David Marks in Nottingham, and I am pleased to say that all is now well and the work was entirely worth doing as she now drives as we had initially expected.
Bubbles was effectively a one owner car until purchased by us. As was customary for Bitter cars, she was initially purchased from the factory in Germany and imported into the UK by Bitter Dealer “Lendrum and Hartman” after which they utilised her as a demonstrator in their Hammersmith showroom. When they went into receivership, she was sold to a private owner who kept her for 33 years and for most of that time he used her as his daily car in London. In that time she had several major overhauls to keep her in good road-going condition, but it seems that he was caught out by the last workshop who were entrusted with her care, causing a few issues that have since been rectified under our ownership. When he recently retired to Spain and purchased a modern LHD car, he couldn’t deal with selling an old friend, so instead she was consigned to auction. That is of course where our Bitter adventure starts…
Many thanks to Werner Meynaerts for all of his help with her history and specification details – Werner keeps a register of every Bitter. Many thanks also to Paul Keefe and Brian Dodd of The Bitter Owners Club for your help and support.
Words by Letitia Mace and pictures by Esta-Jane Middling, Letitia Mace and Rob Jenner.
Has Letitia’s words inspired you to become a Bitter owner yourself? If so, we at ViaRETRO sincerely hope you are a patient soul as it might well take you a fair while to find one. Alternatively, if her tales have inspired you to share your own classic car story, please feel free to send us a text of 1,000 to 1,500 words along with 10 to 25 pictures preferably in 1024 resolution. Tell us why you love your classic car, how you found it, where you have driven it, what work you have done to it and what the future has in store for you. Remember, Any Classic is Better than No Classic! And Any Classic Car Story is Better than No Classic Car Story. All submissions can be sent to: editor@viaretro.com