Erich Bitter was the German equivalent of John Z DeLorean -- no he didn't get wrapped up in some ridiculous drug sting by overzealous DEA agents, but he was involved in the automotive industry for a number of decades before deciding to launch his own marque..and it was surprisingly successful...for a few minutes. Find this 1983 Bitter SC Coupe offered for $4,000 in Litchfield, CT via craigslist. Tip from Greg.
The asking prices for aircooled Porsche 911s have been through the roof in recent years, but the late 70s examples are (still) the cheapest way to get into a Stuttgart stallion. In California that might change if the smog test exempt cutoff year changes from 1975 to 1980, and those 1976-1980s cars might look more tempting than the early 80s examples, so now might be a good time to pick one up. Here are a few cars from the same seller -- find this 1977 Porsche 911S Targa for $29,000, this 1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa for $28,500 or this 1985 Porsche 911 Carrera Targa offered for $45,000 in SF Bay Area, CA via craigslist. Tip from Kaibeezy.
The tenth generation Ford Thunderbird was released in 1989 (along with the Mercury Cougar) on the MN12 platform, which distanced it from the Mustang it had previously shared the Fox platform with. New to the 10th gen T-Bird was an independent rear suspension, a supercharged V6 and a Mazda sourced 5-speed manual gearbox. But if you wanted all of those goodies together, the only way was to get the Super Coupe. Find this 1990 Ford Thunderbird Super Coupe 35th Anniversary Edition here on eBay
offered for $3,995 buy-it-now or make-offer located in San Diego, CA.
I am a big fan of what Tesla is doing in the automotive industry, and I'll be the first to admit not giving them much chance of survival when launched (hence rule #12, never underestimate 
or picking up this next customized Porsche....I'm gonna have to choose the latter. Find this 1978 Porsche 911 SeleCtric offered here on eBay
bidding for $21,100 with a few hours to go.
Erich Bitter was a German born bicycle and automobile racer who launched a tuning/performance company called Rallye-Bitter in 1962. A few years later he was importing Abarth badged cars into Germany and a short but frustrating relationship with Intermeccanica of Torino, Italy. In 1973 he started producing his own custom designed cars using Opel mechanical parts and produced almost a 1000 Bitter badged cars through 1986. This is one of them -- find this 1984 Bitter SC Senator Coupe here on eBay
bidding for $4,050 reserve-not-met with 3 days to go, located in El Cajon, CA.
The Bitter SC (1979-1989) was a coach built German luxury grand tourer that used the
Opel Senator chassis for its moving parts. In 1979 it may have closely resembled a Ferrari 400i, but it was a closer competitor to Porsche's recently released 928 or a BMW 6-series. Today the Bitter SC is traded for something in the $5-$15k range depending on condition and this one looks decent. Find this 1982 Bitter SC
currently bidding for $7,500 with 2 days to go located in Portland, OR via eBay.
If you drink all the kool-aid about driving a vintage Porsche 911, you might expect the cars to be fast and bulletproof but the truth is that the stock 911 powerplants leave much to be desired. Power in the low 200 hp range isn't much to write home about these days (expect V6 Camrys to eat you for lunch). The Porsche flat-6 is known for its long life, but only if you maintain it properly, and changing out things like the cam tensioner can cost considerably more than your last Camaro tune-up. So, if you want some more performance and save a few bucks on oil changes, why not swap a Chevy V8 into the back of your Porsche? Find this 1981 Porsche 911 SC V8
currently bidding for $11,655 reserve-not-met with buy-it-now $19,500 via eBay with 4 days to go, located in Port Clinton, OH.
The Bitter SC was a coach built German luxury grand tourer that used the Opel Senator chassis for its oily bits. Former race car driver turned entrepreneur Erich Bitter started his own car company in 1971 using the old formula of building a sexy body on a cheap donor chassis. The only problem with the formula was that it was...well...old....and consumers (particularly the kind of people who had 54 large to drop on a sports coupe in 1985) did not appreciate the ruse. Regardless, today the idea of a cheap look-a-like Ferrari with Opel sized repair bills that isn't some kludged-together kit car sounds nice. Find this 1985 Bitter SC offered for $5,000 in Tarzana, CA via craigslist. Tip from Sean S.
located in Portland, OR and bidding for $13,500 with 6 days to go. Tip from Michael B.
The posting earlier this week on a salvage title E30 M3 elicited some revulsion from one of our regular commenters, slowcarSLOW-MPGlol, who wrote "For $15,000, you could get: 911SC, E39 M5 (2x cylinders, 2x hp, 2x doors) 1994 Viper RT-10.."This statement was soon rebuffed by an anonymous commenter who we will call Julie for expediency's sake -- Julie quipped
"Find me a 911SC for $15,000 and I'll show you a car that needs $15,000 in work to get into reliable driver condition."SlowcarSLOW-MPGlol responded by posting this gorgeous guards red 1979 Porsche 911 SC for sale in Wichita, KS currently bidding on ebay for $12,800 reserve-not-met with a few days to go. Tips from slowcarSLOW-MPGlol
Ford tried very hard to compete with the likes of the BMW 6-series when they created the MN12 Thunderbird (and Mercury Cougar twin). Today they may seem hopelessly outdated, but consider that the '89 T-Bird featured an independent rear and a double-wishbone front suspension, which tends to be the ideal setup for wheel camber control and ultimate cornering grip. For the top of the line Super Coupe (SC) Ford added a screw type supercharger and intercooler to the 3.8L V6 to get 210 hp and 315 lb-ft, along with a Mazda 5-spd manual trans, 4-wheel disc brakes, adjustable shocks, ABS, a limited slip rear diff and a wider wheel/tire combo. The end result was a capable aero-styled offering that may appreciate someday - but for now they are still dirt cheap! Find this 73k-mile 1989 Ford Thunderbird SC here on craigslist in Central Iowa for $6500. Tip from Andy L.