Opel traveled to the 1969 edition of the Frankfurt Motor Show to unveil a state-of-the-art concept car dubbed CD, which stood for Coupe Diplomat. Billed as merely a design study, the CD was the work of a team led by American designer Chuck Jordan, the same man who designed the Opel GT and several well-known American cars like the 1963 Buick Electra and the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado.
The CD featured a wedge-shaped body with a one-piece wraparound windshield that tilted forward in a Jetsons-like manner to provide access to the cabin. The body was designed using data gathered in a wind tunnel – a real novelty – and the final product was crafted out of fiberglass to keep the coupe’s weight in check.
Inside, the CD boasted a futuristic function-over-form cockpit with an aircraft-inspired instrument cluster, a two-spoke steering wheel, and unusually wide power-adjustable pedals. A center console mounted over the transmission tunnel housed the car’s climate control and radio functions and a telephone. Interior designers emphasized comfort, and the coupe’s passengers traveled on generously-sized leather-upholstered seats.
Power for the CD came from a 5.3-liter V8 engine sourced from the then-new Diplomat B. The engine sent 230 horsepower to the rear wheels via a three-speed push-button automatic transmission. However, sources close to Opel have recently revealed that CD was not a functional concept.
The CD unexpectedly stole the Frankfurt show in 1969, leaving show-goers and journalists in awe. Equally stunned, Opel tentatively asked Italian coachbuilder Frua to build a less futuristic version of the car with a toned-down exterior design and a more realistic interior. Opel insisted that the coupe retain the concept’s lightweight fiberglass body and the Diplomat-sourced V8.
Frua built several prototypes for Opel, but the project was ultimately canceled. Opel couldn’t build the CD in-house, and it feared Frua’s relatively small workshop didn’t have the necessary production capacity to assemble even a low-volume car. Opel’s bean counters believed the automaker would lose money on the CD because it would be an expensive halo car that would appeal to a very small target audience. GM executives in Detroit ultimately blocked the car because it could end up rivaling the Corvette.
The CD story didn’t stop there. Erich Bitter saw a huge potential in the coupe and formed his own company in 1971 to build a modified version of the Frua-designed prototype. Dubbed simply Bitter CD (pictured below), the coupe was underpinned by a modified version of the Diplomat’s platform, and it was powered by the same 5.3-liter V8 found in the original CD concept. Bitter built 395 examples of the CD between 1973 and 1979.
Source: A look at the 1969 Opel CD concept - Ran When Parked. https://ranwhenparked.net/2014/06/18/a-look-at-the-1969-opel-cd-concept/
Images: GM; autozeitung.de; www.alt-opel.eu
