In the 70s, Al Hildenbrand was a Sterling distributor that thought he could improve the car, and in 1980 he released a more “mainstream” looking (to my eyes) version that had a broad set of changes called the “Bremen Sebring”. Most obviously, the roof has been raised a little, and the “door” also extends lower (in later versions — early Sebrings retained the Sterling top). He also shortened the nose and added bumpers, as well as raising the headlights and converting them to pop-ups. Minor stylistic changes were made across the bodywork. Personally I feel that it looses a bit of the over-the-top exotic feel of the original, but it’s still a wilder car than almost anything on the road.

The National Sterling Association estimates that about 1,500 were made in all, but I suspect that number is actually quite a bit lower than that.

James’s Sebring is built around a 2.8L V6 water cooled engine (which includes air conditioning) mated to the 4-speed VW Beetle transmission. He’s located in Oklahoma City, and the first person to bring him $5,000 drives away in the car (he drives it regularly and it runs fine). You can reach him via email at JmsShively@aol.com.