Almost exactly thirty years ago at the beginning of November 1980 ...
11/04/2010
... the Swiss car customer could buy an Opel Kadett for CHF 11,500, order a Ferrari 308 GTS for CHF 59,200 or solve space problems with the Mercedes T-Model (according to AR No. 46 from 1980).
A first-hand BMW 3.0 CSI 1972 was available for CHF 6,500, a Porsche 911 S Targa 2.4 liter for CHF 15,500, a Bentley S1 1957 was looking for a new owner for CHF 18,500 and a completely overhauled Fiat Dino could be purchased for CHF 5,800. Marc Surer said "skirts are nonsense" and "aerodynamics determine everything". Manfred Jantke from Porsche pleaded for consumption-oriented regulations for racing cars, while the FISA was just inventing the new racing car classification with groups A, B and C. Spike tires were still in vogue and even allowed in the Gotthard tunnel. The cheapest Volkswagen Passat weighed 920 kg, accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 15.6 seconds and made the buyer CHF 14,050 poorer. Yes, it was that long ago.