A Bizzarrini GT Strada 5300 for 29,500 SFr?
01/19/2011
In January 1968, Bizzarrini's official representative for central and eastern Switzerland had several advertisements published in Automobil-Revue to boost sales of the Bizzarrini GT Strada 5300.
The car was offered for CHF 49,500, putting pretty much everything the competition had to offer in the shade. However, the price level was also in line with the competition: a Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 cost CHF 53,000, the Lamborghini Miura even CHF 67,000, but a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 was available for CHF 54,000 and a Porsche 911 S cost "only" CHF 32,000 (all prices from 1968, in CHF). For almost 50,000, the Bizzarrini offered an elegant aluminum body, but only an off-the-shelf engine, in this case from the Chevrolet Corvette. With Holley carburetors it produced 325 hp, with Weber carburetors up to 365 hp. This allowed the car to accelerate to 100 km/h in 5.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 280 km/h. However, these performance figures were the benchmark in this class.
The detailed technical data can be found in the AR catalog from 1968.
In the short term, the Bizzarrini does not appear to have been a good investment 
, despite or perhaps because of the small number of examples (less than 140) that were produced. Because in December 1969, a GT Strada that was just over a year old with 14,000 km was offered for 29,500 (i.e. for just over half the new price).
Well, this would definitely have been a good investment, because today well-preserved vehicles rarely change hands for less than CHF 300,000, and even a 4 or 5 at the top of the figure is well within the realm of possibility if a fine racing history and top condition come together. A very good Porsche 911 S tripled its price at most during this period, even under optimal circumstances.
On the other hand, at that time (around 1968/1969) it was also possible to buy a Ferrari 250 GTO for CHF 20,000-30,000 and the increase in value would have been a factor of 100. If you only ....
