1965 Bizzarrini Hillclimb Prototipi or F1 project?
An even more unusual product,one that created some wild rumblings in the press, was a single seater ordered in 1965 by the French gentleman racer mr. Regis Fraissinet.
The Bizzarrini monoposto weighted just 590kg and was powered by a 327 Chevy engine.The body was made of fiberglass and the engine had brace of Webbers and a custom made exhaust. After some experimenting at the university of Pisa the engine produced more than 420 horsepower. This was transmitted to the rear wheels via ZF gearbox.
Giotto smiles recalling the monoposto's intial tests: It was like a dragster,it was so quick! We took it to the small circuit near Livorno, where mr. Fraissinet tried a testdrive the car. He press the throttle and accellerated for a while and suddenly stopped. He got out of the car because he was afraid,he couldn't drive it more. Not wanting to leave his client with empty hands Bizzarrini swapped the car for some shares in his company. He then put the word out he was considering a Formula 1 adventure , using the completed monoposto as bait.
The ruse worked, Road & Track's August 1966 issue reporting the Formula 1 project is "classified".