Description

European Hillclimb Championship 1957–1969

The call of the mountains – The origins of the European Hillclimb Championship
Summiteers – The history of the European Hillclimb Championship from 1957 to 1959
The manufacturers go hillclimbing – 1960–1966:
The battleground for sports cars and GTs
Porsche’s siblings rivalry – The 1967 European Hillclimb Championship
Hillclimb Cobra – The battle between Ford and Ferrari
Swan song – The 1968 and 1969 seasons – Porsche 909 and Ferrari 212 E

Hillclimbing has been a popular branch of motor racing in central Europe for more than a century, with the sport’s roots dating back to around 1900 – the very dawn of the automobile age.

The Paris–Rouen time trial in 1894 was the forerunner to modern rallying. The Paris–Bordeaux–Paris road race in 1895 paved the way for Grand Prix racing. And the very first hillclimb formed part of a race between Marseille and Nice on the 31st of January 1897. The third and final stage of that event was exactly 17 kilometres long, from Nice to the mountain village of La Turbie. The fastest entry in the field was a De-Dion steam car, driven by tyre manufacturer André Michelin who competed under the pseudonym ‘Pary’.

In 1899 there were three new hillclimbs, two of which were in Austria. First there was Exelberg, followed by Semmering. A then-25-year-old Ferdinand Porsche was a designer at the Jacob Lohner company in Vienna, which meant he was quickly exposed to hillclimbing. At the Exelberg event in 1901, he was a class winner in a Lohner-Porsche – helped by the fact that he was the only driver competing in an electric car. At the Semmering race, the electric category was won by Lohner factory driver Karl Paulal. Other big hillclimbs of the time included Gaillon in France (from 1899 onwards), Susa–Moncenisio in Italy and Mont Ventoux in France (both from 1902 onwards)…

——————-
Pages: 144
Publishing house: Sportfahrer
Language: English
Format: 210 x 297 Millimeter
——————-