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Hill Climb Real Old Fashioned Car Sport From 1960s James Robertson-Justice

3,343 views · Published 24 January 2016 · 2:44 · Indexed 19 October 2026

Channel: Public Enquiry · 2016 · News & Politics

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Hill Climb Real Old Fashioned Car Sport From 1960s



Hill Climb Real Old Fashioned Car Sport From 1960s
From the film The Fast Lady (1962)

Hillclimbing (also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing or speed hill climbing) is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course.

It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the first known hillclimb at La Turbie near Nice, France took place as long ago as 31 January 1897. The hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England is the world's oldest continuously staged motorsport event still staged on its original course, having been first run in 1905.[1]

A very different kind of hillclimbing is done with offroad motorcycles going straight up extremely steep hills. The winner is the one which could climb the highest, or in the case more than one made it to the top, the fastest. This kind of motorsport, which requires skill as well as bravery, has a long tradition in the USA and has been popular in France and Austria since the 1980s. The Austrian event in Rachau focused on crowd entertainment, and inspired many similar events

In the British Isles, the format is different from that in other parts of Europe, with courses being much shorter (Harewood Hillclimb is the UK's longest permanent hillclimb at 1,584 yards (1,448 metres)) – more akin to uphill sprints – and almost always taking under one minute for the fastest drivers to complete. For this reason, cars and drivers do not generally cross between the British and continental European championships.

Hill Climbing is also relevant to motorcycle sport; the governing body is the National Hill Climb Association

A notable feature of British and Irish hillclimbing is the very wide variety of vehicles used for competition. Both cars and motorcycles (including sidecars) take part in the sport, and in the case of cars these range from almost standard machines (sometimes driven to and from the tracks) with the only modifications being those required on grounds of safety, right through to specially-built single-seater racing cars. Classic and vintage cars are also very popular in hillclimbing. Generally there are separate meetings for cars and bikes, but occasionally both appear at the same event.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillclimbing_in_the_British_Isles

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