Prescott Hillclimb report

Hi guys,

Well, it=E2=80=99s been several weeks since my last road trip report, so I f=
igure=20
I=E2=80=99m a bit overdue. In fact, I got home a few days ago from attendin=
g an event=20
in England that is completely unique in my experience--the Vintage Sports Ca=
r=20
Club=E2=80=99s annual Prescott hillclimb.

The VSCC was formed in 1935 (!) to preserve and maintain the heritage of old=
=20
automobiles--and we=E2=80=99re talking about automobiles that were old in 19=
35! The=20
club=E2=80=99s founders set a more-or-less arbitrary cutoff date of 1931, as=
after that=20
year most automobiles were mass-produced. The club=E2=80=99s aim is to pres=
erve the=20
proper vintage automobiles which were painstakingly hand-built; to that end=20
they relaxed their entry criteria and now also allow non-mass-produced cars=20=
up=20
to 1941.

The club is incredibly large and successful, boasting some 7,000 active=20
members! They hold a variety of events throughout the year, and they are an=
=20
unusually inclusive club, especially towards the younger generations. In fa=
ct, the=20
cars which are in the club now are, in the main, exactly the same cars that=20
were in the club when it was founded--they have simply been handed down or s=
old=20
off from one generation to the next.

Among their events (all of which are bargain-basement priced), their premier=
=20
event is the Prescott hillclimb. In 1937, the VSCC learned of a house and=20
grounds that were coming up for sale in the western part of England; it boas=
ted a=20
unique driveway that would be perfect for hillclimbing competition. Lacking=
=20
the necessary resources to buy it themselves, instead the VSCC leadership=20
turned the Bugatti club on to it, and the Bugatti club bought it, with the p=
roviso=20
that the VSCC would be allowed to hold one event a year there, free of=20
charge. And so it has continued to this day.

Besides the small Bugatti museum and large manor home at the top of the hill=
,=20
the grounds have several smaller homes on them, and a fantastic driveway=20
which snakes up a steep hill through rows of trees and open fields of grass.=
It=E2=80=99s=20
simple and green and absolutely lovely.

I don=E2=80=99t normally have much interest in pre-war racing cars, but some=
how I=20
knew that this event would be special, and the weather was forecast to be=20
positively glorious for the entire week, so I merrily skipped down to the ai=
rport and=20
flew over to London, where my perpetual host Geoff Peters kindly picked me u=
p=20
and brought me back to his house. Johnny Woods, the fellow I went to Le Man=
s=20
with, had already been there for two days working on Geoff=E2=80=99s Pantera=
, so I=20
joined him and spent the rest of the day, and all of the following day helpi=
ng=20
to screw the car together.

Around 6:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, I hopped into my GT-350 clone, which=20
started right on the button as it always does, regardless of how long it=E2=
=80=99s been=20
sitting, and set off to drive towards Wales. About three and a half hours=20
later I pulled up to the home of George Gordon-Smith, the fellow who shared=20=
the=20
car with me on the Euroclassic earlier this year.

George lives in a delightful home whose roots date back to a small pub from=20
the 1600s; in the 1700s the building was expanded greatly and turned into a=20
fairly large home. It has seen better days, but George and his wife Sue bou=
ght=20
it as a ramshackle mess and over the past 15 years have slowly, room-by-room=
,=20
been restoring it to its former glory.

George has been attending the VSCC Prescott hillclimb for over 40 years, and=
=20
he reported to me that it is the only event he=E2=80=99s ever seen that=E2=
=80=99s managed to=20
remain completely, 100% unchanged in that time. It truly is like going back=
=20
in time.

The next morning, we set off early, and as George is utterly besotted with m=
y=20
car (and in fact has sold his Mangusta with the idea of purchasing a GT-350=20
clone also), I let him do all the driving. He happily booted it along the=20
A-roads and B-roads, showing his taillights to any number of ordinary cars,=20=
and=20
about 40 minutes later we pulled up to the little village of Prescott, outsi=
de=20
of which the course lay.

We were early, and as George is a VSCC member, we were ushered to the=20
members-only car park, which was further divided into =E2=80=98eligible=E2=
=80=99 and =E2=80=98non-eligible=E2=80=99=20
areas. As our car was built about 30 years to late to attain first-rank=20
status within the VSCC, we had to be content to park by ourselves on a grass=
y=20
hillside.

Already there was much activity in the paddock. Unlike any other race=20
paddock I=E2=80=99ve ever seen, this one was particularly charming, with eac=
h competitor=E2=80=99s=20
parking spot marked out in the grass under shade trees. And to my surprise,=
=20
there were probably 200 cars competing in the event!

Saturday was an open practice day, so one by one each driver took his turn u=
p=20
the course. Unlike hillclimbs in the USA, this course is particularly short=
=20
at only 880 yards, so drivers barely get the chance to get the tires heated=20=
up=20
before it=E2=80=99s over. =20

I had presumed that the entrants would be driving their cars more as an=20
exhibition than anything else. I couldn=E2=80=99t have been more wrong. De=
spite the age=20
and presumed fragility of these cars, the drivers would gun them off the lin=
e,=20
wheels spinning and tires smoking, and then proceed to absolutely flog the=20
hell out of their mounts until they achieved the summit.

Wandering among the cars, I was struck by the fact that so many of the=20
drivers were young. While in the USA most owners/competitors of 80-year-old=
-cars=20
are themselves 80 years old, in the UK it seems to be a cross-generational s=
ort=20
of sport, with the youngest drivers literally being in their teens! And=20
interestingly, there was an unusually high percentage of female entrants=E2=
=80=94the VSCC=20
demographic is indeed broad and inclusive.

I was also struck by how ratty and tatty the cars looked. In the USA, owner=
s=20
of such cars go to great lengths to primp and polish and preen, while in the=
=20
UK, =E2=80=98patina=E2=80=99 is revered above all. In this case, =E2=80=98p=
atina=E2=80=99 is synomous with=20
=E2=80=98filth=E2=80=99, and thus almost all the cars were covered in layer=20=
upon layer of=20
dirt, oil and grime stretching back some 80 years in some cases. Somehow, i=
t make=20
the cars look more =E2=80=98real=E2=80=99, and clearly this is a look that i=
s favored among=20
the cognoscenti within the VSCC.

One look at my cars reveals that I=E2=80=99m right at home in this crowd, as=
I have=20
been known to go years without washing them!!!=20

George and I wandered among the cars, taking in the sights and the smells of=
=20
Castrol R mixed with tire smoke, and listening to the clattering of valves a=
nd=20
the chugging of pistons and the chattering of chains as these amazing old=20
cars would lurch from rest and amble towards the start line, and then charge=
up=20
the hill.

At lunch time, we returned to the GT-350, and from a distance I noticed what=
=20
I presumed to be a Jaguar C-type replica parked alongside of my car. I=20
presumed this because, very much like Cobras in the USA, C-type replicas out=
number=20
the originals by a hundred to one, so the statistical likelihood of a given=20=
car=20
being genuine is very small indeed.

But as I approached, I was struck not only with the gentle patina of the car=
,=20
but also by the owner, who was sitting alongside of it on a small folding=20
stool, quietly reading his newspaper. We got to talking, and learned that y=
es,=20
in fact, his was an original Jaguar C-type, XKC015, the 15th car made. It w=
as=20
one of 20 C-types sold in the USA, and was raced by Maston Gregory who used=20=
it=20
to win at the open road race in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. It later=
=20
burned out in practice at the Floyd Bennett races. It was rebuilt using par=
ts=20
from XKC034, and several owners later was brought back to UK in the 1970s by=
=20
the current owner, Campbell McLaren, who now takes his million-dollar car on=
=20
road trips and vacations and whatnot. In fact I had seen it at Le Mans earl=
ier=20
this year, and in years previous as well.

It was fascinating eyeballing the car and learning its history, but out of=20
the corner of my eye I spotted two people carefully looking over my GT-350=20
clone, both speaking with a fair degree of knowledge. They didn=E2=80=99t r=
ealize the car=20
was mine, but once they did, we launched into a great discussion as they wer=
e=20
both great fans of the cars, and in fact had owned two different Mustangs=20
themselves, and had recently driven a GT-350 clone all around Spain before s=
elling=20
it there. They went on and on about how wonderful and underrated the cars=20
are in Europe, which pleased George no end, and the three of them had a grea=
t=20
discussion about the manifest joys of GT-350 ownership in Britain.

After lunch, George and I wandered over to the other member=E2=80=99s car pa=
rk, which=20
was filled with several hundred pre-war cars. While in the USA the owners o=
f=20
such cars would most likely only use them for little jaunts near home, or=20
would trailer them here and there, in the UK cars are meant to be used, and=20=
every=20
one of them had been driven on the road to the event. In fact, the same hel=
d=20
true of the competitors! Although there might have been 200 cars competing=20
in the event, there were only a handful of trailers; the overwhelming majori=
ty=20
of the cars had been driven, in some cases for many hours, over public roads=
=20
in order to compete, and the drivers were dependent upon them staying togeth=
er=20
long enough to get them home.

Such is the British motoring spirit, one which is almost unknown in the USA,=
=20
and one which I admire greatly.

Adjacent to the car park was a small but thriving trade center, featuring=20
vendors selling automotive books, photos etc. Amazingly, I found a long=20
out-of-print Brooklands book on my beloved 1974-81 VW Scirocco, and bought i=
t=20
instantly! Quite chuffed!

As the day ended, George and I set off for his home, and he chose to avoid=20
the motorways and take the back roads, so we got to enjoy an hour or so of b=
ack=20
lanes thrashing before pulling into his drive, where Sue greeted us with a=20
wonderful dinner.

The next morning, after once again filling the tank (at about $6 a gallon!),=
=20
we again set off for Prescott, for this day would be the actual competition.

Among the cars running up the hill, the ones that appealed to me most were=20
the aero-engined cars. During the immediate pre- and post-war era (WW I, mi=
nd=20
you), motorsports enthusiasts looked to the aviation community to provide th=
e=20
motive power for some truly insane home-built specials. Ordinary chassis we=
re=20
fitted with aero engines of enormous displacement, resulting in a very wild=20
ride indeed. =20

Among these cars was a 1907 Metallurgique, a very stately-looking car powere=
d=20
by a 21-liter Maybach Zeppelin engine! Other favorites of mine were a 1911=20
Austin powered by a 1918 Hall-Scott V-8 bomber engine, and a 1921 GN Vitesse=
=20
with an 8.2 liter V-8 from a Curtiss Jenny. But the absolute ultimate was t=
he=20
Napier Bentley, a 1929 Bentley chassis with special bodywork, into which a=20
24-liter Napier W-12 engine had been shoehorned!

I had seen this car run at the Goodwood Revival, and it is truly a sight to=20
behold. The engine has three banks of four cylinders arranged in a W=20
configuration, and its 24 liters crank out a full 1200 ft/lbs of torque. Re=
dline is=20
only about 3000 rpm, but get this--it makes 240 hp at 2500 rpm, and 420 hp a=
t=20
2700 rpm!!! So the power comes on like a light switch, making for a very wi=
ld=20
ride indeed.

No clutch made can withstand that kind of torque for long, so his launch=20
technique is to simply rev it to the moon, then sidestep off the clutch so i=
t=20
hooks up right away, and let wheelspin take care of the rest. Thus his depa=
rtures=20
were always popular, as he would smoke the tires for 100-150 feet, sawing at=
=20
the steering wheel as the car would slew sideways! It was absolutely=20
hilarious!

The members car park was as fascinating as the paddock, for there were even=20
more people and cars present. It is truly astounding the cars that British=20
drivers can and do drive on the open roads. Among the hundreds of pre-1931=20=
cars=20
in the parking lot were one dating from 1904, and even a full-on, 1909-or-so=
=20
Mercedes Grand Prix car! Imagine--taking a full-on F-1 car that is close to=
=20
100 years old, with no lights, no brake lights, no nothing except a tiny num=
ber=20
plate, and driving on the road for hundreds of miles just to attend an event=
=20
as a spectator. Amazing....

At lunchtime, I noticed a nice-looking little red car parked two cars down=20
from mine, and wandered over to discover a nice couple having a picnic behin=
d=20
their 1949 Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia. This little number is probably worth=20
somewhere between two and four million dollars, and here again was this owne=
r who=20
instead of pushing it into and out of a trailer, was driving the car on publ=
ic=20
roads and just leaving it in the car park as he went to watch the races. Bra=
vo!

The competition was fast and furious, and most cars made it up the hill=20
without incident. It generally took just under a minute to reach the top, s=
o cars=20
were started every 30 seconds or so. Occasionally a car would have some sor=
t=20
of issue, in which case the following cars would be stopped. Interestingly,=
=20
the corner workers had no radio system, and in fact no flags except for a re=
d=20
flag. When a car broke or something happened, the nearest corner worker wou=
ld=20
sound a whistle and issue the red flag. The next worker down the line would=
=20
repeat this, and the message would work its way all the way back to the=20
starting line. Then when the track was cleared, the top worker would sound=20=
his=20
whistle and withdraw his flag, and so on.

Exactly as they have been doing it since 1937....

Near the end of the day, one driver got a bit carried away and sort of=20
launched himself off the side of a very steep, grassy hill on the outside of=
the=20
final corner of the course. From my vantage point I couldn=E2=80=99t see if=
the car=20
rolled or was otherwise damaged, but the word came back that the driver was=20=
unhurt=20
(or at least, not hurt too badly).

Because of the high number of participants, each driver only got two chances=
=20
to set a time, once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. So when you=20
think about it, these people travelled a great distance and made great effor=
ts=20
to compete for a grand total of less than two minutes!

The fastest time of the day was sent by one of the last cars to climb the=20
hill. In fact it was a very undramatic-looking run and I never would have=20
guessed that he was as fast as he was, because he didn=E2=80=99t LOOK fast,=20=
but James Baxter=20
took his 1934 Frazer Nash single-seater up the hill in something around 43=20
seconds, which is very quick indeed.

At the end of the day, the competitors began packing up. I spoke at length=20
with Duncan Pittaway, the driver of the GN Vitesse (with the Curtis Jenny=20
engine). He said that he had about a two-hour drive ahead of him and he wou=
ld be=20
travelling in concert with a friend in his 1923 Bugatti Type 13 Brescia who=20
lived nearby. They had to push-start the GN, as there is something wrong wi=
th=20
the electric starter, and when they engage it, the entire car becomes =E2=
=80=98hot=E2=80=99 and=20
whoever touches it is electrocuted. :>)

He told an interesting story--he was pulled over by the cops on the motorway=
=20
the previous year, and they insisted that he shut the car off. He told them=
=20
that if he did so, they would have to push-start him. He then asked why he=20=
had=20
been pulled over, and they politely informed him that he had been gently=20
cruising down the freeway at 96 mph!!! He has no speedometer, of course. A=
fter=20
accepting his ticket, he then insisted that the cops push-start him, and he=20
made a point of delaying turning the ignition on so that they got to push hi=
m a=20
good long time!

As the entrants moved off and the spectators made for the exit (there were=20
only a few thousand people, making it a very nice, intimate affair), George=20=
and=20
I wandered through the car park and were again knocked out by some of the=20
amazing cars that people had driven to the event, including a Zagato-bodied=20=
Siata=20
8V, and a delightfully tiny little Maserati barchetta of some sort.

Thoroughly satisfied, George and I again made our way home via the back=20
roads, where we then went out to a nice little country pub with some of his=20=
friends=20
and his daughter for dinner. This pub holds a trivia quiz each Sunday=20
evening, with teams formed by each table of diners. With our wide-spread=20
demographic (accurately described as two teenagers, three British adults, on=
e Old Fart=20
and an American Goofball), we had the topics completely covered, and easily=20
beat everyone else out and won a nice bottle of wine for our efforts.

On Monday morning, after saying my goodbyes, I rolled down the Wye valley=20
towards the little village of Brockweir, where one of George=E2=80=99s best=20=
friends, and=20
a fellow I have known for ten years, has his home and office. He runs one o=
f=20
the largest companies in the world specializing in London double-decker buse=
s=20
(www.london-bus.co.uk), and as the weather was delightful, we sat in his=20
garden for a bit of morning tea and cake and caught up on old times. =20

We then retired to his garage where we examined his Jaguar XK-120-based=20
vintage race special, which had recently been badly damaged in an accident.=20=
While=20
driving down the road (yes of course he drives his race car on the=20
road--doesn=E2=80=99t everybody?), the radiator cap popped off and the hot a=
ntifreeze sprayed=20
onto his face, burning and blinding him. He lost control, hit an embankment=
and=20
spun out, thankfully not injuring anybody else or flipping the car. But he=
=E2=80=99s=20
been spending the past year repairing the damage. (For some strange reason=20=
I=20
forgot to bring my camera to document this part of the trip, how odd?)

Although he was too busy to accompany me, he gave me directions to the yard=20
where he keeps his buses, about seven miles away. To get there, I had to cl=
imb=20
the far side of the Wye valley and then drop down into the Severn valley,=20
alongside the river Severn. The road was a tiny one-lane affair, so the=20
seven-mile drive took more than a half-hour, but it was quite pleasant indee=
d.

I got to the yard just at lunchtime, and joined the workers there for lunch,=
=20
which was held in their break room, naturally enough located on the second=20
level of a double-decker bus that had been converted into a motor home.

There were about 80 buses of all vintages in the yard; some were clearly=20
junkyard donor buses, while others were still in regular use, hired out for=20
promotional work etc. The business also refits and customizes buses, as the=
y make=20
fantastic motor homes and race car haulers, as well as catering trucks with=20
dining facilities on the second floor.

The yard foreman fired up a 1962 Bristol open-topped double-decker bus and=20
took me for a ride, explaining the subtle intricacies and nuances of driving=
it.=20
The four-speed gearbox has no synchros and thus demands a perfect touch to=20
avoid grinding gears. Although I wasn=E2=80=99t about to take it on right t=
hen, I=20
suspect that I may have a go and learn to drive it next time I=E2=80=99m ove=
r in England.

Late that afternoon I returned to Geoff=E2=80=99s house, initially with the=20=
thought=20
of leaving the next morning. But my GT-350 was long overdue for an oil and=20
filter change, and Geoff=E2=80=99s Pantera still needed a lot of work, so I=20=
stayed over=20
an extra day and spent the whole day spinning wrenches, mostly by myself but=
=20
later with Geoff=E2=80=99s help, and the Pantera was almost ready to hit the=
road when=20
we were done.

Here are some of my happy snaps from the trip:

http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/prescotthillclimb.jpg

Now I=E2=80=99m home, the laundry is done, and already the bags are packed a=
gain. =20
For this coming weekend is the huge love-in at Monterey, in the form of the=20
Concorso Italiano, Monterey Historic Races, Pebble Beach Concours and of cou=
rse=20
all the auction action. No way I would ever miss any of that! The 427 Cobr=
a=20
has a nice fresh coat of wax and a full tank of gas.

Do you know the way to Monterey? If so, I=E2=80=99ll see you there!

Mike

Very cool stuff as always Mike, thanks!

Dave