Model A hill climbers

[Curly]

Im fascinated with these guys who are building and racing Model A’s as hill climbers. I live in Alaska so it’s not something my eyes have ever seen. Do they race against other Model A’s only? Is it time trial? Where do they do them? If anyone has any experience with it I’d love to hear about it.

[tbirdtbird]

I think Bob (carolinamudwalker) does this stuff once a year...he'll chime in

I think it varies with the club......prolly with the As it is all As

I was involved with the VSCCA years ago and it was all the marques that belonged to the club, and it was timed

[carolinamudwalker]

No Dave, racing takes money that I don't have. But when the club gets to the mountains I am not the last to get to the top.

[George Miller]

I have been do it for many years. It is a timed event up a hill. More like a drag race up a incline, one car at a time. Who gets to the end the quickest wins. They have servile classes. stock, modified, speedster flat head, speedster overhead, plus more. You have to use a Model A engine, plus lots more rules.

[Curly]

Thanks George. I’d like to see a race one day. I bought an engine from engine builder Ron Kelly, he does this type of racing. Talking to him about it briefly is what peaked my interest. This is a corner of our hobby that doesn’t get much attention from the mainstream crowd which is unfortunate because after the war many of our returning young men pursued hill climbing as a means of recreation.

[tbirdtbird]

Before TV, hill climbs and racing were a way for a car manufacturer to promote their products.
If they won, they would get a good write-up and hence a lot of PR

[CarlG]

Ron Kelley with his truck and his hill climbing speedster:

[wensum]

We Hold an annual hill climb and as it looked like the most recent one might be the last, I thought that I'd better enter my speedster in the event .It has an open prop shaft and the radius arms have to resist the rotational forces of the diff. Despite 10,000 miles over some very rugged roads (or perhaps because of?) when I dropped the clutch on the start line the car did some very strange things with the brakes coming on then off again and some strange noises almost like tyre squeal each time I changed gear.
Unfortunately the fingers at the end of the radius arms, (later type) where they bolt to the backing plate had broken/cracked, and that was the end of my competitive efforts. The radius arms had been seam welded, but after repairing the breaks a strengthening plate was added too.
Ideally an arm should be bolted to the centre of the diff and extend forwards to the cross member, designed to stop the diff rotating, but my fuel tank is under the floor at the rear and has a tunnel over the prop shaft and this precludes fitting an arm from the centre of the diff. The only photo taken is of me waiting in line for the first practice run.

[Curly]

Those are great looking cars Wensum.

[wensum]

Those are great looking cars Wensum.

Thanks Curly, Our branch of the New Zealand Vintage Car Club tends to attract/cater for British & European cars. The cars behind my Model A are: Jaguar engined Bugatti Type 35, A Sunbeam 20.9, a Riley 9 tourer and a Buckler

[Curly]

That blue car behind yours (Type 35?) is just stunning!

[wensum]

That blue car behind yours (Type 35?) is just stunning!

Yes, the Bugatti is a genuine type 35 and a historic racing car in NZ raced by Ron Roycroft and with a Jaguar motor, still competitive in the '50's. His son, Terry now competes in it and used the original Bugatti motor for a few years, but it was too valuable and fragile, so he converted it back to the Jaguar engine for reliability and to be more competitive