As a lifelong automobile nerd, I used to be vaguely conscious of the Duryea Brothers’ significance to the American car business. Briefly, they had been the primary People to construct (in 1893) and promote (in 1896) an inner combustion-powered automobile. I used to be additionally acquainted with the truth that one of many earliest types of auto racing was hill climbing. In spite of everything, with horsepower figures within the single- and low-double-digit vary, these early fashions had loads to show. What I hadn’t realized after we moved to Pennsylvania a decade in the past was simply how shut my new dwelling can be to each items of historical past.
From my workplace in Pottstown, the town of Studying is however a brief 25-minute drive away, most notable for its metal and railroad industries. On the flip of the 2oth century it was additionally a hotbed of small automobile producers as we lined on this story. Amongst them (briefly) was Charles Duryea who, after parting methods along with his brother Frank, constructed vehicles in Studying from 1900 to 1911.
To check every new car he manufactured, Duryea would run it up the unpaved switchback street from Metropolis Park to the highest of Mount Penn. This difficult 12-turn route required the car to climb 650 ft in simply two miles. As sports activities automobile racing turned widespread within the Nineteen Fifties, the legendary check route re-emerged because the aggressive Studying Hill Climbs. Two separate occasions, the Duryea Hill Climb and the Pagoda Hill Climb, proceed to today.
Earlier than transferring East from Chicago, I first examine American hill climb racing in Burt Levy’s historic fiction novel “The Final Open Highway”. On this good and hilarious chronicle of Nineteen Fifties street racing, the fictional Buddy Palumbo introduces readers to the very actual historical past of Pennsylvania’s hill climbs together with Large’s Despair and the Studying occasions.
Since 1951, the Studying hill climbs have been a staple of East Coast sports activities automobile fans. The street was paved within the Nineteen Thirties and there are much more security issues than in these early days. However the spirit of open-road, run-what-you-brung motorsport lives on in these beginner races, as I lastly witnessed at this yr.
After ten years out east, the race weekend lastly coincided with a gap in my schedule, even when the climate didn’t cooperate. I navigated to the nook of Hill Avenue and Clymer Road, which by pure coincidence is the start line of the races. On my manner, it appeared becoming that I handed proper by native sports activities automobile store Correct Noise. Shortly after parking close by, I caught the PA system announcement thanking all of the sponsors, together with, nicely…Correct Noise.
Whereas the occasions are considerably spectator-friendly (extra on that in a second), they exist primarily for the drivers. So long as you aren’t in anybody’s manner, you’re free to stroll the paddock space. It’s wonderful means take a look at the vehicles up shut and speak to the drivers. In the event you’ve ever been to an autocross occasion, it’s the identical vibe. Low-key, approachable fans out seeking to nail their greatest time.
Viewing the racing could be difficult, nevertheless, because it takes place on a closed street on a steep, wooded hillside. Count on to stroll (and climb) to catch a good vantage level and be ready for lengthy breaks within the motion. This isn’t wheel-to-wheel motion however relatively single-car time trials. And since some vehicles fail to make it up the hill, the motion typically involves a halt fully.
As for the vehicles, they’re basically the identical ones you may see at your native SCCA autocross occasion. A mixture of small import sports activities vehicles, highly effective American muscle machines, and the occasional devoted observe beast. Drivers compete inside their class towards comparable automobiles.
The moist situations on my first outing meant there wasn’t quite a lot of quick motion to witness. However as a veteran autocrosser, the fun of the scene had me lacking these days. Extra overwhelming for me was the sense of nostalgia for the early days of the occasion. It was as if I’d stepped onto the pages the primary time I learn “The Final Open Highway.” And that’s a great factor.