TheSamba.com :: View topic - Pictures Pikes Peak Hill Climb race dune buggies and more

Thu Aug 19, 2010 9:40 pm

Great pics and info colorado_aircooled. 8) Fills in alot more about the buggies on the Peak for me. Back in the day might catch maybe 20 or 30 minutes of the Pikes Peak Hill Climbs on "Wide World of Sports" and maybe a page or two in "Road & Track".

Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:42 pm

Very few cover shots of Volkswagen powered Pikes Peak Hill Climb cars. Even with the Mears doing well with VW power. It was rumored the Bobby Unser bet the Mears brothers that they could not beat his record with a VW motor. He said he would pay them $10,000 if they could. (hotrod magazine oct 73)

This is Rick Mears running in 1974. They did not beat the record with this car , but did very well.

Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:50 pm

There were a few sandrail type cars mid to late 70's Bud Whitfield and Bill Brister ran many years. This is a shot of Bill's car. Programs list it as Porsche powered. I think early on that was type 4 VW and then later a few guys went with the 916 Porsche motors. Nice to get photos in color. :D Was hoping this listing on the SAMBA would get some old photos dug out and posted. Next time I will show Newman Dreager cars, the last of the Volkswagen powered Hill Climb cars.

Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:55 am

Back to the hope of getting pictures of Dune Buggies in the Pikes PeaK Hill Climb. 1971 entry list for Open Wheel Buggies class.

John Whitfield VW- Manx
Wally Drew- VW Corvair
Ted Trevor- Deserter Corvair
Alex Dearborn - Deserter Corvair
Richard Mundely -VW Porsche(?)
Dick Royer -VW Corvair
Bert Moore- VW VW
Bud Whitfield- Deserter Corvair
Charles Wayne- Deserter Corvair
Reeves Callaway-Deserter Corvair

I listed these in finishing order. FIVE Deserter Dune Buggies in the race in one year :?: and I have only seen pictures of one Alex Dearborn's

Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:52 pm

A few more sandrail type of race cars on the Race to the Clouds. 2nd oldest race in the US !! :D First is a local racer Jay Stewart he raced Volkswagen powered cars for many years. Corvair powered a few years also. This shot is from 1974(?). The two most raced types of sandrails were FUNCO which this was, and GRIZZLY sandrails. Basic design was like what you saw in the day but just a narrow one seater, and lower to the ground.

This shot shows Bill Brister's car listed as Porsche 2400 B-Tracker, passing an area on the Pikes Peak HWY were at one time it was OK to tag the wall with Graffiti :twisted: .Wall no longer looks like this.

Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:43 pm

The Pikes Peak Hill climb race is 12.42 miles long, has 156 turns and goes from 9,000 feet altitude to 14,000 feet at the top. To get a car to run well from bottom to the top was and still is a major problem today. In 1974 the owner of Claude's Buggies in California was there to help. He brought out a VW dyno on a flat bed truck to test the VW motors at 10,500 alt. Trees dont grow past the 10,000 ft level. Rick Mears is standing to the right an and the others are from Claude Buggies.

Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:46 pm

Now this is one of my favorite pictures and cars that have raced on Pikes Peak. This car was owed by Doc Sauers, had a Bob Garretson built type 4 motor. Prepped for the race by the " Kanawyer clan" and driven by both Roger and Rick Mears . Orange colored car, hope to have a better picure in color soon. A Newman/ Dreager built race car , just for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. It had a custom everything. Anyone know were this car is today?

After your run all the cars have to stay on the top of the Hill and wait for everyone else to race. Drivers just kick but and have a good time. Afterwards they line the cars up and parade down the mountian.

Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:59 pm

About N/D race cars. Steve Roberts from HOT VW's said it best. "What started as a gentle breeze back in 1966 has now matured into a gale force wind that could blow the king right off the mountian"
Upright Indy style cars were the norm racing on Pikes Peak. V-8 heavy horsepowered, front engined old school race cars . Then the dune buggies showed how light weight and rear engines worked well with the road surfaces.
Along comes Doug Dreager of Sandmasters of Santa Clara ,Ca and Paul Newman of Newman Race Cars also of Santa Clara. They designed sprint cars for racers at Fremont and Ascot dirt tracks in California. These were called TT Kit cars. In 1976 those same kind of cars invaded Pikes Peak with winning results. Here are a few pictures of Newman/Dreager cars .

Doug Dreager himself , 1st year at Pikes Peak, brought his Ascot dirt car and raced Pikes Peak. Got 10th place ,but hey ,he made the cover of HOT VW's

Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:17 pm

N/D race cars as you see are even smaller and lighter then sandrails of that period. Average weight was right at 1000 pounds. 95 inch wheel base. Something like 40 inches high. First cars on the peak were type 1 engines, then type 4 and at their end porsche six cylinders w/dual turbos.

This is Gary Lee Kanawyer he won six titles on Pikes Peak. In the mid eighties he moved from Newman Dreager cars to the King of Pike Peak race cars , "Wells Coyote" mid engine, v-8 crazy cars. But VW guys showed they way .

Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:31 pm

Alright folks there you have some of the history of Volkswagens racing in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, also known as " The Race to the Clouds" Please let me know what you think and put the word out that we need more pictures and information. I would love to know if any of these cars are still around. This last shot is why I like this race so much. Remember no guard rails and most corners going up all you see is the sky right before the turn. :twisted:

Bill Brister, B-Tracker(?) Porsche 2400 he was from Scotts Valley Ca, long time great Pikes peak racer!

Wed Aug 25, 2010 10:46 pm

GREAT pictures and stories all through your thread c_a. 8) It was such a great event back then. We will never see it's like again.

Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:53 pm

:D Great news a second picture of Alex Dearborn's Deserter from the 1971 race has been added to the collection !

Fri Aug 27, 2010 2:09 pm

Just a few shots to show the engine developments of the Newman/Dreager cars on Pikes Peak

This was Nancy Reader's car,in her 3 years at the Hill Climb, went from VW 2180 then on to Porsche motors 2568 and 2400 type 4, I believe.

Yes a pink car a crowd favorite racing the boys.

Next up is one of the big motors, :twisted:

How did Porsche 930 power work ? Bruce Canepa in 1981 got second place with this set-up.On the way to the top he had to avoid a fan on the course and stalled the motor in the process, restarted and kept going. Still was fast enough for second. The car never came back to Pikes Peak.

Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:46 am

Ok, lets call this grasping at straws. Road and Track NOV 66, had a nice article with many pictures in color. The only shot of the Meyers Manx was this one ,if you can call it that. Bobby Unser and his winning car on the top of Pikes Peak. You can see behind the chrome roll bar and the front end of Ted Trevor's purple Meyers Manx.

Bobby's car won the open wheel class in 66 and the yellow car # 427 in the back was AK Miller's Cobra the winner over 3000cc unlimited class. This gives you an idea of the different classes of cars racing in 1966

Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:35 pm

:D Took some time,but I did find the correct shade of orange for the Mears car.

When this was taken in 1974 the car had, believe it or not, a rack and pinion designed for use on a Disneyland Autopia car. Now just how did they come across one of those?? :shock: It is the 3rd different article I have seen that mentioned the rack. They did later update that unit.

Also have gotten a few excellent leads on this subject from Samba viewers.Thanks.

Let me know if there is further interest and more Hill Climb history can be loaded.Just glad that this information is now in one spot and us Volkswagen and racing folks can be sure the "Aircooled Legends of Pikes Peak" are not forgotton :!:

Tue Aug 31, 2010 11:36 am

Colorado,
I have the DVD "dirt". An old movie put to DVD about offroad type of racing. Has some footage of PP and some of the car's you are asking about. I will watch it today after school, it has been a while.
Also if you want PM me an address I can send it to you if you want to watch it. As long as I get it back some time. That way you will not have to buy it.

Mike

Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:06 am

:D Did you watch it again for me? I looked at buying "Dirt" there are several under that name.If you can give me more info , I will buy a copy.

Two more pics from the 1971 race

Alex Dearborn's car.

Crazy Deserter of Reeves Callaway, Turbo corvair with an 11 blade upright Porsche cooling fan. Modified front end also raced 1971

Thu Sep 02, 2010 9:34 am

I did watch it again. :D
Front say's DIRT and has a red single seat A arm buggy, a 4 wheeler and a dirtbike. Produced by Allan f bodoh and directed by Eric karson.
Trinity home entertainment. Barcode 92865 13533.
I can send ya mine if you can not find one.
BTW, great pictures of the old car's. Thank you for sharing them with us.

Mike

Fri Sep 03, 2010 2:18 pm

Thanks for the tip on the "Dirt" dvd, found one on EBAY cheap and it is on it's way. With close to 1500 views on this thread,I was hoping for some additional information or photos about this period of the Hill Climb. As you can tell it is an important part of "Aircooled History" . I did get some info to add later but I am holding out for a few extra pictures and cool insiders view of the 1966 race.Stay tuned :!:

Fri Sep 03, 2010 9:59 pm

I think it is GREAT that you are taking the time to do this and bring back history that really never was, it just happend.
We will be going to the salt flat's in 10 day's for the world of speed. Lately there has been a huge influx of ACVWs, more so the 36HP challenge.
Great ACVW history there also with salt flat and land speed racing.
Sorry to take over the thread a bit, just wanted to share. www.saltflats.com.

Mike