The Grand Ascent at Hershey | Vintage Car Hill Climb

• July 16, 2014
• / Story By
  John McCabe

There are few things more beautiful than a vintage race car. One of those would be a vintage race car doing exactly what it was born to do: race. While it’s somewhat disheartening to see a beautiful car from yesteryear permanently on display or, worse still, rotting in a field, it’s completely heartbreaking to see a beautiful race car in any condition other than “fast.” This is why vintage car races are such pleasurable events; it’s fun just to see and hear those old, loud, uncomputerized mechanical engines roar down… errr… UP… the road. This is a hill climb race, after all, hence the name of the Ascent at Hershey which coincides with the Elegance at Hershey. Unlike the Elegance, now in its fourth year, the Ascent is firmly rooted in the past. The first Ascent was run as the “Hershey Hill Climb” in 1958. Hershey would grow to be the crown jewel of the Pennsylvania Hill Climb Association’s (PHA) annual circuit. By the mid-1960’s the race was drawing over 200 cars per event. Although the race was suspended in the 1970s, it returned three decades later and is now run by the Vintage Sports Car Club of America (VSCCA).

The Hershey Hill Climb course is slightly less than ¾-mile - a 200 foot elevation change and some wild curves make this a challenging race course.  Comprised of five turns, it can prove to be a difficult course, especially for these vintage vehicles. Turn #3, where the "Plastic Tree" sits, may be the most infamous of them all. This poor tree was hit so many times by Corvettes, fragments of fiberglass were imbedded into its trunk.  The hairpin is turn  #4 and was once marked by a large cabin on its outside edge. It was so feared that cars would go off course here that in the early days a “stop-reverse-go” section was put in place. Eventually, a large pile of hay bales would protect the cabin and cars (although today the cabin is long gone.) The final turn, a sweeping left-hander, shoots cars off to the finish line. This year’s event was very exciting as three Lotuses and a 1964 Formcar battled it out throughout multiple timed runs. On his last run, Michael Ballo’s Porsche also challenged for the win, but David Baker’s Lotus, which had only a few runs, held on for the win in a time of 57.4 seconds over Eric Logan’s Formcar. All of these beautiful automobiles attacked the course with both horsepower and style; speed wasn’t the only important factor. Jackie Amarosa’s Triumph TR-3, which finished in eighth and the gorgeous 1932 Alfa Romeo Monza piloted to 24^th place by Bruce Rudin were two of the obvious fan favorites at the event. Another car that was certainly a sentimental favorite, due to its ability to create horsepower with an incredibly small powerplant, was Joe Parlanti’s 1959 Abarth Zagato 750 Double Bubble. The “750” in its name is even a bit ambitious, as it is merely 747 cc. Yes, that is not a typo. By way of comparison, the engine in my dune buggy began its life as a 1971 Beetle engine and was a 1600 cc engine at the time so, yes, the Abarth runs on an engine half the size of a stock 1971 VW Beetle engine. The entire course has been run in as little as 50 seconds. These older race cars did very well, as more than 20% of the 30 starters crossed the finish line in under a minute. Below are the results of the weekend-long event that had drivers, crews, fans and officials ducking for cover during an afternoon thunderstorm on Friday and enjoying warm temperatures and beautiful skies on Saturday in Hershey, PA.