Most popular auto maker for hill climb cars...what'ch think?

[Ron Mann]

Using my database of drivers/cars (which isn't complete) I can come up with the top 10...as of right now. What do you think the top 10 automakers have been from 1951-present?

[Tim Williams]

I'LL TAKE A STAB AT IT.
MG, TRIUMPH, VW, CHEVY, FORD, PORSCHE,MINI COOPER, AUSTIN HEALEY, HONDA, JAGUAR

[Rich Sweigart]

VW
MG
Triumph
Austin Healey
Porsche
Volvo
Autodynamics
Saab
BMW
Chevrolet

[Ron Mann]

#10 - Jaguar!!

Rich is leading with most on the list by one over Tim....

[Ron Mann]

#9 Lotus

[Ron Mann]

#8 Volvo

[Ron Mann]

#7 Everyone's Favorite....Saab!!

[Ron Mann]

#6 My Favorite....Volkswagen!!

[tupdegrove]

I'm glad Ron isn't doing the top 100; We'd be here for days on the edge of our seats waiting for the next post

[Ron Mann]

No doubt Tim!!

#5 Triumph

[Ron Mann]

#4 the only domestic....Chevy!!

[Ron Mann]

#3 Porsche

[Ron Mann]

#2 MG

[Ron Mann]

#1...Austin Healey!!


#10 The Jaguars hit the top 10 due to their huge popularity in the 50's to the late 60's. With such models as the XK 120, XK 140's, 150's and even the SK 120…XKE's popular from the early 60's and up into the 75 season with Bob Ladd's venerable XKE! I also have record of a Jaguar D type running in 1955. Now the only cat on the hill is Sue's!

#9 Lotus seemed to throw some folks off…but, the mid 60's through the mid 70's the PHA hills were rich with Lotus built cars. 11's, 20's, 22's, 23's, 27's, 51's and 61's…but the two most popular were the Lotus 7 and the Lotus Elan!! Today Lotus is represented by Bill Lessig's Lotus Elan…which has been running PA hills since 1969 (he also ran a 7) and Tony Preston's Lola T340. We also have a Lotus Elise show up now and then….

#8 The Volvo…well represented from early 60's to the present. Volvo owners ran such models as the 122s, 142, 1800, 240 & 242…even the 740 Wagon driven by John Stokes today!! But, by far the Volvo of choice has been the 544 and 444…John Flannery, of Reading, made the 544 a force to reckon with in the Touring classes and PHA Hall of Fame members Bob & Patty Alspach drove many types of Volvos. Craig Danks now owns and runs the old Flannery Volvo…it a moving piece of history!

#7 Saab…To think, two Swedish cars back to back!! I know how everyone loves the sight, sound and SMELL of Chuck & Mary Ann's Saab…multiply that by or 10-20 and you'd be at an event in the 60's!! 93 B's and F's were a very, very common sight! The 96 came later, and was also well campaigned as well as the GT and Saab Sonnet. It is a great credit to Chuck and Mary Ann to keep rolling the old Saab…a true representation of Vintage Hill Climbing!!

#6 Volkswagen…Not only was it cheap to buy…it was cheap to modify!! The Beetle was the perfect car for a hill climb and was the main ride for numerous folks. Bob Sr. and Norma Oswald's first ride was a 1300 Beetle back in 1971…and yes it was #282/283. The Ghia, Rabbit, GTI, Scirocco and Golf's have all found great success on hill climb circuit and are one of the most popular cars in use today. This figure does NOT include the formula, solo and super vees or other VW powered machines!! Inclusion of those type cars may have bumped VW up a few slots…in 2007, 7 VW or VW powered cars were on the top of their class by year end.

#5 Triumph…the British are coming, the British are coming!! The TR2 hit the hill climb scene in the mid 50's…there were a few on the scene, but it wasn't until the early 60's and the release of the TR3… that the flood gates opened!! The TR3 and later the TR4 were a serious 1-2 punch to the hill climb scene. Although we don't see many 3's anymore…Dennis Williams and Dave Miller both run excellent examples of TR4's (Dennis ran a TR4 back in the 60's) Dave Yeager busts out a Triumph now and then as well!. Other Triumph models that hit the hills include GT 6 (like Scott Janzen's) and off course the Spitfire, another powerhouse Triumph. The TR6 was not very well represented and Tim Williams is the only TR7 I have on record!

#4 Chevy….the keyword here is Corvette!! 327's, 396's and the 427's….the number of Corvettes that ran the hills is mind blowing! Sure, there were Camaro's as well…A Sedan was full of them! A spattering of Corvairs also represented the "bow tie" well. Citations and Vegas…and who can't get pumped up watching Butch and his Blazer today!! We still have a few Corvettes today…Lascoskie, Cyburt, Perlo, the Vrabel's and the Sincavage's Vettes all represent!

#3 Porsche….wow…1300, 1500, 1600, N's, S's, SS's, 356 A & B's…550 Spyders in the 50's, the 911 and 914's, 935 of Jack Danko, 944's and the 996 of Leith Wain. Porsche has been a player on the PHA circuit for what seems forever! For as many as there were…it is surprising that there are not more currently running. Peter Stillwell, Joe Hoover and Larry Snover who has been in and out of Porsche's since the 60's! (911, 914 & Speedster) are some of the regulars that roll the classics now. Can't name all our historic Porsche drivers…there were quite a few: Jack Rabold, Tom Beil, the Sweigarts, George Frey, Denny Frick, the Heides, Charlie Beidler, Bob Holbert, Charles Kurtz, & Jim Haas…I could go on!

#2 MG…With a huge early jump on almost all the makers (obviously except 1) MG hit the scene in the early 50's with the TD, TC & the TF. MG later dominated the scene with the MGA (Sue Salsburg/Dave Aaron & Lloyd Geib). A's came with a 1500 or 1600 and were immensely popular for hill climbing…but even more popular were the MGB's (Mike Patton, today). There were so many E Production Cars that the class was split 3 ways!! EP1 was typically for the Porsche Speedster, EP2 was for the Triumph TR3, and EP3 was for the MGB (and a few straggler makes). Today, we are back to one E Production class and the MG's we see now include Garth Knorr, Mike and Rick Kase who runs a MGB GT…one of three I have ever documented as running PHA. Lloyd has been running some type of MG since the early 60's and is possibly Mr. MG on our scene! Dave Smith, Jim Sariano, Barney Hertzog, John DeBaugh, Larry Chubb…and Rich Rohrbach were MG drivers of our past!

#1 Austin Healey!! The Sprite is King Of The Hill……I have over 225 documented Sprites Mk 1's - 4's. Before the Sprite the AH 100 4's/6's had a huge impact in the early hill climbs only to be "one upped" by the D Production 3000!! The MK 1 bugeyes still have representation at our hills…Larry Shaffer and Dave Smith bust out Bugeyes they have had forever while and Tom Styczyski runs his in Vintage as well. Tom Knorr and Steve Hirschtritt are two regulars that still run a MK 3 Sprites…so, we still have some…but no where near what we used to!! Heros of the Healey, besides the guys that are still running them from back in the day (Larry, Dave & Tom), include: Bob Ladd, Tom Edkin, Ed Joyce, Doug Gutekunst, Harry Salavantis…and even our own Mel Horn raced a Sprite!





Again…check the link I have for wanted results and entry lists….we need to fill in some blanks!!

[Ron Mann]

For those that were guessed, and didn't make the top 10:

Ford…Though the Mustang has made a resurgence as of late…the Mustang's prime was the late 60's - early 70's. I didn't seem as popular with hill climbers as the Camaro in A Sedan. Other models from Ford included a spattering of Pintos, Falcons, a couple of Cortinas…a few Thunderbirds in the 50's and of course the infamous Torino of Tony Ford!

Rich's guess of Autodynamics was actually pretty good!! Without comparing the data of "purpose built" cars…I would be willing to bet that the Autodynamics Formula Vee would be tops!! They started popping up on the radar around 1966 and are still used today. Our own John Pitman, Rick Kase, Ted Klaus rolled an Autodynamics Vee at one point in their career…and now and then we still see one pop up now. The Fink family out of Trout Run and Cannon Roberts have run an Autodynamics Vee in recent years!!

The Mini…there were quite a few on the hills but didn't have enough numbers for the top ten. Paul Trout & Charlie Reel both run fine examples of the classic Mini, the Moyer/Robinson's GT-Lite Mini…and Sue Salsburg's new mini is the future. Back in the day…Alex Miller may have been "Mr. Mini" running some sort of Mini for almost a decade.

Honda's surprisingly, has not been a major player on the hills…a spattering through the years with the Civic being the anchor and a touch of CRX's. Look no further than Mike Ancas with his two Honda's and the classic Sekella Civic for two PHA main stays! Datsun rules the roost out of Japanese produced cars.

BMW another good guess…back in the day the 700 was pretty popular a good start assisted by a few sleek 507's, 1600's, 1800's and then the 2002. We still have a small turnout of 2002's that show up…Vince Gladfelter's for one. I think BMW became a little too expensive to chop into a race car…although a few M3's have been spotted.

[rallynutdon]

#8 The Volvo. Craig Danks now owns and runs the old Flannery Volvo…it a moving piece of history!

Not any more. He sold it and told me the next time you'll see it will be at Goodwood!

[Ron Mann]

wow....nice Don!! I didn't know the car had changed hands! It's a great car!

[Mel Horn]

…and even our own Mel Horn raced a Sprite!

The very Sprite that Dave races today, even!
Traded a car to Dave back in '73 and ran a couple seasons, then sold it (why? WHY?) to Bob Hulett and it went elsehere, then mercifully back to Dave.
It's won either the PHA class championship or the NE Div Solo I champonship for a bunch of us.
And it had its nose in a bush at Hershey while I was still in high school.

[svann]

Ron, the Caldwell D9 FF1600 is a Autodynamics too. Built in Marblehead, MA, by Ray Caldwell.

[John Pitman]

As was the Caldwell D-13 Formula Vee, I had two, one of which is still campaigned by Keith Bower.