Louis Unser wins 1938 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Interesting that the title on this youtube video claims the winner in the clip was Jerry Unser, which is incorrect. It is indeed Louis Unser in the Loop Café Special, 1938, and this was the first car to win in under 16 minutes.
Crazy to think that is only 6 minutes longer on course, than Monster Tajima who broke the “under 10 minute mark ” in 2011 – 73 years later in, what can be argued, better technology, partially paved course. Wow!
Here is more history on Pikes Peak -from the Library of Congress:
This annual automobile race to the 14,110-foot summit of Pikes Peak, above the city of Colorado Springs, spans a grueling 12.5 miles along a gravelly road. More than 200 competitors in cars, trucks, and motorcycles participate, along with thousands of spectators who line the winding route.
Pikes Peak takes it name from Zeb Pike, who attempted to climb the mountain in 1806 with a small party of explorers. The weather was bleak, and they were ill prepared. Finally they reached a summit of one of the foothills, waist deep in snow, which Pike estimated to be 18,581 feet. As more climbers and gold prospectors followed, the expression, “Pikes Peak or Bust,” became a byword for westward expansion.
Dubbed the “Race to the Clouds,” the hill climb became a testing ground for new automobiles. The auto industry found the twisty mountain highway a wonderful testing ground for power of multi-valve engines, overhead cams, and superchargers, and introducing balloon tires, and front- and four-wheel drive.
Pikes Peak Highway is still a two-lane, narrow, mostly gravel road, with many blind curves and without guard rails (UPDATE: Fully paved – 2012). Race drivers compete against the clock, dealing with weather that can be sunny at the start and snowing at the summit. In 1935, Louis Unser set a record, driving a truck up the summit in 26 minutes, 12 seconds-the first of his many wins.
The Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb Educational Museum was founded in 1989 to showcase race exhibits and a collection of race vehicles from the 1920s to the present. This project is documented with a short historical text, brochures, a video, a CD, newsletters of the Pikes Peak Auto Hill Climb Educational Museum, 13 photos, and a 1999 Race to the Clouds handbook.
Originally submitted by: Wayne Allard, Senator.
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