Clifton was the oldest running hillclimb in Arizona. It was first organized by the Four Cylinder Car Club of Arizona in 1966, and had a 17 year run till 1982. The SCCA sanctioned the hill for a many years. After a few years pause it started again in 1989, but only for two years. Then in 2015 it was revived for three years through 2017 and again ran in 2021 and 2022. It seems that recently there has been a lack of workers or local volunteers to keep it going. The small town of Clifton has played a huge part in sponsoring, welcoming, and helping to keep it going over the years. I have read a lot of posts of “let’s do it, let’s get it going again”, But no one has been able to rally the troops and revive it-yet. Keep your fingers crossed, as it is a nice road and a fun challenge. Maybe we’ll see it again.
Here are YouTube links to some great footage over the years:
1970s Clifton Hill Climb Start & Finish
1970s Clifton Hill Climb Midway
2015 Clifton Hill Climb Jon Newcombe
Clifton Arizona is located 170 miles slightly Northeast of Tucson, 200 miles east of Phoenix on US 191. Nestled in a canyon, it is an old copper mining town of approx 4000 residents. Many of the locals have participated as drivers and volunteers at the hillclimb over the years.
Doug Roe in his Turbo Corvair suprised the big block cars by taking the overall win in the first ever hillclimb. Doug also campaigned the car at the Sedona Hillclimb and the Mule Mountain Hillclimb in Bisbee. Here is a link to a 1967 magazine article about his car and his winning exploits:
“Doug Roe and the Sneaky Corvair” Sports Car Graphics 1967 Apr. (Page 1) (Page 2) (Page 3)
Course map. The course varied in length from 1.6 miles to 2.1 miles. The changing lengths make it difficult to compare records.
After not having an event since 1990. there was a reunion held on Labor Day weekend of 2014 to organize and schedule an event in 2015.
2017 marked the 50 year anniversary since the first hill. To this date (2026) though, there have only been 24 hillclimbs.
Facebook post from Donnie Beltran 2016
Links to newspaper articles over the years, many with photos:
“Roberts Winner” 1968 Sept 03, Arizona Republic
“Four Cylinder Club” 1969 Aug 24, Arizona Republic
“60 Cars Expected” 1970 Sept 03, Arizona Republic
“Climb Draws Entries From Wide Area”, 1972 Aug
“Super Volks” 1974 Aug 14, Eastern Arizona Courier
“Off Course” 1974 Aug 14, Eastern Arizona Courier
“Gaulding Grabs Climb Title” 1974 Sept 04
“Annual Hillclimb at Clifton Sunday” 1975 Aug 28, Eastern Arizona Courier
“15th Annual Clifton Hillclimb” 1980
“Hillclimb Reunion This Weekend” 2014 Sept, Eastern Arizona Courier
Results and Records:
Thank you to Joanne Miller for information and permission to use some of photos and articles I found on the Clifton social media. Joanne has been one of the guiding forces in the Clifton Hillclimb past.