The 1953 South Mountain was billed as a “breather” event for the Four Cylinder Club of America, Phoenix Chapter. They were preparing to host what was probably the first road race in Arizona, at Luke AFB, so they took an afternoon off to have a little hillclimb. Really. It was only scheduled to be a “few hours”, so I believe it was a small club event only.
The location was on South Mountain, a park in Phoenix. The road was gravel and described as “curve upon curve” with a climb of 1000 feet over a 4.2 mile length. Other cars were welcome other than just 4 cylinder ones, and when it was all done they had a picnic at the top of the hill. Sounds like a nice day!
Read the 1953 article:
“Bumper To Bumper” 1953 April 12, Arizona Republic
In 1924 an area just south of Phoenix was sold to the city to become a preserve. It has since expanded to over 16,000 acres and has over 58 miles of trails for cycling, hiking, and horseback riding. It was on this “Summit Road” that the hillclimbs were held.
The next time the road was raced was 1967 and by that time it was paved. This time the Cactus Sports Car Club were the organizers and the Phoenix Rotary Club sponsored. They ran for two years, 1967-1968. Again as in many hillclimbs, there were objections to the event, which may have been why it was short lived. The Parks Director, City Traffic Engineer, and Police Chief all had varying concerns.
Year one it was 1.5 miles, 32 turns with a climb of 400 feet. Year two it was lengthened to 2.6 miles, 47 turns, and climbed 635 feet. All descriptions point to a very challenging hill, with some severe drop-offs.
Speaking of drop-offs. The Lotus in the above picture was in a very precarious position! 1967 Feb 27, Arizona Republic Newspaper.
Above photo: 1967 Feb 24, Arizona Republic Newspaper.
Results:
“Roe Takes 2nd Spot”, 1967 Feb 27, Arizona Republic
“Drivers Repeat”, 1968 Jan 22, Arizona Republic
Interesting to note, city officials asked that the times not be released in any of the news articles, as they believed that someone might come at a later date and try to match or set even faster times. So I guess only the competitors knew their times.
More To Read:
“Sports Car Buffs Will Take to The Hills”, 1967 Jan 10, Arizona Republic
“Mishap Mars Hill Practice”, 1967 Feb 27, Arizona Republic
“Motorized Rodeo”, 1967 Feb 25, Arizona Republic
“Hillclimb Thrill Buy”, 1967 Feb 24, Arizona Republic
“Top Sports Drivers Set”, 1968 Jan 22, Arizona Republic
“South Mountain Hill Climb Two Days”, 1968 Jan 19, Arizona Republic
