Let me give you a little observation. You can judge if it has any merit.
Several years ago, a group got together and revived the Hershey Hillclimb, in
a town in Pennsylvania of the same name. The hillclimb was originally run
many years ago when hillclimbs in the East were actually part of the SCCA
National Championship. It was held on the property of the Hershey Foods Company
(the
Hershey Bar and Hershey Kisses) on an access road to the Hershey Hotel. In
order to bring back the event the organizers convinced the Hershey Company that
it was going to be a "Historic Event" and that a significant piece or racing
history was going to be preserved. The first year had a modest turn out but
some
of the cars that showed had significant racing history and created a lot of
interest. I ran my TR4 that year and once more two years later. The second year
didn't see much improvement and there were a lot of questions about adequate
insurance coverage. The organizers approached the Antique Automobile Club of
America which is headquartered in Hershey, PA as well. Yes, they could bring to
the table a suitable insurance coverage package. The only problem was by
their standards (AACA) cars would qualify if they were 25 years old. The next
couple of years, the numbers of entries increased. Just this year they had 70
some
entries, about twice the number from the start. Think that is good? By my
observation very few cars and racing significance this year. I personally had
no
interest in running there. My reason for being there was I rented out my 1980
ITC Rabbit to someone who had an interest in getting into "Vintage" racing.
The field had a mixture of up to date SCCA cars (a bunch of current hillclimb
cars from our PHA group), Bugeyes with Rotary motors, Legends cars with
motorcycle motors a few C4 (1984 up) Corvettes. There were maybe a half to a
dozen
authentic Vintage cars.
A few people asked me, "Where did the cool cars go?" "What happened to the
old Jags and the AC Bristol's and stuff like that"? "How come you don't have
your TR out"? "What the hell is that"? pointing the Legends car.
We will see what the future brings for the Hershey Historic Hillclimb, but I
won't give it much chance for survival. Most vintage drivers don't want to go
back and spectators aren't getting what they came to see. They certainly
didn't come out to see a Rabbit.
Dave Y.
**************Get trade secrets for amazing burgers. Watch "Cooking with
Tyler Florence" on AOL Food.
(http://food.aol.com/tyler-florence?video=4?&NCID=aolfod00030000000002)
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