Newport Hill Climb
October 6, 2013

On October 6th Penny & I traveled to Newport, IN to visit some friends in the area and view the annual Newport Hill Climb.

The "Newport Auto Antique Hill Climb" is an international antique auto uphill timed event held each year since 1909 in the small Indiana town of Newport, an event that attracts crowds of one hundred thousand plus to a town with a population of less than six hundred people. Automobiles, trucks and motorcycles from the Steam, Brass, Vintage, Antique, and Classic Car eras, make timed runs from a standing start, up a steep hill to a finish line 1,800 feet away. It is an Indiana auto event second in size only to the annual "Indianapolis Speed Way" events.

The Hill Climb uses a class and handicap cubic inch point system to equalize competition. This system enables vehicles of varying performance potentials to compete on a reasonably equal basis. The Hill Climb currently has thirty-one vehicle competition classes. Twenty-seven are handicapped classes. The entries range in age from 1909 through 1942; up to 1955 for some discontinued classes. The points are calculated by multiplying the elapsed time by the cubic inch displacement (CID) of the vehicles engine. Trophies are awarded based on the lowest number of points.

The majority of cars were domestic makes with only a handful of foreign cars. There was one MGTD – 1951 MG-TD Midget Roadster – driven by Edward J Wunderlich of Taylorville, Illinois that entered the race and finished the climb in an impressive time of 31.67 seconds.

~~Victor L’Heureux