Hal Keck and his all conquering 427 Cobra at the start line. Note the starter has a wand with a flat surface on the road. When the car drives over the flat surface the time starts.
The wonderful BARC driver Oscar Koveleski in his Ferrari-Chev. Oscar lived not far away and was at Giant’s most every year. In 1965 he had the second fastest time.
John Meyer in his Special. Meyer was a regular at Giant’s Despair for many years. This car won in 60, 61 and 62 but could do no better than 3rd in 1965.
Al Loquasto leaves rubber as he heads up the hill. While he could not beat Keck’s Cobra in AP, he was second with a great time of 56.49 seconds.
Art Kijek’s Healey with a big Chevy in it. A brute of a car Arthur did break the minute up the hill, no small feat..
Mickey Cohen’s Elva lights up the tires. Mickey was very quick in a number of cars. He won small modified and was one of the few who broke the minute up the hill.
Joe Wilkie. A very nice local driver who we saw at a lot of tracks over the years. His MGA won FP2. Triumph TR-3’s were classified as FP1 most likely due to their 2 liter motor.
Judy Beattie in her Lotus super 7. A BARC driver, she was not happy as the organizers put her in the Ladies Division. She truly won CP with a magnificent time of 61.86
Local kids loved the hillclimb. The cars were completely accessible. Here a bunch get autographs from John Meyer. We’re not sure but it could be Meyer’s son standing in the passenger seat.
One of our focuses of the weekend was Judy Beattie. She was/is cute and she raced cars. What more could Joe Tierno - leaning in on the passenger side - want?
Judy is doing something to get the car ready for tech inspection. Tech was done in a public square and attracted hundreds.
Judy goes through the ridiculous SCCA brake test. You accelerated the car, took your hands off the wheel and stomped on the brakes. The idea was if the brakes were bad the car would pull to one side.
Tech is done and Tierno gets a ride in the Lotus to where her rig was parked.
Judy Beattie on her way to a sizzling 61 second climb. She applies just a bit of opposite lock sliding up the hill.
Leaning into the corner, the Lotus seems to respond as she exits this right turn.
Being a local hero, businessman and ever with a word or three, Oscar is interviewed on local radio. We did not see a cameraman and surmise it was radio.
Oscar was a great friend to us all and a popular man wherever he went. Big O always had time for the kids.
Oscar is waiting in line but is concerned about something. Jack Deren is peering into something at the back. Car 54 Where Are You was a popular TV show at the time.
Oscar is belted in, whatever he was worried about is fixed and he waits in line to be called up. The TV show was about a police car #54 - whose occupants always got lost.
Joe Tierno is, no doubt, getting a pit pass from Judy at registration. We BARCboys were the absolute best at never paying admission anywhere.
Hal Keck bends the big Cobra into a fast turn. His Archway Ford sponsored car won a bundle of races in AP up and down the east coast.
Oscar in the Ferrari Chev is about 1/4 mile after the start and still accelerating. This Ferrari 857S had won dozens of races across the US before Oscar put the Chevy in it. In 2019 the car sold for over $9 million.
At the same position on the hill, John Meyer is also flat out. The difference between Meyer and Koveleski was a scant .2 of a second.
Craig Smith hammers his Vette into the Devil’s Elbow. The car leaning and bouncing its way up to win BP in 57 seconds.
Mickey Cohen’s Elva was so stiff it picked up its inside front wheel on this corner.
Bob Sunders was the slowest of the TR’s. While we don’t know, I suspect he had some mechanical problem.
Ed Rogers Stanguellini ran in Formula A. It does have what appears to be oversize rear wheels but we don’t know if the motor was stock or not. A nice time of 61.4
The #10 H Mod special of Jim McDevitt was called the Dino. Not quick up the hill with a 750cc engine, he did it in 77 seconds.
As happened often, cars go off the road. This Jag XKE of Lou Fronina didn’t catch this slide but did no damage. His best run was 62.6
Bill Rutan with a SAAB engined formula jr called the Quantum. Rutan built any number of formula cars over the years. This 3 cyl, 2 stroke broke eardrums with its scream.
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