GIANTS DESPAIR HILLCLIMB AND BRYNFAN TYDDYN 1952-1957

The Giants Despair hillclimb started in 1906. None other than Louis Chevrolet raced up the hill in 1909 driving a Buick. Carroll Shelby, Roger Penske, Ralph dePalma and Phil Walters were all winners. Our BARC driver Bob Bucher was 2nd to break the magic minute up the hill behind Shelby and won in 1958. Another BARC driver Charlie Kurtz won in 1963. To make the event an even bigger draw for the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area, Senator T. Newell Wood got together with the local racers and they designed a course run entirely on the grounds of his estate. By 1957, the SCCA and RRDC were against going forward as the road surface was simply too narrow and spectator safety was near non existent. Senator Wood wrote the letter to all entrants himself cancelling the 1957 event. Enjoy the photos and stories below of these early years.

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The program from 1952 saved by BARC driver Ted Rounds who raced both the hillclimb and Brynfan in his TD MG.

Alexis duPont is his FIII Cooper at the 1955 Brynfan Tyddin course. Lexi was a real racer and loved his small 500cc cars. He won in 1955 at Brynfan and finished top 4 every year of the race.

A map of the 3.5 mile circuit at Senator T. Newell Woods Estate.

Another FIII car from 1955, an Effyh and we believe it is Lexi duPont’s brother Jaques who finished 3rd.

duPont’s yellow #75 and a team car are maintained in a grass field of the cattle farm.

The EP and FP field approach the starter. Note how narrow the road is. SCCA allowed only cars up to 2 liters to race.

TR-2’s dominate the front row with Porsche’s, MG’s and even a VW back in the pack. Lake Underwood in the Porsche took the win.

We can’t quite make out the number on this car, maybe one of you know who/what it is. A great portrait of the time, the people, the clothes. Note the Policeman guarding the spectators.

An XK-120 coupe attacks one of the tight corners. The SCCA wanted to limit displacement to 2 liters but allowed bigger displacement sports cars like the Jag.

Pages from an article from The Spokesman magazine about the Brynfan Tyddyn races in 1955. The big race winner was Otto Linton in an OSCA.

A poster placed around the area advertising the 1955 races. Much of these type of ads were hand drawn and written.

Bob Bucher in Spankey Smith’s MGA in 1956. Bucher led the entire race with David Ash second.

1957 and 15 year old BARC boy Dave Nicholas was there. His photos along with those of Janet Lindenmuth tell the story.

One of BARC’s finest drivers, Bob Bucher, in 1957 in his Allard JR. Bucher was 2nd to break the 1 minute mark in 1956 but was beaten by Carrol Shelby in a 4.5 liter Ferrari GP car that was raced at Indy by Ascari in 1955.

Another look at Big Jake, the name Bucher gave his car. We aren’t sure where Jake finished as we cannot find results from that race. We do know timing was messed up and there were problems publishing results.

Our BARC hero Bob Bucher on his way up the 1 mile hill. The Allard simply reeked of power. A huge Cadillac V8 that could spin the tires at any speed powered the beast.

Duncan Black’s 4.5 liter Ferrari. I took the photos with my very basic Ansco camera. My brother was forced to take his “little brother” to the race and that started a lifetime of motorsports.

A better photo of Duncan Black’s Ferrari 375MM spyder. Black won fastest time of the day in 1955 and was always fast up the hill with is 4.5 liter V12. You could hear it echo through the valley.

Bob Bucher, in Spankey Smith’s MGA in 1957. Bucher often raced the Allard and MGA on the same weekend.

I shot this photo of Bucher in the MGA not knowing how very soon I would meet Bucher and learn from him.

A Cooper FIII car #69 headed up the hill.

Bob Holbert’s Porsche 550RS won FM. Holbert was already a force racing Porsche’s and ran Holbert Porsche only a few hours away in Warrington, PA.

A loveley Cisitalia 202. Italian coachwork and a fiat engine. Cisitalia started after the war ended in 1946 and created some of the finest looking machines. This car was driven by Oscar Koveleski.

A shot of Oscar in the Cisitalia on the hill. Some of the slides I had from 1957 were Anscochrome and over time developed bright exposure patches.

A better shot from Janet Lindenmuth of Oscar in the Cisitalia starting up the hill.

A TC MG is starting its way up the hill. Nothing but wood snow fence kept people back from the road. Early in the day the track was freshly oil sealed.

Harry Whitney drove both a 500cc Formula 3 car and this huge Allard J2X on the same day.

Fast Fred Windridge was a force to be reckoned with in his #99 Corvette. Windridge would drive many cars over the years, almost all with big V8’s.

1959 was an epic year for BARC. Binghamton was just over an easy hour drive.

Roger S. Penske in his RSK would win the weekend. Fastest up the hill and winner of the Berwick event. At the very start of a legendary and incredible history in motor racing.