On this episode of HOT ROD Unlimited
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MotorTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 (drill whirring)
00:05 (upbeat music)
00:07 (drill whirring)
00:10 (upbeat music)
00:13 - Hi, this is Alana with Hot Rod Magazine,
00:40 and I'm here in the woods in Colorado
00:41 where it's extremely cold,
00:42 and there's a very good chance of being eaten by a bear.
00:45 But I'm here for a good reason.
00:46 I'm here to show you what it takes
00:47 to run a vintage car at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
00:50 (engine revving)
00:53 There are a lot of different classes running at Pikes Peak,
01:02 but this is Hot Rod Magazine,
01:03 and we're interested in one class in particular.
01:05 That's the vintage class, where the muscle cars run.
01:09 1986 was the first time they ever had a vintage.
01:12 In 1987, they did it again and decided they were too slow.
01:16 They wanted all new, faster cars.
01:18 In 1997 was an invitation only,
01:22 and then we started again in 2008 through 2012.
01:27 The current record in the vintage class
01:29 is Keith Davidson's Falcon in 12 minutes and a few seconds.
01:33 This year, he's hoping to go just a little bit faster
01:36 since it's all paved now.
01:37 This year, they've completed the paving
01:39 all the way up to the top.
01:41 It's 12 and a half miles distance that we race,
01:45 and everybody feels it's gonna be faster,
01:49 and they like the paving so far.
01:51 We're following the vintage class
01:52 thanks to an invitation from Jess Neal.
01:55 Jess and navigator Morgan Combs
01:56 are piloting the number 42 Plymouth Kuda.
01:59 Hello, I'm Jess Neal, driver of the number 42
02:02 Plymouth Bear Kuda here at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb
02:04 in the vintage division.
02:05 This is my fifth year running the hill climb,
02:08 where they opened up a vintage division in 2008.
02:11 My good race buddy talked me into subjecting my car
02:15 to the rocks at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb,
02:17 and it's been quite an experience.
02:21 Paving the Pikes Peak Highway actually works better
02:24 for my style of driving.
02:26 I tend to wanna feel the car hook going into corners.
02:32 In the 1970 season, Dan Gurney's
02:35 All-American Racers campaigned Kudas.
02:37 He was assigned the numbers 42, 43, and 48,
02:41 and that's where the number 42 on my car comes from
02:44 as a tribute to him.
02:46 I have taken a little bit of flack
02:47 for my modifications to it and endangering a rare car,
02:52 but they were built to drive.
02:56 They weren't built to sit in museums.
03:01 It's day three and we're almost to the top of the mountain.
03:04 We're on the last practice session,
03:05 and we're on an area called Devil's Playground,
03:07 which is the last staging area.
03:08 And it's really cold up here.
03:10 It's actually that temperature, 42 degrees.
03:13 But apparently we're lucky,
03:14 'cause normally they run the race earlier in the year,
03:16 and there's snow.
03:18 So I'm glad that we don't have any snow.
03:20 We've been up here since four in the morning.
03:22 It was pitch dark when we got here.
03:24 We're waiting for the sun to come up enough
03:25 that we can do a couple of passes.
03:28 (engine revving)
03:30 - When qualifying began,
03:39 Swedish driver, Ralf Kristensen,
03:41 had top vintage time of the week.
03:43 He crashed on the last run.
03:44 He isn't hurt, but he is out of the race,
03:46 meaning the vintage class win is up for grabs.
03:48 - Today is Saturday, the day before the hill climb.
03:55 We've been through tech on Tuesday,
03:58 and three days of practice,
03:59 Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning.
04:02 Each practice session taking place
04:03 on a different section of the mountain.
04:05 Today we're preparing, bringing the car up to the pit area
04:09 so that we can get everything set for tomorrow morning.
04:13 The race will be starting about 9.30,
04:15 with the motorcycles going off first.
04:17 And while they're doing that,
04:19 I'll be doing some tuning work on the car.
04:21 I haven't been too happy with the handling of the car,
04:25 the back end is really loose on the car.
04:28 So it just so happened today,
04:30 Randy Popst came through our pits, looking at the cars,
04:34 and we got to talking about the setup of the car,
04:37 and I now have a laundry list of items
04:40 I need to change on the car tomorrow
04:42 to help the handling of it.
04:44 And one of the things I have to do is,
04:47 I need to correct some tow problems with the car,
04:50 and put some bump stops in the car.
04:53 And add some air pressure to the tires.
04:56 So that's on the laundry list of things to do tomorrow.
05:00 - It's Saturday night, they want us off the mountain,
05:05 so everybody's heading back down.
05:07 We'll be back here first thing in the morning
05:08 to watch them run the race.
05:10 It's 4 a.m. on race day.
05:18 Jess is working on the car.
05:20 Breakfast is on the stove.
05:24 It looks like it's gonna be a great day,
05:26 but then we find a problem.
05:28 - I could run around asking some folks too,
05:31 if we don't have anybody in our group that has one.
05:33 - I would bet not.
05:34 - Not one with a type of ride quality.
05:35 - I would bet not, but.
05:37 I'll go get you one.
05:40 - I'll come with you for a ride.
05:40 - Okay.
05:41 Randy Popst came over,
05:44 we were looking at the rear suspension and stuff,
05:46 and he said, "It's moist right there."
05:48 I went, "Huh?"
05:49 And he said, "Yeah."
05:52 And he looked, did that,
05:54 and I wiped my hand across it,
05:57 and then dried it and felt it was brake fluid.
05:59 I'm just tightening the fitting up.
06:01 Broken line.
06:04 When I turned the fitting.
06:05 - The Plymouth gods must like Jess.
06:09 The new part comes just in time.
06:11 The vintage class is the next to run.
06:19 It's exciting to finally be at the line
06:21 after a week of blood, sweat, and brake fluid.
06:23 Jess gets the green flag.
06:28 We'll have to wait till he gets to the top
06:30 to find out how he's done.
06:31 (engine revving)
06:34 During Jess' run,
06:50 we get word that Keith and the Falcon has crashed.
06:53 Jess has a real shot at the title.
06:54 (engine revving)
06:58 (engines revving)
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08:21 (upbeat music)
08:47 (engines revving)
08:50 It's hard to wait until the cars come back down the hill
08:58 to find out how they've done.
08:59 As the racers return,
09:02 spectators line the road to greet them
09:04 in traditional Pikes Peak style.
09:06 When Jess and Morgan come back,
09:10 they're flying the checkered flag.
09:12 They've won their class.
09:13 - The whole week was just like a buildup of like emotion
09:16 through the few days of testing.
09:19 The climb is just amazing.
09:21 It's something that you cannot capture on TV
09:23 or in video or whatever.
09:25 You have to experience it in the passenger seat
09:28 or in the driver's seat.
09:29 You have to be in the car to understand what it is.
09:31 Today didn't start like a good day.
09:33 Had some little issues here and there with the car,
09:35 flat tire with the tow truck.
09:37 But after all, it was not a bad day.
09:40 I mean, like everything came together in such a way,
09:43 I don't know, it's difficult to describe.
09:45 The whole run was just amazing.
09:48 I don't want to say it was magical,
09:50 but there was something going on.
09:53 It felt nice and smooth in the car, no mistake.
09:57 Everything flowed perfectly.
09:59 And, you know, we arrive on top
10:02 and we did a big, huge donut.
10:04 (engine revving)
10:07 And that was the best time of my life.
10:09 So thanks, Jess.
10:11 It was great.
10:12 - You have to have a donut on a summit.
10:14 - Yep, and we did it.
10:16 - Thank you, Jess.
10:17 - You bet.
10:17 Glad to have you.
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