Vehicle Description
1926 Pontiac Boat Tail Speedster
There's a reason the hill climb was one of the earliest forms of
motor vehicle racing: Competition doesn't get much simpler. All you
need is a hill (duh), a handful of competitors with cars and
sympathetic local authorities. Race up to the top one by one, then
see who did it the fastest. That's about all there is to it.
Starting life as a two door sedan produced early in 1926, the first
year of Pontiac production, the car was sold by McRorie-Sautter, a
Utica, New York dealer. The owner had the car for only a short time
when an accidental fire destroyed the car's interior. The
dealership bought back the damaged chassis and had it taken across
town to the Willoughby Coachworks, a builder of high� end custom
automobiles. There the car was rebodied from the dash back into an
open, two seat speedster. This was not a typical high finished job,
typical of the coachworks, but quick and dirty, witnessed by the
fact that there was no Willoughby number plate attached.
The dealership had a purpose for this investment, hill climb
racing, which was popular in that period. They had dealership
signage painted onto the car, and on August 14, 1926, the Hill
Climber, as it was come to be known, was entered in a Sherrill New
York hill climb. They were successful taking first in their
displacement class and third in the unlimited displacement run.
The dealership returned home that day with two silver trophies and
$20. Two days later, the Utica newspaper ran an ad for the
dealership proudly describing the results to encourage people to
consider a new Pontiac. This had to have been the first Pontiac
"Win On Sunday, Sell On Monday" ad.
The McRorie-Sautter dealership continued to campaign the Hill
Climber for seven years until 1932, at which time it was placed in
storage at the dealer. In 1983, the dealership closed, and the car
was given to a family friend. The car suffered neglect for a number
of years. The present owners purchased it from an on-line ad in
1997. Since, they found the McRorie family, from whom they were
given the history of the car and a number of photographs from 1926.
They then did extensive researched in Utica newspapers to further
build the car's history. The restoration kept as close to the
original 1926 photos as possible. Hill Climber's history has been
accepted by the AACA 24B judging class (open course race cars) and
has earned a Grand National Senior award. It also received the AACA
Past President's Racing Cup award for outstanding race car, Eastern
Division in 2008.
The car participated in numerous Concours 'd Elegance events
throughout the eastern US and made demonstration runs in several
"revival" historic hill climbs; Hershey, PA, Newport, IN and
Algonquin, IL. In 2003 the car received an Amelia award at the
Amelia Island Concours 'd Elegance. It has also been on display at
several museums over the years. The Hill Climber was also used on
the General Motors mid-way displays at two NHRA Nationals drag
races. The GM
Racing press release in 2002 was titled, "First Pontiac Race Car To
Be Featured At U.S. Nationals".
The Hill Climber has also been featured in several magazines. The
car drives and shows well.
NO TITLE-SOLD ON A BILL OF SALE ONLY
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 600 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
