A postcard from Prescott

The Autumn Classic concluded the local hillclimb season with a cocktail of US muscle and traditional British whimsy

Given the theme of the weekend, it was a little odd to walk into the paddock on Saturday morning and come face to face with a Hillman Imp, rather than a Chevrolet Camaro, but such are the delights of any hillclimb paddock. The weekend might have had an American theme, but the entry was laced with everything from Austin A35s to ferocious UK hill specials via flat-head Ford Model Ts and Gillian Goldsmith’s Daimler V8-powered Cooper.

Although the hillclimb – actually two separate events, one on each day of the weekend – provides a central motif, the Autumn Classic is enriched by live music, dancing, car and bike displays and sideshows that included a wall of death, originally a feature of UK carnivals in the late 1920s.

The 2018 event is provisionally scheduled for October 7/8.