By Peter Giddings
All photos courtesy Peter Giddings unless marked otherwise
Archives, November 2016
Jonathan Sharp wrote up a very nice piece for us about the Firle Hillclimb Revival, with plenty of enticing photos of car guys and girls just having fun with their classics. It certainly hit a note with our readers. Then Peter Giddings emailed us about his experiences driving a Frazer Nash ‘Chain Gang’ at the original Firle Hillclimb in 1963. We begged for more and here is his story:
I could not believe my eyes when I saw your “Firle Hillclimb Revival”, the setting for several of my early attempts at competitive speed hill climbing.” A report from Autosport, July 19, 1963 reads in part, “Last May P. H. Giddings had rocketed up in 28.69 secs. in a 1928 Frazer Nash fitted with a 1926 A.C. engine, and on Sunday this incredible device did 28.66 secs. to take third place in the most hotly contested class of the day. How this chain-driven car can be coaxed up Firle so quickly only Mr. Giddings knows!”