the boiler cracked a ways from the finish, and they got out and pushed. Uphill. After they came into view of the finish line crowd, their moxy was so awesome, spectators went and helped them push the White over the finish line.
The Giants Despair Hillclimb is a hillclimb established in 1906 in Laurel Run, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, just southeast of its border to Wilkes-Barre Township.
The contest was first run in conjunction with Wilkes-Barre's centennial celebration. It is the oldest continuing motorsport event in Pennsylvania. Race drivers from across the nation gather annually on East Northampton Street, a road that winds its way through a 1 mile section of Pennsylvania's steep mountains. Rising 650 feet, the course reaches grades up to 20% and has six turns—including the 110 degree "Devil's Elbow"— on the way to the top. The original race was won in 2 minutes 11.2 seconds.
In its first years, the race was used as a proving grounds by the biggest names in the automotive industry. Louis Chevrolet raced the hill in 1909 driving for Buick. He won Event No. 2, Gasoline stock cars, selling from $851 to $1,250 in a time of 2:34.4 sec, his car being the only entry in the class.
Carroll Shelby, Roger Penske, and Oscar Koveleski are just a few of the famous drivers that set out to tackle the mile. The hill has been paved many times and the records have been shattered. The current record holder is John Burke, who ran the course in 38.024 seconds in 2014
the photo was the subject of a lawsuit over the photographer making money selling the photo or nagatives, without the permission of the car company, to the competition.
Found on the back page of Garage Magazine issue #15
The White Steamer Company, of New York, manufacturers of the automobile that lowered the record for the mile run in the hill climbing contest over "Giant's Despair" near Wilkes - Baarre on Memorial day, this morning filed a petition in court for an Injunction to restrain J. Horgan Jr., the Spruce street photographer, from printing and selling snap shots, alleging that he threatened to sell photographs of their machine to rival companies,
Sensational charges against the photographer are contained in the statement of the plaintiff company. The company attached letters received from Horgan in which it is alleged he agreed to destroy the negatives of the picture for $100. A photo of the White steamer, being pushed over the finishing line by men accompanies the letter.
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/50159327/
https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Giants%20Despair%20Hillclimb
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