Words: Keith Mainland, Photos: Alastair Peacock
Bo’ness Hillclimb started in 1932 and was the first purpose-built motorsport venue in Scotland. As a round of the British Hillclimb Championship it attracted top flight drivers over the years including many from Formula One. Jim Clark won the Bo’ness Hillclimb in the Border Rievers Lister Jaguar in 1959, the year before competing in his first Grands Prix.
This year’s Bo’ness Revival was the 11th and included two days of competitive hillclimbing for a full entry of 100 cars on much of the original half-mile course in Bo’ness’s Kenneil Estate about twenty miles north-west of Edinburgh. Fourteen classes provided an interesting variety of sports, saloon and racing cars from the 1930s through to the 1980s. There was also a classic car run for over 300 cars and a well attended static display of classic car clubs including a celebration of seventy years of the Jaguar XK engine. Ian Scott-Watson, whose cars Jim Clark drove in his early career was a welcome visitor to this year’s Revival along with the many cars and drivers who had competed in the original Hillclimb.
Weather was a factor all weekend after rain on Saturday and the tree-lined lower section of the track from the start through the hairpin and on up to Old Paddock Bend remained damp and tricky, allowing some less powerful cars to challenge for honours on Sunday. Despite the rain, Saturday was dominated by the Invited class of more modern and powerful machinery with George Coghill provisionally fastest in his single seater Lola hillclimb car in a new track record of 28.34secs. Coghill was followed by Jock Ramsay in his Opel Manta in 32.98secs and Nigel Galvin in his Mk2 Escort RS in 33.53secs, the latter looking well controlled rather than typically sideways due to the closeness of the hay bales to the track. Sunday saw the single seaters at the top of the timesheet with Andrew Patterson in his Formula Ford Lotus 61 fastest in 30.12secs, just four hundredths faster than Coghill and Keith Harris third fastest in his Chevron B25 in 30.73secs.
Cars on the entry list that caught my eye were the class winning Austin Seven Speedex driven by Robin Liddell from Edinburgh who races professionally in the USA, Russell Jordan’s Cooper-MG prototype and John Albiston’s beautiful ex-Ronnie Peterson Brabham BT38C. Mike Sythes extraordinary recreation of the Freikaiserwagen vintage special sadly failed to complete a timed run all weekend. Amongst the classic cars, the 1950s Drocott Jaguar in the XK celebration is as eccentric a car as you will ever see. Also on display was the new Alpine A110 which is probably the best modern retro design yet.
The Bo’ness Revival Organising Committee are passionate about the history of the Hillclimb and work with a lot of enthusiasm to make the event enjoyable for competitors, participants and spectators alike. As Committee member Kenny Allen explained to me, the challenge of keeping any motor sport event going in Scotland is attracting a small community from a large area. The Bo’ness Committee are proud but not complacent about the Revival having outlived the Scottish Ignition Festival, Ingliston Revival and stillborn Argyll Festival of Performance – probably due to its lack of financial aspirations.
Class winners:
Class 1: Saloons and Sports Cars prior to 31/12/1930
Saturday: Adam Smith Frazer Nash Supersports 41.72secs
Sunday: Derek Sweeney Riley Brooklands 45.47secs
Class 2: Saloon and Sports Cars 01/01/31 to 31/12/1946
Saturday: Robin Liddell Austin Seven Speedex 40.68secs
Sunday: Robin Liddell Austin Seven Speedex 36.80secs
Class 3: Saloon and Sports Cars 01/01/47 to 31/12/1961
Saturday: Keith Beningfield MG TC 38.01secs
Sunday: Keith Beningfield MG TC 33.98secs
Class 4: Saloon and Sports Cars 01/01/62 to 31/12/1973 up to 1499cc
Saturday: Leslie-Ann Scoular Morris Minor 55.10secs
Sunday: Leslie-Ann Scouler Morris Minor 49.04secs
Class 5: Saloon and Sports Cars 01/01/62 to 31/12/73 above 1500cc
Saturday: Robert Bremner AC Cobra 34.24secs
Sunday: Harry Simpson Ginetta G4 31.37secs
Class 6: Sports Racing Cars 01/01/47 to 31/12/1973
Saturday: Angus Buchan: Terrapin SR 38.04secs
Sunday: John Albiston Lotus 23B 31.88secs
Class 7: Single Seater Racing Cars prior to 31/12/65
Saturday: Steven Cooper Cooper T19 36.62secs
Sunday: Steven Cooper Cooper T19 32.29secs
Class 8: Single Seater Racing Cars 01/01/66 to 31/12/1973
Saturday: Andrew Patterson Lotus 61 FF1600 34.17secs
Sunday: Andrew Patterson Lotus 61 FF1600 30.12secs
Class 9a: Single Marque – Porsche pre-1974
Saturday: Colin MacKinnon Porsche 911RS 35.65secs
Sunday: Colin MacKinnon Porsche 911RS 31.76secs
Class 9b: Single Marque – Triumph pre-1974
Saturday: James Coltart Triumph TR3A 37.78secs
Sunday: Markus Bewley Triumph GT6 Mk3 34.61secs
Class 9c: Single Marque – Jaguar pre-1974
Saturday: Rob Bremner Jaguar E Type Lightweight 34.71secs
Sunday: Anthony Stewart Jaguar Aristocat XK 35.41secs
Class 9d: Single Marque – Mini variant pre-1974
Saturday: Adam Forster Wolseley Hornet 35.20secs
Sunday: Adam Forster Wolseley Hornet 33.87secs
Class 9e: Single Marque – Spridget pre-1974
Saturday: Steven Muir Austin Healey Sprite 35.52secs
Sunday: Steven Muir Austin Healey Sprite 32.99secs
Class 10: Invited 1974-83 cars
Saturday: George Coghill Lola (provisional) 28.34secs
Sunday: George Coghill Lola 30.16secs
