Way before the days of Gran Turismo, for as long as I can remember I have always been obsessed with rally beasts that go ridiculous speeds. One of the first matchbox cars I ever got was a Lancia Delta Integrale S4 that looked much like this:
I used to hit building construction sites with mounds of dirt and cement sand, armed with a sack of matchbox cars and make elaborate rally tracks up to the peak of the mound.
Video games, magazines, Speedweek on SBS and RPM were all staples in my rally car addiction, I even used to download 15 seconds clips of Ford Escorts getting pummelled on limewire at the speed of 5.6k/minute that often took 45 minutes for one clip. Totally worth it.
Every video game that had some rally element, I was already on it. Even though I never even owned a Playstation or similar, I knew who of my friends did, and who of said friends mothers' would purchase said games if harassed. Either way, it was a win/win situation for me.
Then Gran Turismo came along. I almost died/cried when I found about the myth of the unholy Pike's Peak - Suzuki Escudo 1000hp Monster. It was my new goal in life, I needed that car in my friends' playstation memory card garage STAT! Needless to say, when I did get it, I was not disappointed. Ecstatic for lack of a better term.
This was the start of my Pikes Peak International Hill Climb obsession aka
'The Race to the Clouds'.
The Race to the Clouds, is an annual automobile and motorcycle hillclimb to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, a distance of 19.99 km (12.42 miles) over 156 turns, climbing 1,439 meters (4,721 ft) from the start at Mile 7 on Pikes Peak Highway at 2,862 meters (9,390 ft) on grades averaging 7% over both gravel and paved sections.
You could imagine the losing of one's shit when one found out the Suzuki Monster Escudo was actually a real car and not just a video game fantasy car.
Here's why:
Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak 1000hp monster
The overall record is held by
Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima from
Japan who clocked a time of 10:01.408 on July 21st 2007 driving the 1000 hp mid-engined
Suzuki XL7 Hill Climb Special
Previously the record was set by the Toyota Tacoma driven by Rod Millen
(Couldn't find a decent clip of it at Pikes Peak, so it at Goodwood Festival of Speed will have to do. Ferocious)
And also in the Toyota Celica driven by Rod Millen, both record holding cars.
(Again, sorry but no-one seems to have footage of the cars on Pikes Peak)
The legacy was then left to the fruits Rod Millen's loins, Rhys Millen, to defend the title in a Hyundai Genesis
The holy grail of Rally Cars - The Peugeot 405 T16
Crazy good skillz
Then the latter of the beasts and one of my favourites was the Saab Viggen 9-3 driven by the maniac Per Eklund
Off tap Saab? Ok.
Do want.
Per Ekland can haz fun