Car Climbs on the Hill

Car Climbs on the Hill. Part of the “Memory Necklace”. The ascent of Signal Hill (elevation 364 feet) was not just a fantasy for automobile drivers of the early 1920s. In January 1921, the Long Beach Daily Telegram advertised an upcoming effort by a Dodge touring car to climb “The Hill’s” 70% grade. Thousands of people turned out for the demonstration and cheered the car as it crashed through the Dodge brothers’ paper emblem at the top of the hill., The newspaper reported, “The startling feature of the exhibition was the apparent ease with which the Dodge car negotiated the steep grade and speed with which it completed its ascent… never before in the history of the automotive industry has any automobile given such a climbing exhibition and such a demonstration of power…”, The climb took only 15 seconds, but the speed was not reported. Oldsmobile upped the challenge a few months later by adding four passengers to the load, which totaled 750 pounds., By the 1930s, the challenge of “Shell Hill” turned into an annual race for Model “T” Fords. Spectators crowded the edges of Hill Street for front row views. Mechanical problems seemed to enliven the event. The sight of a Model “T” with radiator trouble rolling backwards down the hill was common also. Spectators could walk about as fast as many of the cars could climb. Cars with brake problems steered into the grass below to slow down.