Racing in the mountains and hills to test the machines and the skills of the drivers began as soon as motor racing appeared. And Hill Climbing has continued to this day, remaining a very popular and accessible form of motor sport. Two races are vying for the honour of having been the very first Hill Climb event in history.
On 31 January 1897, a competition took place between Nice and La Turbie, on a 17km course, won by André Michelin at an average speed of just over 30kph. Nice-La Turbie was the third stage of a 3-stage race from Marseille-Fréjus-Nice-La Turbie, so its definition as a Hill Climb event is sometimes disputed.
On 27 November 1898, a race was held in Chanteloup-les-Vignes, near Paris, which was called a “Hill Climb race” and organised by Paul Meyan, editor-in-chief of the “La France Automobile” magazine. The race was won by Belgium’s Camille Jenatzy, in an electric car of his own design, only a few months before he made history by being the first driver to exceed the speed of 100kph with his well-known “Jamais Contente”.
Just over 30 years later, an International Hill Climb Championship was established. In the FIA archives, documents show that in 1929 the Automobile Club of Switzerland made a proposal to the International Sport Commission of the FIA (then Association Internationale des Automobiles Clubs Reconnus) to create a European Hill Climb Championship. The idea was supported by the Commission and the AC of Switzerland was given the task of drawing up the regulations for subsequent approval. Original copies of the 1930 regulations are in the FIA archives. The European Hill Climb Championship still exists and as such, is the oldest FIA Championship still in operation.
On 11 May 1930, the first of 10 rounds of the European Hill Climb Championship was organised between Zbraslav and Jiloviste, south of Prague, by AC Tchecoslovakia on a 5.6 km course. Several famous names in motor sport at the time were at the start, including Rudolf Carraciola (Mercedes) and Hans Stuck von Villiez (Austro Daimler). A report on this event can be found in issue #15 of the Revue Internationale de l’Automobile, available in the FIA archives.
The FIA has started to digitise its archives and will create an e-library accessible to all in 2024 to preserve its rich heritage. Among the scanned files is the original document (with the handwritten timing strip) of the “One Kilometre from a Flying Start” Land Speed Record.
The record, which dates back to 25 September 1924, was gained by British racing motorist and motoring journalist Sir Malcolm Campbell on a 12-cylinder Sunbeam at Pendine Sands race track (South Wales). He won the world speed records on land and on water several times.
Here is the text of the original document with the timing strips attached:
One Kilometre from a Flying start.
To Westward in 15.01″ = 239.84 K.P.H.
To Eastward in 15.60″ = 230.77 K.P.H.
Mean 15.305″ = 235.217 K.P.H.
The Timing Strips taken from the Electric Chronograph are attached.
I claim on behalf of Captain Malcolm Campbell a world’s record for this performance.
Mr H. Gregory, a competent Surveyor, measured the distance and his certificate of Measurement is attached.
Official Time Keeper to the R.A.C., for the Automatic Electric Chronograph of the Royal Automobile Club
Other Land Speed Record original documents will be accessible in the FIA e-library.
As part of the new FIA archives digitisation and e-library project, the FIA scanned the very first Carnet de Passages en Douane (CPDs), created on 5 July 1913 to facilitate cross border travel.
With the development of automobile transportation in the early 1910s and following an enquiry from the Touring Club of Italy, the FIA General Assembly started to discuss how to facilitate and regulate motorised travel between countries. The main objective of these discussions was to create a document to prove that a vehicle crossing a border for travel would cross the border back to its country of origin and would not be sold in another country. Fees collected to issue these Carnets de Passages en Douane (CPDs) would cover the responsibility of customs penalties in case of violation of car importing rules.
At that time, all documents had to be issued manually. With different types of states, languages, models of central and local governance, the border crossing process was very complicated.
The debate went on for more than two years and in 1913, the organisation finally agreed on a common format for the document and on a process to use it. During the year, more than 12 Clubs reported on successful negotiations with their respective governments and adoption of CPDs. The number of pages of each CPD depended on the number of borders to be crossed. The format of the document changed throughout the years but the principle remained the same.
In June 1949, CPDs were officially recognised by the International Convention on Touring, on Commercial Motor Vehicles and on the Transport of Goods by Road in Geneva, and five years later, the United Nations recognised the FIA and the Alliance Internationale de Tourisme (AIT) as the two international organisations with the rights to issue CPDs (in 1954 for private cars and in 1956 for commercial vehicles).
The CPD is still required today in numerous countries around the world for the temporary admission of private automobiles, commercial vehicles or other categories of motor vehicles.
