Hill climbs on public roads were once a popular form of auto racing in New York state.
While none of the sites gained the legendary status of Colorado’s Pikes Peak, the New York hills served as a way for car dealers to illustrate the capabilities of their vehicles. In the 1920s and ’30s, a hill in Sherrill, Red Hill in Washington Mills, Kirkland Hill west of Utica, Deerfield Hill and Herkimer’s Vickerman Hill hosted races that proved to doubting consumers that particular cars could handle the steep, twisting roads with relative ease.
Arnold Landvoigt of Savage, Md., has become an ardent student of the era since purchasing and restoring a 1926 Pontiac Boat-tail Racer, originally rebuilt from a burned passenger car by a Utica Oakland-Pontiac dealer.
“At 8 a.m. the next morning my wife Lois, my friend Tom Cox and I were at the seller’s door in hopes of beating any other potential buyers. Not really sure what to expect, I did not have high hopes as the asking price was quite reasonable. Visions of a pile of rusty parts and four rebuilt wheels had run through my head after reading the ad. Out of the garage rolled a complete car on freshly rebuilt, bright red Buffalo wire wheels. My wife commented, ‘Oh, it’s cute,’ and it was a done deal.”
It turned out that the McRorie-Sauter dealership, which had sold the car originally, got it back after the 1926 fire, cut the rear portion off and sent it to the Willoughby Company, a local high-end coach builder, to have the boat-tail installed.
Once the rebuild was complete, the car received new paint topped by the famed Pontiac chief logo and “Chief of the Sixes” on the rear deck and, like a modern race car, “McRorie and Sauter Oakland-Pontiac” on the side.
Nicknamed “Hill Climber,” the car was driven by dealership employee Warren Mandeville and soon received updates to make it more competitive.
The car was “retired” from racing in 1932, when McRorie-Sautter switched to a Buick franchise, so the Pontiac logos were covered with dark paint and the car used as a runabout by dealership employees.
After changing hands a number of times, the Pontiac ended up with Bob Davidson, of Ellicott City, Md. He began the restoration before passing the car onto Landvoigt, who continued its renovation.
According to Landvoigt, the car is the earliest known example of a Pontiac race car and one of a small number of 1926 Pontiacs still surviving. He has spent his spare time since completing the restoration, researching the history of New York hill climbs, and sharing the car and its story with the public.
The car is currently on display in the Racing in New York gallery of the Saratoga Automobile Museum.