Jordan Special
Jordan Special

by Rupert Lloyd Thomas © 2012-2013

Rockwood Hill Climb was an event held in Rockwood, Ontario, organised by the Grand Valley Car Club (founded 28 November 1955).
The quarter mile paved course (1250 feet) headed slightly downhill on Valley Road, by the Eramosa River, followed by a sharp right shortly after the start, leading to a steep rise, followed by another sharp right and a hairpin left, another right turn on to a short sharp rise giving way to an almost level straightaway at the finish on Fall Street. The course is in the Rockwood Conservation Area.
See: N 43 36′ 620″, W 80 08′ 682″

“The hillclimb at Rockwood, organized by the G.V.C.C. was a real treat. A little short, but extremely sporting hill with a reasonably good hard surface. The surrounding countryside is quite pleasant too. I can recommend it for both spectators and competitors next time. A very short drive off Highway No. 7, left at the old bridge in the village of Rockwood. The Grand Valley Club deserves the credit for finding it and it’s quite a good hill even for formula juniors.” [1]

1959: Oliver Clubine, M.G.A. Twin-Cam, from Brantford, was a class and overall winner in a time of 29.15 sec. Dorothy Riddell, Austin-Healey 100-6, also from Brantford, was the fastest of six ladies in 30.92 sec. [2]

1960: At the June meeting: “Klaus Bartels, driving a Porsche Carrera, won the Rockwood quarter-mile hill climb with a time of 25.98 Saturday. Bartels was .47 seconds ahead of Dan Shaw in a Jordan Special, while Ludwig Heimrath came third in 26.90 seconds in another Porsche.” [3] “Rear-engined cars were on the rampage again on Rockwood’s .3-mile climb the fight for ftd being between 3 such machines: the Carrera Speedster of Bartels, the Super 90-equipped Speedster of Ludwig Heimrath and the Vincent-engined Jordan Special, driven by Dan Shaw. The Super 90 of Heimrath started the ball rolling with a rapid 28.14 sec. Bartels gave it another kick, dropping it to 27.06 sec with the Carrera. Shaw then ran over them both with a 26.45 in the Jordan Special.
On the 2nd run Heimrath pulled out all the stops, but his 26.90 wasn’t enough. After a hairy climb, Bartels settled everyone’s hash with a beautiful climb at 25.98 sec. Shaw tried his best to beat this but his time fell at 28.06 when his engine fluffed in the hairpion. Yet another win for Klaus Bartels, with Shaw second and Heimrath third over-all.” [4] Bob Rood set the 500 c.c. sedan record at 32.90 sec driving a Messerschmitt.

1961: In June Dan Shaw set the track record in 24.24 sec in the Sadler-Corvette single-seater, followed by Klaus Bartels, Porsche, 25.91 seconds. Shaw was also third in the Jordan Special in 25.92 sec.
Jeff Crawford set the Formula Junior track record in his self-built Vortex FJ in a time of 29.2 sec. [5] When offered for sale in January 1962 the car was described as a “FORMULA JUNIOR SADLER-VORTEX, full race BMC engine. Trailer. Need cash so only asking $1,500.00.” [6]

At the September meeting Oliver Clubine took his Triumph-engined Torus Special up the hill in 26.04 seconds for fastest-time-of-the-day, lowering his own record for sports racing cars over 1,000 c.c. by .08 of a second. Despite a roll over in practice, John Cordts, MGA pushrod, finished second overall in 26.38 seconds. Third was Klaus Bartels, Porsche Carrera, in 26.7 seconds. Don Haddow, Jordan-Vincent, broke a universal joint in practice.

1963: FOR SALE CANADA CLASS single seater.
No. 117. Fast and extremely reliable. Dr.
Bob Row, 215 Chapel Street, Kitchener,
Ontario. [7]

The last event was possibly held on June 10, 1967.

The Grand Valley Car Club was disbanded circa 2010, having been inactive for about ten years. [8]

Table of events and winners

Year Driver Vehicle Time Notes
1959 Oliver Clubine M.G.A. Twin-Cam 29.15 sec R [9] Saturday September 26.
1960 Klaus Bartels Porsche Carrera Speedster 25.98 sec R [10] Saturday June 11.
September 24.
1961 Dan Shaw Sadler-Corvette 24.24 sec R [11] Saturday June 17.
Oliver Clubine Torus Special-Triumph 26.04 sec [12] Saturday September 23.
1962 Dick Shelton T.V.R. 1,600 c.c. #55 27.73 sec [13] Saturday June 16.
Dr Bob Row Mantis Canada Class #53 26.08 sec [14] Saturday September 15.
1963 Dr Bob Row Canada Class 998 c.c. #67 24.96 sec [15] Saturday June 8.
Horst Kroll Porsche #37 25.25 sec [16] Saturday September 21.
1964 John Bowles Jaguar E-type coupe 26.34 sec [17] June 13.
1965 [18] June 12.
1966 [19] July 9.
1967 [20] June 10.

R = Record

  1. ^ Sid Galvin, Small Torque, B.E.M.C., Vol 13, Issue 7, July 1960, Pages 22-23.
  2. ^ Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), 8 Oct 1959, Page 12.
  3. ^ The Toronto Star, Monday, June 13, 1960, Page 13.
  4. ^ Roger Proulx, Competition Press, Vol.IV-No.12, June 25, 1960, Page 6.
  5. ^ Document: GRAND VALLEY CAR CLUB, ROCKWOOD HILL CLIMB, Standing Records as of June 1962, dated Aug 17, 1962.
  6. ^ Canada Track & Traffic, January 1962, Page 55.
  7. ^ Canada Track & Traffic, August 1963, Page 63.
  8. ^ Laverne Burkhart, 2012.
  9. ^ Just Drifting, Journal of the G.V.C.C., September, 1959, Pages 3, 10.
  10. ^ Globe and Mail, Monday June 13, 1960, Page 34; Sports Car Hill Climb Draws 72 Contestants, Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), 16 Jun 1960, Page 7; see also Globe and Mail, Saturday, June 4, 1960, Page 30; Road & Track, October 1960, Vol 12, No 2, Pages 84-85.
  11. ^ Globe and Mail, June 19, 1961, Page 20. This report refers to a 25.62 second run by Don Haddow, Jordan Special, in 1960.
  12. ^ Bill Wordham, Toronto Telegram, September 25, 1961, Page 18.
  13. ^ Document: GRAND VALLEY CAR CLUB, 1962 ROCKWOOD HILL CLIMB – 15th September, Official Results; Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), 21 Jun 1962, Page 10; Canada Track & Traffic, August 1962, Page 55.
  14. ^ Document: GRAND VALLEY CAR CLUB – ROCKWOOD HILL CLIMB – Saturday June 16th, OFFICIAL RESULTS; Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), Thursday, 20 Sep 1962, Page 5.
  15. ^ Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), Thursday, 13 Jun 1963, Page 8; Document: Final Results, Grand Valley Car Club, Rockwood Hill Climb – Saturday June 8, 1963.
  16. ^ Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), Thursday, 26 Sep 1963, Page 2. Document: PROVISIONAL RESULTS (Listed by Class in Order of Finish), GRAND VALLEY CAR CLUB – ROCKWOOD HILL CLIMB, SEPTEMBER 21, 1963.
  17. ^ Guelph Mercury, Monday, June 15, 1964, Page 10; Acton Free Press (Acton, ON), Thursday, June 18, 1964, Page 11.
  18. ^ Globe and Mail, Thursday, June 10, 1965, Page 35; Globe and Mail, Friday, June 11, 1965, Page 43.
  19. ^ Globe and Mail, Wednesday, July 6, 1966, Page 33.
  20. ^ Coming Events, Canada Track & Traffic, Vol 8, No. 4, May 1967, Page 55.