29 replies to this topic

[dom180]

Anyone know the precise location of the pre-WW1 Feleac Hillclimb route in Romania and/or any of the locations for current Romanian Hill Climbs?

Happy New Year.

Edited by dom180, 01 January 2010 - 17:03.

[sramoa]

It was race before WW1?Because this time was this place Austro-Hungary Monarch-and I think this time the name was :Kolozsvár-Felek(today:Cluj-Feleac)

My list think:first race was in 1930

[dom180]

It was race before WW1?Because this time was this place Austro-Hungary Monarch-and I think this time the name was :Kolozsvár-Felek(today:Cluj-Feleac)

My list think:first race was in 1930

Of course - pre WW2! Thanks for correcting.

[sramoa]

Here is the map and any info the course:

http://www.silhouet....s/centrahc.html

In 29 September 1930 was the first race and there won Hans Stuck(Austro Daimler) second was:László Hartmann(Bugatti)

Last my list think:only in program-but the Hungaian Army occupied this place this time:6 October 1940

Any more info?

[dom180]

Here is the map and any info the course:

http://www.silhouet....s/centrahc.html

In 29 September 1930 was the first race and there won Hans Stuck(Austro Daimler) second was:László Hartmann(Bugatti)

Last my list think:only in program-but the Hungaian Army occupied this place this time:6 October 1940

Any more info?

Thanks a lot. Do you know if the course still exists today?

[sramoa]

Oh!I don't know because I am hungarian-and if possible only sometimes visit this place

[D-Type]

Time to visit Google Earth, methinks.

[dom180]

Time to visit Google Earth, methinks.

I did! I'm hoping some Romanian enthusiasts will be able to help (and on current Romanian Hillclimbs.....)

(Slightly disappointed with it from the look of the map - I was hoping for another Klausen or Ventoux. Thankfully Ceausescu was a motoring enthusiast.)

Edited by dom180, 01 January 2010 - 19:55.

[Victor_RO]

By the look of that track, I believe it still exists today... though circulated by thousands of cars every day. Because those S-curves are very much the curves going up the Feleac hill on the modern-day Cluj-Napoca - Turda road (part of the E60 European highway).


EDIT: Here's the Google Maps satellite image of the most recognizable section of that road:

http://maps.google.c.......mp;t=h&z=15

[Terry Walker]

Here's the current map. Looks fast.

[dom180]

By the look of that track, I believe it still exists today... though circulated by thousands of cars every day. Because those S-curves are very much the curves going up the Feleac hill on the modern-day Cluj-Napoca - Turda road (part of the E60 European highway).


EDIT: Here's the Google Maps satellite image of the most recognizable section of that road:

http://maps.google.c.......mp;t=h&z=15

I thought that might be the route, thanks, it does look quite similar doesn't it.

Anyone know any current Hill Climbs in that region?

[sramoa]

Anyone know any current Hill Climbs in that region?
[/quote]

Where?Only in Romania or others countries?

[Victor_RO]

Here's the current map. Looks fast.

Looks fast, but it's regulated by "crazy" speed limits because there's a lot of accidents on that road nowadays (especially lorries running out of brakes). In the area of those esses, the speed limit is 30-40 kph.

[dom180]

Anyone know any current Hill Climbs in that region?


Where?Only in Romania or others countries?

Romania mainly but anywhere from Slovenia accross to Romania would be useful and/or scenic roads/routes to the Transfagarasan Highway... !

[Mihai]

The map posted above is accurate for the current layout of the Feleac road. But it used to be a lot more curvy in the 30s, in addition to being unpaved. I found the map of the historical Feleac hillclimb course in an old book (some frugal data too, if anyone is still interested in this topic) :


A few years ago, I asked a top Romanian rally driver (Bogdan Marisca), who is born and lives in Cluj-Napoca, if he would like to race one day on the Feleac hillclimb and he replied to me that someone would need to drive a 1000 bhp car to actually get the most of the course, as extra-wide as it is today. Staging a modern hillclimb on the Feleac hill is very much out of the question today, but it could be suited for a car like Monster Tajima’s Pikes Peak Suzuki.

[O Volante]

Hello Mihai,

very nice map - but does the book also contain pictures and results? For my part, I'm still searching information on the Maserati(s) raced and hillclimbed in your country per- and postwar. Anything?

[Mihai]

Hi O Volante!

Actually no, the Feleac section in this book ony has the map and this small info:




My translation of the text above:

First used in 1922, the Feleac hillclimb was included as a special stage in automobile touring competitions. In 1929, the Cluj Regional Automobile Club organized the first competitive hillclimb on the Feleac, featuring the “Feleac Record Cup” and one year later the hillclimb became a round on the “European Mountain Championship”. In this race, the famous Hans Stuck, competing on a six-cylinder Austro-Daimler, recorded an average speed of 113.708 km/h, a record that would only be beaten by himself in 1938.
It wasn’t until 1934 that works to modernize the course were completed, widening the track to 8 meters, performing the over-widening and banking of turns and lengthening the course from 5 to 7 km. The course was located on the national road from Brasov to Cluj, between km 151+800 and 158+800, with the finish being located 364.87 meters higher than the start line, while the average hill was 5.21%.
The year 1934 can be considered as the debut year of the true hillclimb, while later, in 1937, the Feleac becomes a round in the National Hillclimb, among the rounds in Sibiu (Brad), Sinaia and Poiana Brasov.
The Feleac hillclimb, edition 1934, was won by M.Sontag on a 3678 cc Ford V8, with a time of 289.75 seconds – average speed – 86.971 km/h, followed by Al. Berlescu, B. Neamtu, and M. Butuculescu, all driving 3600 cc Fords.
The absolute record on the Feleac hillclimb belongs to Hans Stuck, who in 1938, driving a 600 HP Auto-Union, climbed the 7 km in 2 minutes 56 seconds, a record that is yet to be beaten.

But there was at least one Maser competing in pre-war Romania.

[Doug Nye]

Reviving this old thread about the Feleac hill-climb course outside Cluj-Napoca in Rumania for the following reason. The Collier Collection's Mercedes-Benz W154, which Rob Hall drove so competently in the Goodwood Revival meeting, was overturned on the Feleac hill while being driven by its Rumanian carer/owner 1951-1986, Joska Roman. But does anyone have a reference to the date of that accident on the course?

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 23 November 2012 - 22:19.

[Doug Nye]

Reviving this old thread about the Feleac hill-climb course outside Cluj-Napoca in Rumania for the following reason. The Collier Collection's Mercedes-Benz W154, which Rob Hall drove so competently in the Goodwood Revival meeting, was overturned on the Feleac hill while being driven by its Rumanian carer/owner 1951-1986, Joska Roman. But does anyone have a reference to the date of that accident on the course?

DCN

OK - just to respond to my own question - in case anyone in future might find this reference - according to Daimler-Benz they have a letter from Jozska Roman in which he specifies the date of his hillclimb accident as 1956. If any of our Rumanian correspondents ever sees this it would be nice to find some published news reference to the event, hopefully confirming that date?

DCN

[Gary C]

Ah, so THAT'S what happened to the Terry Cohn car! ................did he actually get his hands on it at all?

[Doug Nye]

As far as I can work out, Gary, he certainly saw the car. He thought he was buying it. But he found that he was in the process of buying it from people who never owned it, and that the owner had no idea who he was...

Now Gary, you know Tower Bridge in London? Well I have been authorised to sell it. Give me a million as deposit and it's yours mate...trust me.

Honest Doug

[Gary C]

The cheque's in the post.

[Doug Nye]

Ah-ha! Hercules Grytpype-Thynne triumphs again...

DCN

[Gary C]

I learnt everything I know from him, he was my Grand Father! LOL.

[Gary C]

PS. wouldn't it be interesting to do a follow-up to that 1992 (?) programme on the chase to buy that car...............

[Doug Nye]

See a forthcoming issue of 'Motor Sport'...

DCN

[Gary C]

oh......?

[Comgar]

Feleac 1930 , 1934 , 1935, 1936 , 1937

 

http://www.pro-bike....-85#entry514560

Edited by Comgar, 04 November 2013 - 19:37.

[O Volante]

What a great post, Comgar!

However, can you tell us about the source? Was it a preview from a magazine, or the programme for the 1938 event?

Anyway, many thanks!

Edited by O Volante, 05 November 2013 - 19:48.

[David McKinney]

And did Hartmann really have a Maserati in 1930?