Wednesday 17th August 2016

BMW 635CSi hillclimb: Time For Coffee?

A slice of howling straight six nirvana to get you through Wednesday morning

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Skip 04:35 to 09:00, when the guy is talking about his 6 Series (unless you understand him, of course). The end isn't brilliant either, with the cars parked up after finishing. Otherwise, watch every single second. This is glorious.

We're familiar with the nutty Swiss hillclimb videos by now - cool cars go very quickly and make loads of noise on impossibly picturesque passes, with cameras filming the action. Perfect, and that's no different here. But there's something about seeing the original 6 Series scream its way up a hill climb that meant it had to feature.

It sounds superb, it looks brilliant and it's still bloomin quick too, the sense of speed no doubt heightened by the narrow tarmac. How good must touring cars have been with grids full of these and Sierras and Rover SD1s?

The video is good quality as well, the onboard section towards the end well worth a watch. Check out that footwork! Now, where are those cheap project cars for a PH tribute? £28K for an automatic? Oh. Perhaps not, then.

Watch the video here.
 

[Kawasicki]

Glorious.

[Gixer_fan]

I thought (well according to Clarkson) the Swiss were anti-cars? That looks like a great day's viewing and better than hillclimb meets in UK. Thinking of checking the Gurston Down run next weekend.

[fatboy69]

Sublime.

I remember watching these amazing cars pound around Silverstone & Spa during the heady days of the old European Touring Car Championship.

So much fun.

[g3org3y]

LIKE!

[DegsyE39]

That sound!!

[ZX10R NIN]

Great sound

[Phon_E87]

Awesome.

[struttob]

Shelsley this weekend is the place to be - if you want to be amazed by speed and driving skills that is !! Whole day with paddock access, talk to drivers etc and all for £15 - biggest bargain in UK motorsport.

Bob

[FN2TypeR]

ZX10R NIN said:

Great sound

Superb!

[Slippydiff]

struttob said:

Shelsley this weekend is the place to be - if you want to be amazed by speed and driving skills that is !! Whole day with paddock access, talk to drivers etc and all for £15 - biggest bargain in UK motorsport.

Bob

Shhhhhhsss, don't encourage them ..... Hillclimbing in the UK is still one of its best kept Motorsport secrets.
But ....much as I love the likes of Loton, Shelsley, Prescott and Gurston, the European hillclimbs are so much longer and more akin to a Tarmac rally special stage (and all the better for it imo).

That 6 Series looks and sounds stunning, looks quite softly sprung and more of a handful for it.

[generationx]

This car was at the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nurburgring at the weekend - it sounded glorious. And loud!

[Housey]

I remember watching this back in the day in the Silverstone TT in the days of Group 1/2 cars. Epic.

[Escort3500]

What a fantastic venue. And the car and that sound

Have yearned for a 635 CSi for many years but rising prices for a good, rot-free example have deterred me. And I somehow suspect it might not be as exciting to drive as I think. Nevertheless......

[Kawasicki]

Escort3500 said:

What a fantastic venue. And the car and that sound

Have yearned for a 635 CSi for many years but rising prices for a good, rot-free example have deterred me. And I somehow suspect it might not be as exciting to drive as I think. Nevertheless......

Mine was very exciting. It really oversteered a lot, in the wet it was huge fun.

[Escort3500]

Kawasicki said:

Escort3500 said:

What a fantastic venue. And the car and that sound

Have yearned for a 635 CSi for many years but rising prices for a good, rot-free example have deterred me. And I somehow suspect it might not be as exciting to drive as I think. Nevertheless......

Mine was very exciting. It really oversteered a lot, in the wet it was huge fun.

My search resumes then

[E24man]

My old 635CSi secretly dreams of sounding (and going!) like that. She'll need an exhaust this year and I'm thinking straight-through pipes to a one back box might be the trick instead of the OEM three box system.

[Mattygooner]

Wunderbar!

The continent know how to do a hillclimb, if you have a few hours to spare just get on YouTube and watch the last few years of things like Bergrennen (think that's what it is) and others, great footage both incar and external with ranges from single seaters to turbo pork and full fat grpB monsters, a fabulous way to spend an afternoon.