Car Climbs on the Hill Historical

Car Climbs on the Hill Historical (HM1WB2)

Location: Signal Hill, CA 90755 Los Angeles County
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Country: United States of America
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N 33° 47.923', W 118° 9.543'

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Inscription

Part of the "Memory Necklace"

—A Series of Historical Panels Located in the Hilltop Loop Trail —

The ascent of Signal Hill (elevation 364 feet) was not just a fantasy for automobile drivers of the early 1920s. In January 1921, the Long Beach Daily Telegram advertised an upcoming effort by a Dodge touring car to climb "The Hill's" 70% grade. Thousands of people turned out for the demonstration and cheered the car as it crashed through the Dodge brothers' paper emblem at the top of the hill.

The newspaper reported,
"The startling feature of the exhibition was the apparent ease with which the Dodge car negotiated the steep grade and speed with which it completed its ascent... never before in the history of the automotive industry has any automobile given such a climbing exhibition and such a demonstration of power..."

The climb took only 15 seconds, but the speed was not reported. Oldsmobile upped the challenge a few months later by adding four passengers to the load, which totaled 750 pounds.

By the 1930s, the challenge of "Shell Hill" turned into an annual race for Model "T" Fords. Spectators crowded the edges of Hill Street for front row views. Mechanical problems seemed to enliven the event. The sight of a Model "T" with radiator trouble rolling backwards down the hill was common also. Spectators could walk about as fast as many of
the cars could climb. Cars with brake problems steered into the grass below to slow down. (Marker Number 2.)
Details
HM NumberHM1WB2
Tags
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Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Friday, December 16th, 2016 at 1:02pm PST -08:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)11S E 392709 N 3740442
Decimal Degrees33.79871667, -118.15905000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 33° 47.923', W 118° 9.543'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds33° 47' 55.38" N, 118° 9' 32.58" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Which side of the road?Marker is on the right when traveling North
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 2601-2697 E Panorama Dr, Signal Hill CA 90755, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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