It is over a century since residents, competitors, friends and mechanics first witnessed timed runs up Kop Hill. The first year involved just motorcycles. One year on and the first cars came – and what cars! A veritable alphabet of cars took to the hill: some roaring, some cruising and some puttering to the top.

By the early twenties cars were getting larger and ever more powerful but despite the very best drivers and vehicles being driven by huge aero engines, bikes finally took the record for fastest up the hill in the last year of the event before the war.

Since we re-introduced the event in 2009, we have witnessed many of those same beasts charging up the hill, as well as experiencing the latest exotic models up close and personal.  We’ve seen it all, steam, electric and just about every gasoline-powered marque you can name.  At Kop Hill, you can experience the weird, the wonderful, the fast and the first of their kind.

There are historic vehicles from 1900 right up to modern vehicles that are either crowd pleasing, rare or significant or, in many cases, all three.