Pike's Peak: Life Is Good On The Hill

Murilee Martin
by Murilee Martin

I had to haul my bleary-eyed self out of the sack at 4:00 AM in order to grab this choice vantage point at 11,000 feet, about halfway up the road to the summit, but the sight of this incredible race car just made the sleep deprivation worthwhile. Everything else I see today will just be a bonus.

Not into two-ton slabs of Detroit iron? Perhaps this little British Racing Green machine is more your speed. My cell-phone-tether internet connection here is quite flaky, so proper Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb coverage may have to wait until tonight.

Murilee Martin
Murilee Martin

Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Autoblog, Hagerty, The Truth About Cars and Capital One.

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  • Theflyersfan My dad had a 1998 C280 that was rock solid reliable until around 80,000 miles and then it wasn't. Corey might develop a slight right eyelid twitch right about now, but it started with a sunroof that leaked. And the water likely damaged some electric components because soon after the leaks developed, the sunroof stopped working. And then the electrical gremlins took hold. Displays that flickered at times, lights that sometimes decided illumination was for wimps so stayed home, and then the single wiper issue. That thing decided to eat motors. He loved that car but knew when to fold the hand. So he bought a lightly used, off lease E-class. Had that for less than two years before he was ready to leave it in South Philly, keys in the ignition, doors unlocked, and a "Take it please" sign on the windshield. He won't touch another Benz now.
  • Detlump A lot of people buy SUVs because they're easier to get in and out of. After decades of longer, lower, wider it was refreshing to have easier ingress/egress offered by an SUV.Ironically, the ease of getting in and out of my Highlander is very similar to my 56 Cadillac.
  • Redapple2 LP Michigan. Long straights. A long sweeper. 2 chicanes. 4 hard turns. Lenghts of each element are different but similar to LeMans.
  • Teddyc73 Doesn't matter, out of control Democrats will still do everything they can to force us to drive them.
  • Teddyc73 Look at that dreary lifeless color scheme. The dull grey and black wheels and trim is infecting the auto world like a disease. Americans are living in grey houses with grey interiors driving look a like boring grey cars with black interiors and working in grey buildings with grey interiors. America is turning into a living black and white movie.
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