A HISTORIC motorsport event that used to attract thousands of people to Droitwich during the 1950s and 60s has been remembered.

A one-day-only exhibition and gala was held at the Chateau Impney Hotel on Wednesday, December 4 to celebrate the days when the property grounds used to host the then-famous Chateau Impney Hill Climb.

Originally organised by the Hagley and District Light Car Club, the hill climb not only attracted some of the most sought after racing cars and drivers of the era, but also thousands of spectators who would line the hotel’s drive.

The race saw a host of impressive sports and racing cars put to the test on the twisting 550 yard course, which finished in front of the Chateau’s main entrance.

As well as pre-war cars such as the Frazer Nash, often hailed as the epitome of vintage British sports cars, the MG J3 and the T35B Bugatti, a host of post-war cars including the HWM-Jaguar, the Jaguar C Type, the Ferrari 250 GT and the Austin Healey were also used to tackle the Chateau Impney course.

The historic races were remembered when the hotel hosted this year's renowned H&H Christmas classic car auction.

“While many Droitwich residents will have heard of Chateau Impney, it seems that the majority don’t know about our proud motorsport connection and that the grounds used to host one of the most anticipated events in the local racing calendar”, said general manager Ben Elder.

The race was run annually from 1957-1967, attracting some of the biggest motorsport personalities of the day, including Tony Marsh, Phil Scragg and David Good, who was the inaugural winner of the event with a time of just 24.64 seconds.