Between 1953 and 1971 the charismatic Swiss Mountain Grand Prix meeting at Ollon-Villars became a glittering jewel in the crown of the prestigious FIA European Mountain Championship. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first race in 1953, the third historic edition of the legendary Ollon-Villars hillclimb race took place on the weekend of 20 and 21 September 2003. The lovely village of Ollon is situated halfway between Sion and Lausanne in Switzerland. The winding roadway from Ollon to Villars (Chesières) is about 5 miles or 8 kilometers long, very demanding and has numerous bends and corners. Ollon, where the start is, has an altitude of 400 meters above sea level but the finish in Villars-Chesières is on 1,208 meters altitude.

About 280 cars were entered with more than 70 coming from England, Italy, France, Austria and Germany. Clearly the star car was the sensational 1969 Ferrari 212 E Montagna Spider, chassis number 0862, owned by Carlos Monteverde and raced by David Franklin. This is the actual car which won the 1969 edition at Ollon-Villars, with the Swiss hillclimb champion Dr. Peter Schetty at the wheel. Although today this unique competition Ferrari has different bodywork than in the late 1960s, it is basically still the same race car, chassis and engine.

Also present at the 2003 Ollon-Villars historic race was the Tecno Formula Two car which still holds the record with François Cevert. Many of the legendary Swiss race drivers such as Marc Surer, Jacques Cornu, Philippe Siffert, Baron Emmanuel “Toulo” de Graffenried had entered in the fantastic weekend in the alps of canton Vaud. The last real Ollon-Villars hillclimb took place in 1971 and counted for the European Hillclimb championship. Since the beginning in 1953, ten editions had been held with up to 40,000 spectators watching the elite drivers of the motorsport world. It was the most beautiful and most prestigious European hillclimb race starting in the vintner village of Ollon up to the station in Villars, with the jagged outlines of the Dents du Midi and Mont Blanc mountains providing one of the most spectacular and breathtaking backdrops of any motor racing event.

The organizing committee of the 2003 historic hillclimb was SMO (Sport Motorisés) and with the typical charm of the people living in the French-speaking part of Switzerland the event was organised quite well. There were a few logistic problems that hadn’t been solved and the start of the cars had to be interrupted several times because of small accidents and mishaps during the two days. Motorcycles also starred at Ollon-Villars, with illustrious competitors on both two wheels and three. One could see rarities from Ducati, Kreidler, Bultaco, BSA, Kawasaki, Triumph, Norton-Manx or Benelli.

The original event witnessed ferocious European Championship competition, most notably between Ferrari, Porsche and Abarth, while Formula 1 and even Indianapolis single-seaters also soared up the mountain roadway driven by some of the greatest motor racing stars of their era. Swiss names such as Toulo de Graffenried, Willy-Peter Daetwyler, Hans Ruesch, Heini Walter, Jo Siffert, Herbert Müller, Peter Schetty, Georges Gachnang, Sylvio Moser were regular participants in the 1950s and 1960s and drivers from abroad included Jean Behra, Maurice Trintignant, Huschke von Hanstein, Louis Chiron, Umberto Maglioli, Lodovico Scarfiotti, Giampiero Biscaldi, Lorenzo Bandini, Nino Vaccarella, Rolf Stommelen, Gerhard Mitter, Jack Brabham, Patsy Burt, the sensational Jim Clark and François Cevert.

Although the 2003 event was heavily promoted by a well-known British auctioneer, it was a bit surprising to see how many fakes and replicas of genuine cars, not only Ferraris, were entered. Perhaps the organisers lacked knowledge or they simply wanted to fill up the field? Several Lancias, Abarths, Fords, Cobras, Alfas and Maseratis were total replicas. It was rather disgusting to see that no fewer than five Ferrari replicas attended at Ollon-Villars. This in addition to five genuine Ferraris. Apart from the already mentioned 212 E Montagna Spider the group of authentic Ferraris included a 275 GTB Berlinetta with shortnose and in Scuderia Filipinetti racing colors. Peter Heuberger raced his darkblue 250 GT Lusso and Antoine Midy brought a darkblue 250 GT SWB Berlinetta. This is the last of a total of 167 units built and it has recently been repainted from red to dark blue color. Also on hand was Marc Caveng’s 512 M which was rebuilt using parts from three different chassis numbers 1022, 1032 and 1050. This car too was in Filipinetti race colors. Swiss collector Erich Traber had cancelled his 212 Export Coupé Vignale and 250 MM Berlinetta and did not show up at Ollon.

Luckily spectators had to pay a minimal fee of ten Swiss Francs (US$ 7) to watch the cars. It can be assumed that most people expected genuine and authentic race cars and not that many replicas and fakes. The legendary Dennis Jenkinson was perfectly right when in 1987 he said: “Historic cars and historic events imply the possession of some history and not all the cars presented as historic can actually claim any part of history.”

Only one owner, an Italian from Varese, clearly described and identified his “Ferrari” as a replica. His car had two chassis number plates with the word replica on it and even the race program listed it as such. An Englishman and a Swiss both brought replicas of Dino 206 S Spiders. One used the engine of a Dino 246 and had already been witnessed earlier at both Rockingham and Goodwood. The author considers it especially tragic that the president of the only official and factory-authorized Swiss Ferrari Club drove a “330 P4” replica in the event. Because of its wrong proportions a yellow replica of a 250 GT SWB Berlinetta looked really bad. Jenkinson also mentioned, that “as the years go by some of these fake cars are becoming old enough to establish their own history. If a genuine old Ferrari can show a continuous history of 50 years, where do we stand with one that has a 10-year continuous history, having been built as a “Facsimile” in – say – 1993. Is it now a genuine fake?”

The official event poster and program featured Umberto Maglioli’s Ferrari 750 Monza at the Aosta-Gran San Bernardo hillclimb in 1955. Despite the fact that the organisers and promoters of the 2003 Ollon-Villars hillclimb have their own definitions of what is historic, the event was a success, also thanks to the fantastic weather and a lot of regional wine.

Click here for Ferraris at Ollon-Villars

© Marcel Massini 23/09/2003