It is with a bit of comedic irony that Switzerland, a country well known for its longstanding ban of any kind of racing, hosts some of the best hill climb competitions (ie racing) in the world.
One of those competitions is a steep, twisting, and at times extremely narrow run called the Arosa, or more formally, the Langwies-Arosa Historic Hill Climb.
And it just happens that one Roesch Thomas posted his run up the course in 2017, in a very lightly modified 1966 Corvette C2.
In fact, the only modifications that are of note are the safety panel replacing the center stack, a new dash insert with racing dials, racing pedals, and a Sparco steering wheel.
Oh, and all the soundproofing material has been ripped out. Transmission noise, engine noise, exhaust note, you hear it all.
Other than that, according to any and all information we could find on this specific hill climb monster, it’s stock.
It’s carrying the L79 327 V8 engine up front, going through the RPO M20 stock 4-speed box, which comes together for 350 BHP and some long ratios. This is mostly why Roesch barely touches third gear, instead spending most of the time in first or second.
His goal on this run was to beat the course in under 5 minutes, which is considered exceptional for this stretch of road in his car’s class. He almost makes it, recording a 5:00.68.
Maybe if he wasn’t so friendly and waving to the marshalls up the course? Ah, who are we kidding, part of the Corvette life is sharing the power and the noise!
