Spectre 341 Challenge: The thrill of the hill

All you need to take on the death-defying Spectre 341 Challenge is a license, registration, proof of insurance and Department Of Transportation-legal tires. The winding 5.2-mile road in Virginia City, Nev., named Highway 341 has 22 hair-raising turns, about 14 of which can literally kill you.

“This place forces the intangibles to the surface,” event creator and Spectre Performance owner Amir Rosenbaum says.

The challenge takes intangibles such as nerves, vision and veins with a healthy amount of ice water pumped in. This event is not for amateurs and not for the faint of heart.

But anyone can (and will) enter. This year's race saw everyone from race-team owner and driver Lou Gigliotti in a hopped-up Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, to friend of AutoWeek Aaron Pfadt in his buttoned-down Chevy Camaro. All were gunning for the three-minute, 41-second target time.

The event began as the Virginia City Hill Climb in 1972. At that time, the president of the Ferrari Owner's Club, Hans Tanner, wanted to bring more European-style climbs to the States. Highway 341 in Virginia City turned out to be the perfect venue.

The climb was run that way until the early 1990s, when two things happened. One, the cars owned by the Ferrari Owner Club jumped from being worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. At the same time, the Ferrari Club of America opened a West Coast chapter and started its own hill climb. It formed a cooperative with the Northern California Shelby Club, and their climb still runs in September.

It was during those early years that Rosenbaum set the world record of three minutes, 10 seconds in a lightly tuned Ferrari F40. The original June event was discontinued in 2002.

Fast-forward to 2010: Rosenbaum and his performance company are looking for publicity and decide to bring the hill climb back under its new name, the Spectre 341 Challenge. All are invited but few attend. Last year's event had 18 drivers, but only six hit the target time. The event was also struck with tragedy when Las Vegas race-car driver Alexander Djordjevic was killed when his Porsche 911 Turbo went off the edge on day one of the event.

This year's contest saw 36 competitors, including one journalist from AutoWeek. Happily, nothing was hurt this year except for one man's pride when he went off into the mountain, a much better fate than down off the mountain. The talented but nonprofessional driver from AW logged a best time of four minutes, 23 seconds--more than 40 seconds off the target time--in a lowered Cadillac CTS-V wagon with a Spectre cold-air intake.

The fastest time of the weekend went to Gigliotti, at three minutes, 14 seconds. Following him was Duck Fuson with his 1974 Porsche 911 at three minutes, 15 seconds, and Jeff Rosen in a 2009 GT3 RS at three minutes, 22 seconds. Rosenbaum's best time is still safe, for now.

All in all, 13 drivers beat the target time, eight of which are new entries into the 341 Club. Five bested previous times to retain the distinction. Almost one-third of the field gained entrance into the club and the average times were faster than 2010 any way you measure it.

The Spectre 341 Challenge is unlike any other race. There's no way to practice (legally), and there's no telling what the course might be like in a few hours, a few days or a few years. It wasn't built to hold a race car, which is why incidents are far too likely.

Spectre Performance does its best to keep everyone safe, and for that it should be commended. From running around for loaner helmets and checking tires and belts to debriefing participants after a run or two, the event couldn't be much safer, considering the circumstances. But any amateur who wants to take on the hill should do so with preparation, concentration and a healthy dose of respect for the asphalt ribbon that is Highway 341.

By Jake Lingeman