David Franklin became the British Hill Climb Champion in 1978 driving a March-BMW. You can guess what he drives nowadays.

I met David briefly at Goodwood, and while he was very nice indeed, he also seemed to be one of the eldest chaps at the paddocks. There’s no problem with that, I just thought he will take it easy, do a demo run . But Goodwood ain’t in Florida. What was I thinking?

Mr. Franklin went for it with his 1969 Ferrari 312 P Berlinetta. Balls out. It was one of the nicest drives up the hill I saw all weekend.

As it turns out, he is also a regular with this car at events like the . 450 horsepower at 10,800 rpm. That’s what you should know about that 3.0 V12.

He came second in class at the shootout, beaten only by power. Le Mans Group 6 vs Can Am? Hardly a fair fight, but it’s all bloody good fun.

Take the kids out! They need to see guys like David in cars like this. It’s more educational than a school day.

Better than music class as well.

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