“Climb Dance” – Unforgettable Ari Vatanen’s Pikes Peak Victorious Ascent

Here’s some bona fide cinema for old-school driving videos fans. “Climb Dance” is one of the most revered pieces of rally footage in existence, and for damn good reason.

Jean Louis Morey’s film of Ari Vatanen’s record-breaking 1988 run in the Peugeot 406 T16 Pikes Peak won many awards at film festivals. It’s easy to see why, as genius car and genius driver combined to produce something magical.

The original film, won a string of short film awards in 1990, including at the Grand Prix Du Film in Festival De Chamonix, the Silver Screen at US Industrial Film & Video Festival, and the Golden Award at the International Film Festival.

As well as being the second-oldest motor sports event in the United States, Pikes Peak is unique and crazy in the world of motor sport. Once an event for petrol-head Americans driving and riding a bizarre assortment of vehicles, Pikes Peak changed forever when Vatanen’s on-the-edge 1988 run triggered interest from pro racers from around the globe. Previously dirt but now all bitumen, the climb course still has chilling drops unprotected with barriers.

The car Vatanen drove was a factory Peugeot 405 T16, built specifically for this event. The 405 was built with a mid-mounted 1.9-litre four-cylinder engine, using Thompson ignition and a Garrett turbocharged, producing an impressive 600hp of power and 735Nm of torque. It featured four-wheel drive, four-wheel steering, and weighed just 880kg (1040 pounds). For 1988, this was state of the art.

The following award-winning film, “Climb Dance”, now digitally remastered in high-definition, is still one of the best motorsports films out there and is always worth the time to sit back to watch it in awe, as Vatanen takes on the Peak.