The 97th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb gathered a creme-de-la-creme of the car industry and automotive enthusiasts. All of them came to watch as cars, trucks, SUV's struggle over 12.5 miles of mountainous road with 156 treacherous curves. The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb starts at 9,390 feet (2,860 m) above sea level and continues climbing for another 4,720 feet (1,440 m) to an altitude of 14,115 feet (4,300 m).

It is estimated that this altitude change puts a strain on the car, on the driver, and the engine. In fact, the fastest car in this years event was a Wolf TSC-Honda. At the start, its 2.0-liter engine developed more than 600 horsepower, but at the other end of the track, the engine lost about 100 horsepower due to lower air density.

Apart from the shed-built Wolf TSC-Honda, I present to you the most exciting cars of the 2019 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

Bentley Continental GT Record Breaking Car

Bentley broke the record for the fastest production car at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb on 30th of June. The Bentley Continental GT managed to cover 12.42 miles in 10 minutes and 18.488 seconds thus overshadowing the previous record by 8.4 seconds. "King of the Mountain", Rhys Millen, piloted the Continental GT to one of its most important victories of all time. As we all know, the Continental GT is not exactly a racer - it is more of a luxury behemoth - but it managed to achieve rather fantastic success at the Pikes Peak.

“This is an amazing finish to a wet, snowy 2019 run at Pikes Peak,” Millen’s first words were after the record run. “We came here with one goal in mind, and that was to be the fastest production car up the mountain and set a new record. It was an incredible week. Today was a challenge with what Mother Nature threw at us, but the Continental GT held strong all the way to the top, and we are now Number One.”

Its W-12, with 626 horsepower at sea level definitely developed less power at the very top, but Bentley did not bless us bless with that information.

“This new record once again proves that the spirit of endeavor and desire to push the boundaries of automotive performance remain at the beating heart of Bentley. It clearly demonstrates the Continental GT’s astonishing breadth of ability,” Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush, added.

Porsche BBi Record Breaking Car

Created by BBi Autosport and the Hoonigan team, the 900-horsepower, turbocharged, Porsche 911 GT3, driven by Raphael Astier, a French rally driver, managed to cover the hill climb in 9 minutes and 23 seconds. Nevertheless, if you want to know a lot more about this Porsche 911, you can watch it on the official Hoonigan Youtube video above.

Acura Pikes Peak Lineup

Acura come to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb with four cars:

-* a race-prepped 2019 MDX Sport Hybrid

-* the Time Attack NSX

-* production NSX

-* jazzed up Acura RDX

-* RealTime Racing TLX GT that won its class last year

-* Acura NSX Pikes Peak Pace Car

With such a robust lineup, Acura obviously wants to show the whole world (and especially Americans), that they do mean business.

Acura removed the seats and basically all the interior features from the MDX (save for the driver seat).

The Acura RDX A-Spec, on the other hand, comes with a quite cool 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that produces 350 horsepower and 330 pound-feet of torque. Assisted by a 48-volt electric system that feeds an electric supercharger, this RDX A-Spec develops almost 80 more horsepower compared to the stock unit.

Now, the Time Attack Acura NSX received some software gizmos and tuning that increased the power to 625 horsepower. Some 50 horsepower more than before. Finally, the high-grip Pirelli R-compound tires can give an edge to the Acura NSX Time Attack.

The fastest Acura on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the TLX GT. This car, with the Peter Cunningham behind the wheel, managed to go up the Pikes Peak in 9 minutes and 24.433 seconds.

1972 Boxer VW Bug 2.0 TDI

Now, this is possibly the coolest car to appear on the hill this year. Actually, this 1972 VW Bug with a 2.0-liter diesel engine was here last year as well. Austrian driver Manfred Stohl built the car, and he does compete in the Pikes Peak Open class. The Beetle has a Stage 4 tuning setup, full aerodynamic package, and a race-ready suspension. Now, it is not among the fastest on the hill climb, but it is among the most intriguing for sure. I'd like to have a go in it!

2020 Dodge Charger Hellcat Widebody

Dodge unveiled the 2020 Dodge Charger Hellcat Widebody at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. Driven by Randy Pobst in an Exhibition class, the 2020 Dodge Charger Hellcat Widebody received a bit of massage before running up that hill. Obviously, the big deal here is a widebody kit - a rather ostentatious addition to already mad Charger. Nevertheless, apart from the Charger Hellcat Widebody, Wesley Motorsports' introduced the Challenger Hellcat Redeye Widebody to the race as well.

2018 Wolf TSC-Honda

The fastest car at the Pikes Peak this year was the car the 2018 Wolf TSC-Honda. It is, more or less, an F1-inspired machine with a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine that has more than 600 horsepower and only weighs 518 kg (1,142 pounds). Called the "Sendy Club," driver Robin Shute managed to finish the hill climb in 9 minutes and 12.476 seconds.

Interestingly enough, this team worked before with the Faraday Future and its 1,000 horsepower electric luxury SUV. Needless to say, the team smashed through the course beating everyone else by quite a margin.

Top 10 Fastest at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb 2019