A remarkable story

Anyone walking through Neuffen on 6 September 2026 will hear it from afar: the sound of old engines labouring their way up the Neuffener Steige. The Schwäbische Alb Hill Climb returns for the fourth year running, bringing with it a time capsule on four wheels.

The history of the route dates back to 1964. Over the decades, the race drew huge crowds to the mountain route, before the era came to an end in 1983 following a tragic accident. It was not until 2023 that the tradition was revived. Since then, the historic racing cars have been rolling up the Steige in demonstration runs – without timekeeping or a competitive element, but with undiminished fascination for the spectators.

The 2026 field of entrants represents a wide variety of chapters in motorsport history. A 1930 Dreyer-Miller Type 151 – an original Indianapolis racing car and an extremely rare sight in Europe – shares the paddock with the 1950 Veritas Meteor, built by former BMW engineers shortly after the war. These are joined by a 1932 Bugatti Type 51 and a 1958 Cooper T45 F2, representing pre-war and early post-war Grand Prix technology, a 1971 Sauber C2 – long before the marque’s later Group C glory – as well as a 1956 Porsche 550 Spyder and two Porsche 910s from the manufacturer’s early works racing history.

Things get particularly exciting when it comes to the rallying history of the Group B era: two Lancia Delta S4s, a Lancia Stratos Group 4, an Audi Rallye Quattro S1 E2 and a Lancia 037 replica will all be gathered in one place this weekend. East German motorsport is also represented, with several Melkus Wartburg formula cars and a VEB Sachsenring Trabant 601 RS – vehicles that are rarely seen in such numbers. Added to this is a wide range of Formula racing cars, including a Brabham BT36, a Reynard-Opel F3, a Maurer BMW F2 and a GRD F3.

There are also some familiar names behind the wheel: DTM legend Bernd Schneider is confirmed as a competitor, and Leopold, Prince of Bavaria, will be taking the wheel of the BMW E9 3.0 CSL – a return to the Neuffener Steige, which he has driven in previous years.

The route, just over four kilometres long, takes drivers up onto the Alb plateau via the Sieben-Linden bend, the Schachtdeckel bend and the Blockhaus bend. Three races are scheduled for Sunday: at 10.00, 13.00 and 16.00. Anyone looking to pass the time between races will find the classic car car park at the edge of Neuffen, behind the blue circus tent, where there are numerous other vehicles to admire, as well as refreshments and motoring chat inside the tent itself. On Saturdays and Sundays, the ‘Eselhock’ provides a lively atmosphere with music and refreshments around the track.

→ bergpreis-schwaebischealb.com