Motorists worried about the cost of petrol should spare a thought for one entrant at this year’s Kop Hill Climb whose car does just two miles per gallon in Princes Risborough.

Mike Vardy’s 1905 Isotta Frashchini Fiat is powered by a 16.5-litre straight-six engine from an airship, and was built originally as a land-speed record car.

And its sporting pedigree was event when the nearly 17-foot-long grumbling behemoth thundered up Kop Hill’s one-in-four incline to the delight of the crowds.

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But when Marlborough, Wiltshire, resident Mike bought the car, it was just loosely assembled and missing its huge engine. It took him some eight years and 25,000 hours of work to bring the old racer back to life.

“A hundred years later, I put the original engine back in,” he says, adding that it took a further five years of modifications and repairs to finish the car.

The Fiat’s competition life continues today as Mike regularly takes part in hillclimb events, recording 47-second time at Prescott Hill Climb and 52 seconds at Shelsley Walsh.

Its great length and weight, however, make it a challenge to drive.

“It drives like a pendulum,” says Mike, who compares it to steering a narrowboat. “The problem is stopping it – it weighs two and a half tons so it doesn’t stop very well!”

But it’s style rather than performance that interests Lorna Brooks and Christina Vaughan, who took part in their 1959 A35 van – teaming it with original 1950s dresses and jackets.

“I just love the style,” says Lorna of her outfit, explaining that they buy their clothes from charity shops.

“They’re just clothes that make you smile – like the van!”

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They’ve christened the van ‘Wendy’ and use it for their Princes Risborough florist business, Fullers.

"But they couldn’t resist the temptation of a run up the hill.

“It’s a humble little van so it’s so nice they let us go up; there are all these expensive, fast cars – and then there’s Wendy!”

This year’s event also saw a new class dedicated to hot rods.

Inspired by the late 1920s and early 1930s cars that American teenagers stripped down to race on salt lakes (and sometimes illegally on the streets) in the 1950s, they run big V8 engines and teeter on tall, skinny tyres.

The author was lucky enough to accompany Sarah Bradley from Watford as she took to the hill in her 1929 Ford Model ‘A’ hot rod, powered by a burbling 3.9-litre ‘flathead’ V8.

She’s owned it since 2004 and driven it to events all over the UK, including the annual Hot Rod Races at Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire, Wales

Expectant crowds looked on from the grandstand as we inched up to the start line waiting for the starter’s flag.

And then the engine roared as she floored the accelerator and dropped the clutch, the rear tyres spinning as they tried to find grip, launching the rod up the hill at a pace Henry Ford never imagined.

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The road gets steeper and steeper but we were still accelerating hard through the gears up the narrow, tree-lined road as Sarah deftly balanced steering and throttle to guide the car to the top.

It was certainly a ride to remember.

This is clearly why owners come back year after year to take part in the Kop Hill Climb, driving in the tyre tracks of their forebears over a century ago.

And they’ll be doing it all again next year.

The annual revival of the famous hill climb has become something of a Princes Risborough institution, with local residents turning out to marvel at classic cars and motorcycles from as far as Wiltshire and Wales - with one entrant travelling from New Zealand.

Racing at the hill began in 1910 and saw the likes of Malcolm Campbell in his famous BlueBird, Henry Seagrave driving a Sunbeam and Count Zborowski at the wheel of his eight-cylinder Ballot. Sadly, a minor accident resulted in the end of the racing in 1925.

Since its relaunch in 2009, the Kop Hill Climb has raised more than £870,000 for local charities.

Find out more about the Kop Hill Climb at www.kophillclimb.org.uk.