While the hillclimbing cars featured here are typically stunning pieces of homebrewed ingenuity, the majority of them simply cannot compare with the focus and urgency of a frill-free DTM machine. Underneath the silhouette body of Klaus Hoffman’s Opel Astra V8 lies a 4.0-liter Judd V8 making 530 horsepower—as well as an incredible soundtrack which uses the surrounding forest as a massive speaker box to deafen the bystanders. With only 2,127 pounds to push around, the Astra V8 streaks to 62 in 3.9 seconds and 124 in just 8 seconds. To quell that frightening acceleration, the Astra wears AP Racing‘s 380 mm carbon discs mated to six-piston calipers up front and 340 mm discs with four-pistons in the rear. Quite a serious list of ingredients for a car that’s used on a public road.

There are more powerful cars on the hillclimb, but few deliver their grunt as cleanly as this DTM machine can. With plenty of aerodynamic grip from that dual-plane wing and the broad diffuser, it administers every one of its ponies to the asphalt without a hiccup. When it does occasionally break sideways, it appears predictable, controllable, and reassuring.

Even on a wet road, the Astra deploys its power so smoothly. Some of that has is due to the progressive, high-revving nature of the racing engine; it makes its peak torque figure of 394 lb-ft at 6,850 rpm, and seems to reward a patient, progressive right foot.

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Factor in the incredible steering response and composure over undulations on the Homburg Hillclimb, and Hoffman’s commitment is understandable. He might be getting on in years, but with a confidence-inspiring machine underneath him, he’s still a force to be reckoned with in the German Berg Cup.