This rare 1956 newsreel features two great moments: the brand new ’56 DeSoto Adventurer pacing the action at Pikes Peak, and a very young Bobby Unser claiming his first victory on the mountain. 

This old Tel Ra Sports newsreel item from 1956 is a double feature, if you will: The clip opens with some tasty footage of the DeSoto Adventurer, brand new for ’56, in action at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, where it served as the official pace car. The piece then closes out with an impossibly young-looking Bobby Unser claiming his first win there. It was one of countless victories for the Unser family at the venue that came to be known as Unser’s Mountain, and Uncle Bobby, a three-time Indy 500 champion who just celebrated his 84th birthday, credits this win with launching his professional racing career.

Though often overlooked today, the DeSoto Adventurer was one of the more potent American performance cars of the 1950s. The original Adventurer was introduced in February of 1956 as a mid-year special edition with upgraded suspension, brakes, and trim, but perhaps the most noteworthy feature was the 341 CID hemi V8 with twin four-barrel Carter carburetors and 320 horsepower. Only 996 Adventurers were produced in the first model year, the experts say, and as we can see in the film, someone was having a lot of fun with this one: Check out the slipping and sliding dirt track-style action. Video below.