Speaking about the old road, (Devils elbow, Eagle on the Hill) mid to late 6o's, friends and myself used to sit in my Cooper S and wail for a VW beetle to start the hill climb. we would scoot ahead, and then slow down until the beetle had to drop back to 3rd gear, and then we would shoot off up the hill.
Poor beetle would be stuck in 3rd gear as they didnt have enough grunt to get into 4th again.