Frew had heard the event, formerly called the Coal Pit Hillclimb, began near the start of the 1950s, and then he found some photos of Ellery competing.
Dated "pre-1950", they showed him driving a modified Ford V8 coupe - "he took the boot off and made a ute out of it," Frew explained.
"Knowing my grandfather, he would have bought it for next to nothing."
Run intermittently since its inception, the hillclimb took a more permanent break when the North Otago Car Club went into recess. It was revived three years ago for the club's 50th anniversary and, using a joint permit with the Otago Sports Car Club (OSCC), has been run again annually.
OSCC president Ross Cameron said he had been fielding inquiries from drivers "all around the lower South Island" and expected a decent turnout for the enter-on-the-day sealed road event.
The modern-day machines will join the vintage entries, which should number more than 20.
Frew will be bringing his 1929 Chrysler down from Ashburton to continue a hillclimbing habit he has had for the past 30 years.
"It's got me around the countryside," he said of events attended.
The Ngapara Hillclimb is on Coal Pit Rd, off the Weston Ngapara Rd, and is signposted from SH1 in Oamaru. Scrutineering runs from 9am, with a 10am drivers' briefing. The road will remain closed until 5pm and drivers should have three to four runs.
• Drift South Championship's round four screeches into action at Teretonga Park tomorrow from 10am.
Series co-organiser Ian Shrimpton said there was a log jam of drivers at the top of the score sheet for the title, so the drifting would be "intense".
"This year the race cars have grown legs with some now exceeding 500 horse power at the rear wheels and this coupled with Teretonga being by far our fastest track, we think speeds may top 180kmh.
"Remember this is completely sideways in clouds of smoke on the bitumen."
Thirty turbocharged battlers will be racing centimetres - and sometimes less - apart, sliding around a section of the Invercargill circuit in their penultimate outing.
Lunchtime entertainment will include a supercharged 1968 monster Chev versus a 1978 supercharged Chev-powered Holden Premier. These will be thrashed by Invercargill lads Brendon Shearing and Scott Edwards.
Practice and qualifying starts at 10am tomorrow and because Teretonga has inside-your-car trackside viewing, the racing will be on, wet or fine.
