Scottsdale Grand Prix plans to bring ’20s roaring back

• A team of producers will bring a Grand Prix vintage car race to Scottsdale this November.
• Thirty-two corporate teams will go head to head in vintage racing karts modeled after cars of the 1920s.
• The race will circle streets in downtown Scottsdale and be open to the public.

The wheels on the low-riding cars spin furtively as their drivers whip around bends on the track, hugging the water, squinting through their racing goggles to plot the turn ahead. Cheering crowds line streets filled with galleries and cafes, but instead of speeding along the coast of Monaco, the drivers surge onto Marshall Way in downtown Scottsdale.

What started as a cinematic vision will become reality on Saturday Nov. 7 for five area entrepreneurs who are working together to produce the first ever Grand Prix of Scottsdale, a celebration of racing, the roaring 20s and the city itself.

Thirty-two corporate teams will race custom-designed karts through the streets of Scottsdale’s gallery district, capping a weekend of events ranging from a Great Gatsby-themed gala to a period concert awards ceremony, the organizers said.

And these aren’t just any racing karts — they’re modeled after originals from the 1920’s, complete with sleek aluminum bodies and buffalo leather hand-stitched seats.

It will be a car aficionado’s dream, they said, and as close to Monaco’s racing scene as you can get on this side of the Atlantic. But only one of the event’s producers has experience building custom karts, and only one has visited the famous Mediterranean city. Instead, they pulled their inspiration for the Grand Prix from a surprisingly different place — movie production.

Event founder Napoleon Smith III, an executive producer of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, was in the process of closing his cigar bar on the Scottsdale waterfront when he looked out at the canal and saw an opportunity.

“I thought ‘how cool would it be to race cars through the streets,’ ” he said. “Let’s make everyone feel they’re on the set of a live action movie when they’re racing.”

Before long, he recruited Bret Rowe, his co-producer on the Ninja Turtle films, as well as several other area businessmen who have owned companies as diverse as graphic-design firms and in-ground trampoline services. They partnered with Ron Kotloff, who owns AEI Lighting in Mesa to manufacture the karts and started two companies to help the rubber hit the road, Vintage Karts Company and Grand Prix of Scottsdale.

While they come from diverse backgrounds, they are united by a passion for karts and the American dream, Rowe said. They don’t just see themselves as manufacturing vintage cars and putting on a race, they’re helping connect the city to a time and place that celebrated the art and culture of sport, community and the family.

“It’s one of the only places where a young man, maybe 10 years old, can watch his dad be Steve McQueen,” Rowe said.

While anyone in the community will be able to line the course on race day, only non-profits will participate in the morning race and only corporate-sponsored teams will drive during the afternoon, Smith said. Teams can have up to 10 drivers, who will take five laps each in the 50-lap championship race.

The course will start on Marshall Way Bridge, then swing down Via Soleri Drive, turn onto Goldwater Boulevard, back onto Marshall Way, head along 3rd Avenue to Craftsman Court, then to 5th Avenue and finally north along Stetson Drive to finish back on the bridge.

The competition is a “gentleman’s race,” meaning a timing system will determine the winner based on the fastest finishing time with a bonus awarded for quick pit stops.

“We don’t want people trying to crash into each other,” Rowe said. But don’t expect a dull race with famous rivalries like Coke and Pepsi and trucking giants Swift and Knight toeing the line.

“(These companies) compete in the real world,” Smith said. “Let them go head to head in these cars too.”

While a few local galleries were concerned about the race’s effect on business, organizers expect an influx of tourists will lead to a bump in sales at the businesses that line the course. The producers had to get signatures of approval from all businesses directly lining the event before the city would issue the special-events permit.

Drivers and spectators will be encouraged to wear clothing inspired by 1920s fashion, including leather racing gloves, old-fashioned goggles and helmets for the competitors.

But for the founders and producers, it’s not about the period attire or special events. It’s about the quality of the craftsmanship that goes into them, the experience of the race and the joy it brings to the people involved.

“It lets adults play with toys,” Smith said. “It discovers a smile. It’s a smile that I think we’ve forgotten.”

All about the cars

The cars that will be featured in the Grand Prix are modeled after cycle karts of the 1920s, with top speeds of up to 40 miles per hour, the race’s producers said.

While vintage-car enthusiasts have hand-crafted model cycle karts in their garages for decades, the newly minted Vintage Kart Company is one of the first firms to take the old designs to a modern assembly line, event founder Napoleon Smith III said.

AEI Lighting in Mesa will serve as the company’s home shop, owner Ron Kotloff said. Each 9-foot by 4-foot car takes two or three workers several days to make using sheets of aluminum and laser-cutting machines. Except for the cars’ rims and engines, AEI builds everything in house, Kotloff said. The karts can have as many as 160 parts, which will be customizable on newer models.

The cars’ open-air design and low profile make for a breezy, bumpy ride, and at only 300 pounds, the cars turn on a dime, making it easier to weave through turns and around the competition.

Most of the 32 cars that will race in the Grand Prix would sell for about $10,000, although that figure doesn’t reflect what corporations actually pay to be a part of the event. The Vintage Kart Company is working on expanding its lineup to include a larger range of models inspired by classic brands from Ford to Ferrari that could sell for $3,000 to $12,000, Kotloff said.

Companies entered in the race have the opportunity to help design and build their kart, choosing details from paint schemes and finishes to the type of leather on the seats. So far, one company has come in to build their car, Kotloff said. The shop’s crew, Kotloff, and his two teenage sons will build the other 31 cars.