If we were to tell you that there is a racing event where attendees are encouraged to wear 1920s-era garb while cheering on drivers wrestling tiny, quarter-scale copies of early 20th-century open-wheel race cars in a wheel-to-wheel contest of speed, would you believe that it takes place in Scottsdale, Arizona? We couldn’t, either, but consider us intrigued.
The only major automotive event that’s even remotely similar to the Grand Prix of Scottsdale, now entering its second year, is the fanciful Goodwood Revival in the U.K. And that retro-gearhead party requires a plane ticket across the pond and personal grapplings with the inadequacies of your car collection compared to some guy with three prewar Alfa Romeos and a Bugatti. The Scottsdale event, on the other hand, seems automatically more lighthearted based on its car choice alone. Racers drive glorified go-karts—technically, they’re re-creations of early cycle cars—assembled by the Vintage Kart Company of nearby Mesa, Arizona. Perhaps describing them as go-karts is a little pejorative, as the little vehicles (which start at $6975 but can stretch to around $20,000) appear incredibly detailed and can be made to order with luxe accoutrements such as a leather seat, a polished-aluminum body, and more. Each car has a 6.5-hp, 200-cc Honda engine, 17-inch wire wheels, a leaf-sprung solid front axle, a hydraulic rear disc brake, a rear differential, and a removable steering wheel. The cars weigh a little over 300 pounds and top out at 45 mph.
For the Grand Prix, cars are sponsored by corporations, local businesses, and other benefactors (there are up to 40 in the field on race day), meaning that branding is splashed all over it and each entity can determine who drives. We’re told some sponsors let their employees take the wheel (up to six drivers are allowed per team) or give away spots in contests. Either way, the race organizers handle the setup of the one-mile race circuit, which passes through downtown “Old Town Scottsdale.” Meanwhile, folks in Roaring Twenties costume spectate, drink, and dance. Race weekend kicks off this year on November 4, with a Gatsby Gathering party, followed the next day by a drivers’ meeting. On Sunday, the teams race. Sounds like a good time to us—we like oddball racing, and we wouldn’t mind trying our hand at racing one of those karts!
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