Sanbornton, via Peking and Paris: Vintage cars return to town

SANBORNTON — There is very little down time when work, play, and charity come together. Just ask Nick Grewal who, on Monday of last week, returned from a 36-day Peking-to-Paris auto race and immediately got to work planning a charity auto show that will take place in just two weeks.

The founder and chief executive officer of Nashoba Networks, Grewal has collected a number of vintage cars and motorcycles, some of them stored in England, where he grew up, and some at his 140-acre Sanbornton estate.

Last year, he came up with the idea of holding a car show to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of the Lakes Region, and it was so successful that he is repeating the event this year.

Chris Emond, the executive director of the club, described Grewal as a man of grand ideas who knows how to make them happen. When Grewal tossed out the idea of a benefit car show last year, Emond took the suggestion to his board, confident that it would be successful.

In planning for this year’s event, Grewal decided two months ago to replace the dirt floor of the horse barn he is converting into a second showroom for his cars and motorcycles with concrete. (The original barn/showroom has no more room.) Having now returned from his overseas adventure, the concrete is down and Grewal on Tuesday was going over plans for the upcoming car show with event coordinator Liz MacLellan before heading to Massachusetts for a scheduled business meeting.

Despite his hectic schedule, Grewal set aside time to talk about the Peking-to-Paris race, and about the 1936 Type 57 Bugatti he has just brought in from England.

The race

One hundred twenty-five vintage cars participated in the 2019 Peking-to-Paris Motor Challenge, a 14,994-kilometer (9,317-mile) endurance race that originated in 1907 from a call by the Paris newspaper Le Matin: “Is there any who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?” The first race took two months, from June 10 to Aug. 10, to complete, while Grewal said this year’s race, through 12 countries and eight time zones, took 36 days to complete.

The start in Beijing (Peking) was spectacular, with drummers and dragon dancers to send them off, but once they reached Mongolia, it got rough, Grewal said.

“There are no roads,” he said, “just desert.”

Driving his 1941 Packard Deluxe, Grewal said the car took such a beating going over the mountains and stones that it looked as if it had gone through a war zone. Mongolian mechanics worked on it for 18 hours, and then the shock absorbers broke again and they had to return, costing them two days’ delay.

Despite the problems, Grewal credited the mechanics with great resourcefulness, and said they were reluctant to charge for their work, apologizing when they finally accepted their customary fee.

From Mongolia, they went through Russia – where several cars in the challenge rolled over and were destroyed – then through Kazakhstan, back into Russia, then through Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Germany, and Belgium, finally reaching France.

There were refueling stations along the way in a very well-organized event, Grewal said, but it was grueling.

“We’d drive all day, work on the car the evening, then go to sleep,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said, it was fascinating to see places like Novosibirsk in Siberia, a city built for the czar at about the time St. Petersburg was built; and modern cities comparable to Dubai cropping up in Kazakhstan.

One of the highlights in his mind was celebrating the Fourth of July at an East German/Soviet air force base.

He didn’t stay long in Paris to celebrate the end of the tour because, by that time, he was eager to get back to England.

The cars

Grewal decided to bring his Bugatti to the States this year, about a year after he purchased it.

The Type 57 is a classic model, built between 1934 and 1940, and designed by Jean Bugatti, the son of the company founder. Grewal said that, when World War II broke out, the French hid the cars — along with other treasures — from the Germans, and had to start over after the war. As a means of promoting the brand, they sent the original models to ambassadors around the world as a symbol to represent France.

Grewal’s 1936 Bugatti had belonged to the London ambassador and passed through other hands over the years, including John Coombs, a racer known for his Jaguars. The car has won several Best of Show awards in England, “and now she’s here,” he said.

Grewal’s extensive collection includes race cars such as the Lotus Climax 18 that Sterling Moss used to win the Monaco Grand Prix. It also includes a 1901 Waverly, one of the first electric cars, which Grewal said shows that electric vehicles are not a new idea.

For the upcoming car show, some of the entries by other owners will include a 1928 Chrysler 72 Sport, a 1935 Ford Deluxe Roadster, a 1952 MG TD, a 1969 Jaguar XKE, a 1970 Mercedes 280 SL, a 1983 Mercedes 380 SEL, and a 2001 Ferrari 360 F1.

The fundraiser will begin with a gala dinner on Saturday, Aug. 3, with cocktails at 6 p.m. and dinner at 7, with vintage attire welcome. The event will include a live and silent auction, as well as entertainment. Tickets are $150 each, with proceeds going toward the operations of the Boys and Girls Club of the Lakes Region.

The car and motorcycle show — officially the Vintage Racing Stable Charity Courcours of New Hampshire — will take place on Sunday, Aug. 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with car registrations $15 in advance and $20 at the door. Spectators will be admitted for $5, although the fee is waived for children under 12, veterans, and active-duty military personnel. Prizes will be awarded, and proceeds from the event will go toward scholarships.

All events will take place at Grewal’s Vintage Racing Stable, 200 March Road, Sanbornton. For further information, visit vintageracingstable.org or call 603-410-5173.