40 replies to this topic

[Gus Kelley]

Hey BPR Guys!

Years ago there were several go-kart tracks around the Los Angeles basin known as Malibu Grand Prix. There was one near Disneyland-Knotts Berry Farm.

Are any of these still existing or similar entities replacing them?

Gus

[Keith Tanaka]

Gus,

Malibu Gran Prix disappeared quite awhile ago from SoCal. I don't know of any place in SoCal with cars similar to those used for Malibu GP. There are several Go Kart places in SoCal. Here's one of them:

K1 Speed

Keith

[Roger U]

Speed Zone, in Rowland Heights, CA, has three go-cart tracks and a very short drag strip, all outdoors. (626) 913-9663. It's right next to the 60 Fwy, just east of the Puente Hills Mall.

[Gus Kelley]

Hey Guys! Thanks for the response. There is still one in the bay area in Redwood City on 101. I just remember them being a place to hit when I went down south with buddies years ago. I thought it might again be fun. Gus

[Cheater]

There's a Malibu Grand Prix still open in Norcross, GA, about two miles from my house. I pass it every day on the way home from work.

The Malibu website indicates there are still two affiliates operating in the LA area.

The best time to visit the Norcross Malibu (if you just want to watch) is on Friday before either of the two yearly NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A fair number of the NASCAR drivers regularly show up to see how they compare in the open-wheelers.

[TSR]

Unknown and fun historical facts that you will not find anywhere else, except by talking to the actual actors...

Malibu Grand Prix started in 1970 as an outlet for Malcolm Bricklin (of Yugo and other failing ventures fame) to get rid of 3,000 1967 Subaru 360cc, two-cylinder, two-stroke mini cars, that can qualify as some of the ugliest and worthless automotive contraptions ever produced, that he had purchased as an "exclusive" distributor in the USA for the fledgling Japanese auto company. After the cars were delivered and a small network of dealers was established, they simply failed to pass the minimum standards required by the NHTSA for such utterly dangerous vehicles to be found on American roads. Bricklin had counted on a waiver, as selling the cars as "motorcycles", but this ploy failed. He was stuck with the cars that sat in a large lot in the Long Beach harbor.

Here is a picture of the thing:



The car was so ugly (this is a really good picture of it) that it is now considered "cute". It was very small (much smaller than the older Austin Mini Cooper) and used 10" diameter X 3" wide wheels and very unsafe bias-ply tires made by Bridgestone and hardly worthy of a pull cart.

Bricklin hired famous dune-buggy manufacturer Bruce Meyers (of Meyers Manx fame) to design his new safety car, the Bricklin-AMC, as well as trying to figure out what could be done with all those Subarus, and they came up with the idea of parks with go-kart like circuits where the cars could be driven by paying customers, then sell franchises of the parks and by such, the cars.

Somehow, I was contacted by Bricklin in 1970 and asked to design and make a model of the proposed park with small buildings and structures. I remember that this may have been through Brick Price, who was writing articles for Miniature Auto Racing at the time, as well as Yours Truly.

In return, I was paid with a better Subaru model, a demo flat-four 1300cc sedan that was actually not so bad and replaced my N600 Honda, a famous car for having traveled all across the country several times with Lee Gilbert also on board.



Not the prettiest car, but better than a Pinto, and... free. Mine was dark red. Good trunk space for the slot car box.

After the scale model of the track was completed and shown to investors, that included two IMSA entrants, one of them named Winters, the other I cannot recall, the deal was concluded and a track was built in Malibu, California, by 1971. Some of the cars that had been sitting in a storage lot at the Long Beach harbor since 1967 were retrieved, only to find out that none were in running condition because of weather exposure. Brake fluid was filled with water, and the oil in the separate oil tank (the cars ran on a petrol-oil mix like a moped) was in a frozen gelled state. The paint was peeling from the bodies and all rubber including the tires had deteriorated to a point of (almost) no return. The vinyl upholstery was cracked, and while the cars had zero miles on them, they were in rather distressed shape.
A lot of work was necessary to get several of the cars to actually run, which they eventually did after considerable expense.

Tests proceeded in which two factors became quickly apparent:
1) The cars were too slow to get out of their own way.
2) Any attempt to corner at anything spirited resulted in instant and violent over-steer, followed by hitting the side curb of the track and rolling the thing on its roof, caused by the swing-arm rear suspension and the inadequate tires.

Hence, the Subarus were dropped as the vehicle to use.

The investors having spent a sizable amount already, having purchased land, leased construction equipment, and already advertised the product, and had little choice but to separate themselves from Bricklin and think of an alternative, which they did in the form of a go-kart like open-wheel car powered by a Mazda rotary engine. They were racing Mazda RX7s in the GTU class in IMSA and had strong ties to the Japanese company and got a deal on both cars and engines, that showed relative reliability (they had some sealing problems but not so bad) and a reasonable turn of speed.

They established the new company as "Malibu Grand Prix".

This continued until they went nearly bankrupt but were eventually able to dump the whole concept on new investors, that renamed the business simply "Malibu" and that are still running in some locations, now using large go-karts.

And what happened to the 3,000 Subaru 360s? Well, they were pushed on barges and dumped in the Pacific ocean, west of Catalina Island, and are now fish condos.

[Cheater]

And that's a story only to be found at Slotblog! LOL!!!

P, your tale suggests that Subaru 360s were never sold in the US, but I am certain I have seen more than one on the road in the past.

Edit: Here's a blurb found at the Microcar Museum:

"The Subaru 360s were "officially" imported to the US in 1968 by Malcolm Bricklin. Most of them remained unsold even three years later. They were retailing for about $1,300, and one dealer was offering six of them for $2,000, brand new!"

[Jacob Shiplet]

You're right, cheater, there's at least one if not two in central Ohio. Actually I will see them in a couple weeks at the Good Guys car show.

[TSR]

Yes, but not in the early 1970s as they were not legal. Some Subaru 360s were eventually able to get imported in the late 1970s when some NHTSA rules were waived for cars under 500cc of displacement if I recall correctly, so to allow odd cars such as Messerschmitt, Iso and BMW Isetta and other mini cars to be owned as collectibles as long as individually imported.

I brought in four 1973 Porsche 911RS Carrera under a similar waiver between 1978 and 1986, but unlike the under 500cc cars, had to federalize the cars emissions, which I did with the help of friends I had at the Toyota emission lab at the time (I was selling Toyota the wheels for the Celicas that were used in the celebrity races at the Long Beach GP).

So yes, you can run into those automotive aberrations time to time, they are actually very popular in some circles today.

For spare parts, go past Catalina island and dive.

[Larry LS]

Hey, the Malibu Gran Prix. I did that many times. It was fun, we had some trips with the local Porsche club to the one in North Hollywood and one up in Monterey, CA.

We would get 10 or 12 of us plus the wives and have some fun for some simple fun trophies.

And after our move to the new house I was going through some old paperwork and out popped my Malibu racing license. They were great fun to drive though then, not like the slower ones they came up with later on. Yuck!!

What a difference some time makes in how we looked in 1979. Yikes!!!

[TSR]

Larry,

That ought to fetch serious money on eBay!

[Jacob Shiplet]

I thought my 1968 Simca 1100 was a small car. Apparently the car you are referring to is MUCH smaller.

[Cheater]

Jacob,

The Subaru 360 is a giant compared to some other cars. For example, here is a 1966 Peel Trident:



If you like small cars, it is worth your time to take the virtual tour at Bruce Weiner's Microcar Museum. You'll see a lot of cars I'll guarantee you've never seen before, or even heard of!

[Bob Chaney]

Unknown and fun historical facts that you will not find anywhere else, except by talking to the actual actors...

This is one great story, Dokk. ... Got any more?

[Gus Kelley]

Hey Guys!

WOW! All that from a simple inquiry about a go-kart track...

But anyway, I enjoyed all the info. Phillipe, I take offense to your comment about that dumb Subaru being better than a Pinto. I seriously auto-crossed a Pinto back in '72-'73. I never ran across a Subie entered in any events. Most of the cars in my class were 510 Datsuns, Dodge Colts, Mazda RX, and Pintos. I raced of course here in Sacto and in the bay area. I was almost always podiumed in class.

I have other stories regarding Honda 600s that may come out at the right opportunity.

Gus

[TSR]

I thought my 1968 Simca 1100 was a small car. Apparently the car you are referring to is MUCH smaller.

Jacob, a SIMCA 1100 is no small car, it is larger than a current Mini... by the way, it was a GREAT car. My dad had one and the thing lasted for many years until rust got the better of it.

Phillipe, I take offense to your comment about that dumb Subaru being better than a Pinto.

Gus,

My friend Chris Burlew (ex-Team checkpoint teammate and founder of the Outisight slot car body business) had one, and we went to Monterey to watch the IMSA races in 1973 with it. Compared to that Kent-powered 1.6-liter buzzing slug, the little Subaru with only 1.3 liter and a flat-four engine was faster, handled MUCH better, and had better brakes, not counting greater interior space, trunk space, etc. There were very few of those Subarus sold in America as it was quickly replaced by new and more "Americanized" models, so this could be one of the reasons why you did not see many of them, as Subaru had not yet taken control of their own distribution and Bricklin did a rather poor job of it.

This Subaru flat-four was the ancestor of their current line, and you may have noted that while every auto company sales PLUNGED during the recent recession, Subaru sales were some of the very few that went up, as their cars are being more and more appreciated.

Where is the Pinto today?

[Cheater]

WOW! All that from a simple inquiry about a go-kart track...

An example showing that thread drift isn't always a bad thing.

[TSR]

For a while, I have been thinking about changing our name to "Slotdrift"...

[Gus Kelley]

Hey Philippe! It no longer exists. A friend borrowed it and went out on our friday nite cruise with it. A boat load of illegals side swiped it on the passenger side from bumper to bumper. Actually ripped off the rear fender flare and tore up the front one. The car was a total and they hit and ran. I salvaged my suspension pieces and the built two-liter motor, hoping to put another to-gether. Other interests took precent and that never happened. I had Blue-streak rain tires and custom steel wheels with braced centers on it. Gus

[backintheslot]

Hey Guys! Thanks for the response. There is still one in the bay area in Redwood City on 101. I just remember them being a place to hit when I went down south with buddies years ago. I thought it might again be fun. Gus

I held the "west" track record at Redwood City for a few months after spending a lot of cash figuring out how to make those damn understeering cars get through the turns. One night after I pushed too hard and spun into the dirt (covering me, the corner, and the car) and the track guy came over and told me I did not know how to drive and had to leave. I looked at him and said "I must be doing something right because I am the current track record holder." Needless to say I got to stay. I think he was pissed because he had to sweep up the mess and take the car out of the line up to get the dirt out of it.

[TSR]

Understeer is the scourge of fun.

[stumbley]

I remember driving something that looked very similar to the pictured Subaru, but with an external roll cage and at a track composed of asphalt with about 4' high tire walls on both sides. Yes, the "car" would woefully understeer, but all that happened was you hit the tire wall(s) and bounced back onto the "track". I can't remember what the place was called.

[Indiana Outlaw]

Still have my Malibu GP license in my wallet - for grins I use it when asked for ID.

[Indiana Outlaw]

There's a Malibu Grand Prix still open in Norcross, GA, about two miles from my house. I pass it every day on the way home from work.

Cheater,

You apparently use evasive tactics by using a different route to work.

[Mike Patterson]

I used to drive at a place called "Grand Prix of Central Ohio" in Columbus. They had REAL cars, Lola T-506s according to my Competition Permit. IIRC, the cars were powered by a snowmobile engine, a Rotax, maybe?

Anyway, the track was very narrow (or it seems that way in recollection), maybe six feet wide, and it was kind of like driving on a sidewalk, with a lot of right-angle turns. It was fun .