Los Angeles Motordrome
The Los Angeles Motordrome as depicted on a vintage postcard.
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| Location | Playa del Rey, California, United States |
|---|---|
| Opened | 1910 |
| Circular | |
| Surface | Wood |
| Length | 1.0 mi (1.6 km) |
| Turns | 1 |
Coordinates: 33°58′05″N 118°26′20″W / 33.968°N 118.439°W
The Los Angeles Motordrome (not to be confused with the Los Angeles Coliseum Motordrome) was a circular 1-mile (1.6 km) wood board race track. It was located in Playa del Rey, California, and opened in 1910. In addition to automobile racing, it was used for motorcycle competition and aviation activities.
The Motordrome was a scaled-up version of a bicycling velodrome, and was built by a pre-eminent constructor of velodromes at the time. It was the first of numerous board tracks built for auto racing in the 1910s and 1920s. As an early example of a race track purpose-built for competition, it marked the first use of then-innovative safety features that later became common to most tracks. The Motordrome was highly successful, attracting many competitors and large crowds of paying spectators, but it lasted just three years. A fire destroyed the track in January 1913.
The Motordrome was the brainchild of Hungarian-born mechanical engineer Frederick Moskovics, who at the time was an employee of Remy Electric, and who later became an early member of the Society of Automotive Engineers and eventually, president of the Stutz Motor Company. Moskovics had previously worked for Maybach and Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, and through these connections had become involved in racing as the manager of Daimler's racing team, in 1904.
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