Malibu Grand Prix

Malibu Grand Prix (MGP) is an entertainment company that was hugely popular during the 1970s and 1980s as a franchised miniature indy car racing track. The typical complex included a 3000-4000 sq ft. arcade with a concession stand and a race track outside, covering around 10,000 to 20,000 sq ft (1,900 m²) altogether.

Sites

Scottsdale, Arizona

The Scottsdale, AZ site on (IIRC) Hayden Rd, near Roosevelt or McDowell Rd closed in the mid '90s.

Tucson, Arizona

The Tucson venue was located on 22nd Street, just east of Alvernon Way. It closed down during the mid '90s and has since been replaced by a number of fast food restaurants.

Fountain Valley, California

Near Warner and Magnolia the site is still there with miniature golf, batting cages and other entertainment, it is now run as a Boomers! Parks and is owned by Palace Entertainment, but the Malibu Grand Prix attraction has been gone for many years. A California drivers license was needed to drive the cars there.

Industry, California

Originally located on Castleton Street, right next to the Pomona freeway. It featured a large arcade with the latest coin operated games, 2-3 full sized pay-per-play pool tables, along with the infamous go cart track. Both 3/4 scale Indy-Style race cars and smaller go-carts were raced on the track. MGP also owned/operated the fun center next door simply known as "Showboat". Showboat had its own arcade section, 2 18 hole miniature golf courses, and a water park. Both places no longer exist; in their place is a Speedzone.

Tampa, Florida

One of a few of the remaining facilities, in Tampa, Florida includes two 18-hole miniature golf courses surrounded by ponds and obstacles, a game room, a snack bar, a 1/2 mile (800 m) race track with 3/4 scale Indy-style Formula race cars and a separate go-kart track for younger kids. A new addition to the location is a Paintball field

The Malibu Grand Prix location in Tampa, Florida became independent from the other locations and the name was changed to Grand Prix Tampa.

Houston, Texas

Houston, Texas once had two Malibu Grand Prix locations. The Southwest Freeway location was shuttered in the early 1990's. This location was the site of the (locally) infamous Malibu Grand Prix murders. The murders were committed on July 1, 1983, during the course of a robbery. Four employees who had just closed up and were in the process of conducting post-closing housekeeping duties were killed. A recently-terminated employee gained entry to the building under the pretext of picking up his last paycheck, and brought two accomplices with him. All were convicted (two received the death penalty, and one was sentenced to life imprisonment).^[1]

The other location was off the Katy Freeway and the northwest corner of the West Loop 610 at Old Katy Road (the Old Katy location was the remaining Malibu Grand Prix location until it was boarded up in early-2005).

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Malibu Grand Prix in Oklahoma City was originally operated as Family Fun Park which was constructed in 1979 and had several water slides. The site was leased to Malibu Grand Prix in 1985. Malibu Grand Prix featured an arcade with an indoor slot car track, a go-kart track, and mini golf course. Malibu Grand Prix closed around 1993. The site was then reopened in the mid-1990s as America's Grand Prix. The America's Grand Prix had an arcade and a new NASCAR themed go-kart track, the mini golf course and water slides were removed. America's Grand Prix closed in the late 1990s and Frontier State Bank was built on the south half of the Grand Prix site in 2000. It was located on the east side of I-35 north of the SE 51st Street bridge.

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio had a Malibu Grand Prix located on the north side of the city on Schrock Road, visible from Interstate 71. The Columbus location was primarily the Grand Prix track, and had a relatively small arcade in comparison to other locations. Operations ceased late 2001, and the building is now an Islamic school. Some portions of the track can be seen in the school's playground. The Columbus location was also the site of a violent crime—an unsolved double murder in the early 1980s, as two high school students were abducted from the Malibu Grand Prix and dragged to their deaths behind a vehicle.^{[citation needed]} The case was never solved, and no motive was determined.

Cincinnati (Sharonville), Ohio

Cincinnati, Ohio Malibu Grand Prix was located on Interstate 75 in Sharonville on Dowlin Drive and adjacent to Burbank's Real Bar-B-Q. The location was open until the late 1990s, when it was left vacant and eventually demolished to make way for a Hilton Garden Inn.

Fresno, California

Fresno, California was home to one of the first Malibu Grand Prix locations, located near the intersection of Blackstone Ave and Herndon Ave. The facility stood from 1977 until 1997, at which time its 20 year lease on the property was up. The location was briefly renamed "Fresno Grand Prix" after being acquired by an independent investor, though the property owner eventually sold the parcel of land, which included one of the last drive-in movie theaters in California. The building and track were demolished to make way for an expansion of the River Park Shopping Center. The land once occupied by the track is now a Home Depot parking lot.

Oakland, California

There was also a Malibu Grand Prix in Oakland immediately south of the Coliseum from the 1970s through the mid 1990s. The facility was closed and demolished and the site is now an overflow parking lot for the Coliseum.

Pacheco, California

This one did not last as long as most. Located on Pacheco Blvd in Pacheco just north of Pleasant Hill and Concord, it was built around 1976 or 77 and lasted until only the mid-1980s. It was sandwiched between the 680 southbound freeway, the river, and Pacheco Blvd, on a triangle-shaped property, and was very visible from the freeway, especially at night when the Grand Prix lights were on. Besides a large game room building where tickets were also purchased for the actual Grand Prix rides there were no other attractions. Since it didn't last as long as the rest, it never fell into a state of disrepair; rather, it just suddenly disappeared and was gone. No business moved in right away but around 10 years later the property finally has tenants and now consists of a public storage business and an equipment rental business.

Dayton, Ohio

The Dayton, Ohio location was located right next to the Dayton Mall on State Route 741 close to Centerville. This Location featured a large arcade and the classic Malibu Style Indy Car Track behund the Arcade. Three levels of cars were used including Mini Virage for the kids, Virage full size cars, and Grand Virage Cars which had 2 seats. There was a painting on the outside windows that said "Mortal Kombat II Now Here!" which stayed there until the building was demolished to make way for a Sun Super Savings Center Appliance and Computer Store which soon went out of business as well.

Mount Laurel, New Jersey

Southern New Jersey had a Malibu Grand Prix located in Mount Laurel on Fellowship road. Operations ceased and the building remained unused for years. Upon subsequent demolition for an office park the body of an unidentified person was located on the formers grounds.^[2] As of January 2007, the case remains open.

In 1999 a vehicle was spotted driving on the closed racetrack while smoke poured out from the front windows. Police arrived, but not before the hooligans got away.

Denver, Colorado

A Malibu Grand Prix with a track and arcade, was located north of Denver, Colorado at Interstate 25 exit 215 (58th Ave). The location is now a Furniture Row store. The last day of operation for the Denver location was after close of business on Monday, September 7, 1998 (Labor Day weekend.) The location Area Manager at the time of closing was Robert D. Lujan. Mr. Lujan worked for Malibu Grand Prix from June 1984 through the closing date of the location.

Lenexa, Kansas

There was a Malibu Grand Prix in Lenexa, KS (Suburban Kansas City) that closed in the mid-1990s. The location was at the intersection of I-35 and 87th street. It consisted of a video game room, snackbar, and 1/2 mile traditional race track that featured Virage, Mini Virage, and Grand Virage (2-seater) race cars.

Portland, Oregon

A Malibu Grand Prix with track and arcade was located in Beaverton, Oregon, near the Washington Square Mall. In the early 2000s, the location changed its name, becoming Malibu Raceway LLC which exists today. The facility includes the racetrack, a video arcade and snackbar. A batting cage is also on the property owned and operated by a third party.

Miami, Florida

Was the biggest of them all. Had 2 miniature golf courses, 9 batting cage stalls, a castle building with over 120 + games, a go-kart track, kiddie kart track, mini train,bumper boats,formula 1 car track. It opened in 1985 and the land was sold in Dec. 2000. The general manager at that time was Manuel Martinez. It was located at 7775 N.W. 7 ST. Miami, Fl 33126. Three large apartment buildings are in its place now.

Los Angeles, California

A Malibu Grand Prix track and arcade was located in the Northridge area of the San Fernando Valley until it was closed down around 1994. Another location existed next to the Puente Hills Mall, in the City of Industry. Supposedly there was a location in Fountain Valley or Huntington Beach. Indeed a Malibu Grand Prix was located on Warner and Magnolia in the City Of Fountain Valley. A regular hang out for teenagers from FVHS. There was a malibu Grand Prix located in Pasadena, Ca.

Anaheim, California

A Malibu Grand Prix track and arcade was located in Anaheim just north of Anaheim Stadium, the closest crossroads being East Katella Ave and the 57 Freeway. It had 2 tracks.

San Diego, California

A Malibu Grand Prix track and arcade was located in San Diego across the street from Naval Air Station Miramar (now MCAS Miramar) off of Miramar way.

Austin, Texas

The Austin MGP was located on the East side of the 7400 block of IH-35 North, just North of Blackson Ave. and is now a Kia pre-owned car lot. As of this writing (Sept, 2010) you can still see remnants of the track on the Google Maps satellite image, but Google Street View shows the location as its current use.

San Antonio, Texas

It was built during the summer of 1978, and opened in October of that year. Located just north of the intersection of Loop 410 and IH-10, the property included the Malibu Grand Prix with arcade and track, and adjacent to it was "The Castle" which was the larger arcade and miniature golf course bumper-boats batting cages. It was billed as "Malibu Golf and Games" and it was quite a hike between the two even through they were on the same property. The sites greatest claim to fame was when the Canadian rock band "Rush" rented the track for recreation after their concert. Each band member purchased 150 tickets and raced far into the night. The track remained open until around 2002. Evidently sold and resold.. the cars were worn out and in disrepair, the lap timer often didn't work, and the quality of the time you spent there went down badly. Then there were slot car tracks where the arcade was and a new track was built on the other side of "The Castle" which was an oval/figure 8 type thing with multi-cart racing instead of hot lapping. That brought some life back to the place, but eventually the Malibu portion (building) was razed and the track remains to this day (July 2009) Located on what must be an extremely valuable tract of land with some of the highest visibility (traffic) in the city, it has done well to make it this far.

Dallas, Texas

MGP opened for business in the spring of 1980 at 11150 Malibu Drive in northwest Dallas, Texas, on a tract of land near the intersection of I-35E and Walnut Hill Lane, with a freestanding "Castle" featuring many video games, pinball machines, and four miniature golf courses in addition to the main MGP building, which also offered video games in addition to the race track with its "Virage" cars.

In the spring of 1998, the site was completely renovated and reopened as the then-new "Speed Zone" concept, which is still in business as of April 2010.

There was also an MGP location in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford portion of the Fort Worth metropolitan area.^{[citation needed]}

Memphis, Tennessee

There was one in Memphis, Tennessee near I-40 and Sycamore View Road.

Tulsa, Oklahoma

The site off West 51st between Union and 33rd West Avenue was built in 1984 and operated as an independent facility with 3 tracks, including the Grand Prix, kid-cart, and "Daytona" kart tracks. In 1985, the owners worked an operating deal with Malibu and the cars were all replaced with MGP Virages, RoadRunners on the kid-cart track, and higher-performance karts on the "Daytona" track. In late 1985, the franchiser had financial difficulties and MGP pulled all its corporate property (cars, games) from the facility, which promptly closed. The site has been largely paved over and has been used for a truck-driving school.

Palace Entertainment Buyout

In 2002, Palace Entertainment purchased the three remaining Malibu Grand Prix locations. These locations are located in Redwood City, California, Norcross, Georgia, and San Antonio, Texas. Palace operates additional locations in Los Angeles, California and Dallas, Texas

References in popular culture

• Malibu Grand Prix is mentioned in the song "Demolition Rickshaw!" on The Aquabats' 2005 album, Charge!!.
• A memorable scene from the 1979 film Van Nuys Blvd. was filmed at a Malibu Grand Prix facility in southern California, using the track and the game room.

References

1. ^ Baylor University || The Lariat Online || News
2. ^ [1], NJ State Police.

External links

• Tampa Grand Prix
• Malibu Grand Prix
• Portland Malibu Raceway
• Le Mans for the Masses Time Magazine, Sept. 1977
• Abandoned Malibu Grand Prix in Houston