Beverly Hills Speedway was home to speeding Model Ts and airplanes which cut through Beverly Hills, CA airspace during the roaring 20s. Built in 1920 on what is curently Beverly Hills High School, the Regent Beverly Wilshire and countless shops and homes on the approx. 275 acres was then called Beverly Drive West. At a cost of $500,000, it was completed and ready for inauguration on Feburary 28th. The money for this project came from a group of actors and others in the industry. Together they were known as the Beverly Hills Speedway Syndicate and in 1919, they finally had enough money to go ahead with their project. The majority of this money would go towards buying the land. The farmer who sold the Syndicate the land offered it to them for $1,000 per acre. Using 2by4s since the material was cheep, the 1mile speedway was built by Jack Prince -- famous at the time for his speed track constructions. Though not only cheap, the wood was better than the typical dirt race track since it didnt have the dust flying into driver's faces. 1908 Ford Model T advertisement The Model T (colloquially known as the Tin Lizzie and the Flivver) was an automobile produced by Henry Fords Ford Motor Company from 1908 through 1928. ... For other uses, see: Beverly Hills (disambiguation). ... Referred to as the Roaring 20s. ... Beverly Hills High School (often abbreviated as BHHS) is the only public high school in Beverly Hills, California, just outside Los Angeles. ...

At the time, the wooden raceway was ranked second only to the Indianapolis Speedway. On it's first race day, Jimmy Murphy, driving car #14, competed in the track's first 250-mile race and won. However the Sunday afternoons filled with the roars of the engines would not be sustained for too long. After only four years, the 70,000 seat stadium would be disassembled to make room for other improvements. The land was deemed more expensive than the track that lay atop it. The last race was held February 24, 1924 before a crowd of 85,000. On that day Harlan Fengler broke the world record for a 250mile race. By 1928, the Beverly Wilshire hotel would be built on the site of the track's north-east turn. The developers of the racetrack would later move it to Culver City, just south of MGM studios. James Murphy is the name of several notable figures, including: James Edward Murphy - Cartoonist James Murphy (footballer) - Association Football player & manager James Murphy (musician) - Member of the band Death Jimmy Murphy - Former racing driver This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share...

The speedway was built at a time when car races were popular. The Los Angeles Motordrome was another popular speedway just south in Playa del Rey. There were about six of the wooden tracks -- or "toothpick tracks" -- in California.