#PalmSpringRoadRaces

Sports car road racing took off in Southern California at the dawn of the 1950s, with the first Palm Springs event held on April 16, 1950, on a 1.65-mile desert course and featuring 29 entries. Four races were run that inaugural year, and within two seasons the number of competitors had doubled. The event attracted both horsepower and star power: Phil Hill made his mark here, while James Dean famously competed in 1955 with his Porsche Speedster. In all, seventeen editions were held between 1950 and 1961, with the April 1958 weekend remembered as a highlight, when Lance Reventlow’s Scarab battled Carroll Shelby and Dan Gurney in Ferraris before a record crowd. A shift toward purpose-built circuits such as Riverside, Willow Springs, and Laguna Seca led to the end of Palm Springs racing after 1961. Road racing returned briefly in 1985 with the Palm Springs Vintage Grand Prix, honoring the legacy of this iconic venue.

We'll tell the story of this event on the occasion of its anniversary or when it will reach a sufficient number of cars.

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The census of all the cars related to this topic is in progress.