While we’ve covered lots of exclusive Gran Turismo memorabilia before, this one is going to be the preserve of the single, deepest-pocketed GT fan out there: Willow Springs is up for sale.
It’s the first time in more than 60 years that the circuit has become available, after former owner Bill Huth bought the original Big Willow for $160,000 in 1962. Huth extended the property over the decades to encompass over 600 acres and seven courses, with ownership passing to his family after his death in 2015.
The main course at Willow Springs actually took inspiration from Indianapolis Motor Speedway — hard though it is to see that — but the lay of the land precluded a replica. In the end the final road course was designed with the input of, among others, legendary test driver Ken Miles.
While the site itself has been expanded and developed to include the Streets of Willow Springs and the Horse Thief Mile, the courses themselves remain largely original and bereft of much infrastructure and run-off. That’s seen the venue fill in as an in-period location for movies including Ford v Ferrari which centered the development of the Ford GT40 by… legendary test driver Ken Miles (played by Christian Bale). Small world.
The throwback nature of the site means that few high-tier series include the course in their calendars. It’s only hosted a couple of NASCAR Cup events — back in the days it was called the NASCAR Grand National Series — as well as Trans-Am races up until relatively recently, but has been used for CART and F1 testing.
Of course the circuit is very well known to racing game fans for its appearance in numerous titles. It first appeared in Gran Turismo starting with GT6 in 2013, and was one of very few tracks to survive the whittling for GT Sport. Big Willow, Streets, and Horse Thief Mile all appear in GT7.
GTPlanet even visited the location back in 2013, ahead of its arrival in GT6, to try out the Data Visualizer feature in that game, where we drove the Streets circuit in a Scion FR-S.
It’s not clear why the Huth family has chosen now to sell the facility, but we can only hope that the new owners allow the venue to retain its character rather than pursuing a modernization (and corporate renaming) plan. And isn’t a housing developer.
Agents Team Scarborough, part of Berkshire Hathaway Homeservice California Properties, has put together a comprehensive website detailing the site — officially listed as 3500 W 75th Street — and inviting queries. As for the price… well you quite literally have to ask.
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