Michael Satterfield
Doug Magnon’s homage to the old Riverside International Raceway (RIR) shut its doors to the public for the last time on Friday, June 10, a sad outcome of the founder’s untimely passing in February of 2015.
After its public opening in 2008, the Riverside International Automotive Museum (RIAM) earned international acclaim for its series of Legends of Riverside events, gala annual banquets celebrating the likes of Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby, Parnelli Jones and other stars who raced at the long-vanished track.
The museum also housed a fine display of race cars and memorabilia associated with RIR, once one of Americas most important road courses.
Fifty of Magnons collection of racing and road cars will be apportioned between two upcoming RM Sotheby auctions, June 25-26 at Santa Monica (an Auctions America event) and Aug. 18-19-20 in Monterey, California.
Among race cars being sold are several Gurney Eagles, including the well known Tony Adamowicz 1969 Formula 5000 championship car and a couple of early Indycars raced by Dan Gurney and Denny Hulme.
The road vehicles feature numerous Maseratis assembled by Trident enthusiast Magnon, such as his exotic MC12, but other makes include Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Jaguar.
RIAM Operations Manager Norma Jordan and her husband, racer Dave, remain on duty at the now closed Marlborough Ave. address, in part to make sure that RIR fans who donated private materials have a chance either to retrieve them, or approve their transfer to a possible new display space. Contact Norma Jordan during Pacific Time Zone business hours at 951-369-6966.
The new facility under consideration would be at the long-extant Riverside Metropolitan Museum, which occupies an historic building downtown near the Mission Inn. Decisions are not final, and if the project is approved much renovation and preparation remain to be done, so no opening date can yet be scheduled. RMM is an educational facility administered by the city of Riverside; see https://www.riversideca.gov/museum/ — Pete Lyons
