Grand Prix Association of Long Beach president and ceo Jim Michaelian, one of the founding staff members of the annual Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, died Saturday, March 21. He was 83 years old.
“Jim was a leader of a small, passionate group who believed in the concept of bringing elite open-wheel competition to Long Beach in the 1970s, worked tirelessly to make it happen despite steep odds, and then helped nurture the Grand Prix of Long Beach into becoming America’s premier street race,” said Roger Penske. “His vision and energy surrounding this great event remained boundless for 50 years.”
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The first Long Beach Grand Prix was held in 1975 and was a Formula 5000 event. Brian Redman won that race. F1 came the next year, then Indycars.
Indeed, over the past 51 years, Michaelian served as the Grand Prix Association’s controller, chief operating officer and, in December 2001, president and ceo, said the GPALB. Under his leadership, the Acura Grand Prix has grown into one of the premier street races in the world, blending top-level competition with major entertainment, civic, and business impact for the City of Long Beach.
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James Hunt’s McLaren goes aloft in the streets of Long Beach in 1977.
Michaelian also served on various boards over the years, including the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach, Visit Long Beach and the Los Angeles Sports Council, further augmenting his impact on the sports scene in the Los Angeles area.
A UCLA graduate with a B.S. in Physics and an M.B.A., Michaelian was also a competitive sports car racer who for more than 25 years competed in endurance racing at such tracks as Le Mans, Daytona, Nürburgring, Spa, Watkins Glen, Dubai and Sebring, the GPALB said, which further deepened his lifelong connection to racing.
Off the track and away from the event, Michaelian enjoyed spending time with his wife, Mary, and two sons, Bob and Mike. No services have been announced yet.
Mark Vaughn grew up in a Ford family and spent many hours holding a trouble light over a straight-six miraculously fed by a single-barrel carburetor while his father cursed the Blue Oval, all its products and everyone who ever worked there. This was his introduction to objective automotive criticism. He started writing for City News Service in Los Angeles, then moved to Europe and became editor of a car magazine called, creatively, Auto. He decided Auto should cover Formula 1, sports prototypes and touring cars—no one stopped him! From there he interviewed with Autoweek at the 1989 Frankfurt motor show and has been with us ever since.