Crystal Palace Park provided a natural setting for motorsport: its landscaped Victorian grounds offered winding paths and elevation changes that could be threaded into a coherent road circuit without the need for purpose-built infrastructure. The circuit opened on 21 May 1927 with a motorcycle race. Its initial configuration was approximately one mile in length, running on existing park paths including an infield loop past the lake; the bends were tarmac-covered but the straights consisted only of hard-packed gravel.
A significant expansion followed in December 1936, stretching the circuit to 2.000 miles (3.219 km) and laying tarmac across its entire length. The improved track held its first London Grand Prix on 17 July 1937, a 20-car field that was ultimately won by Prince Bira in his ERA R2B Romulus at an average speed of 54.36 mph (87.48 km/h). Later that year, during the International Imperial Trophy meeting — also won by Bira — the BBC broadcast the first televised motor racing in history.
The Second World War interrupted racing entirely; the park was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence, and competitive events could not resume until 1953. By then, the circuit had been shortened to 1.390 miles (2.237 km), with the infield lake loop removed from the layout. Pressure from local residents produced a legal injunction restricting motorsport in the park to no more than five days per year. Within those constraints, the venue ran a varied programme: sports cars, Formula Three, the London Trophy for Formula Two, and non-championship Formula One races.
Average lap speeds climbed steadily through the late 1960s and into the 1970s. The 100 mph (160 km/h) average lap barrier was broken in 1970 by that year's Formula One world champion, Jochen Rindt. That same year the injunction limiting race days lapsed, allowing the programme to expand to fourteen days annually. However, safety standards in motor racing were tightening rapidly and the combination of high speeds and a park environment made expensive circuit improvements essential. The work carried out was not sufficient to satisfy safety requirements, and the circuit began winding down.
The last major international meeting was held in May 1972, with the final lap record going to Mike Hailwood at an average speed of 103.39 mph (166.39 km/h). A final meeting was staged on 23 September 1972, with club-level events continuing until the circuit's permanent closure in 1974.
The 1937 BBC broadcast from Crystal Palace is historically significant as the first instance of motor racing appearing on television. Bira's double victory at the venue's inaugural upgraded layout in 1937 marked his emergence as one of Britain's most recognisable pre-war racing personalities.
The park's location within Greater London made it a popular film and television location. The Italian Job (1969) used the start line and paddock area for scenes depicting the testing of Mini Cooper getaway cars, with the Crystal Palace transmitter tower visible in the background. Director Ron Howard later used the circuit for a scene in his 2013 Formula One film Rush, recreating a crash between James Hunt and Dave Morgan. The circuit also appeared in the television series UFO.
One of the earliest postwar films to capture the circuit in motion was Joseph Losey's 1957 film noir Time Without Pity, which featured actor Leo McKern lapping in a Mercedes 300 SL coupe.
Although no longer a motor racing circuit, Crystal Palace has a sustained afterlife in digital motorsport. It was recreated in considerable detail for the historical racing simulation Grand Prix Legends, from which it was subsequently converted for use in a number of other racing simulation platforms including rFactor. The virtual version helped preserve driver and enthusiast knowledge of a circuit that had otherwise largely faded from public memory.
The circuit route within the park has been used for sprint events since 1997, when the Sevenoaks and District Motor Club began an annual programme that drew historic machinery including Bentleys, Bugattis, Ferraris, Porsches, Jaguars, and Lotuses. Sprint events resumed in 2010 and continued annually, running on the Spring Bank Holiday weekend until 2017 when the event moved to August. The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 edition; the 2021 and 2022 events were also suspended.
The circuit was used for the prologue time trial of the 2007 Tour of Britain cycling race and remains a regular venue for summer road race league cycling events.