I've decided to review this set first as it's always been a bit of a favourite of mine (plus I've just bought it from Ebay!).

I suspect that 6381 will always be compared less favourably to 6395, yes it has less cars and less figures, but there must be a reason it lasted for five years (compared to 6395's three), spanning what I believe to be Lego's absolute zenith (1987 to 1991). For me the reasons it stood the test of time are twofold:

Firstly its a simple set. This set does everything it sets out to do perfectly. It comes with 5 minifigures which at the time was a pretty decent haul (outside of the castle theme), they're all different and add to the desirability and playability with their specific roles. Motor speedway also comes with a full scale baseboard, now I know it's not extensively built up, but it offers so much more play value than a similar priced/sized set on a smaller board.

Secondly it's a great gateway/base set. Motor speedway was a brilliant introduction to Lego city, it was affordable enough to be the sort of present you might get from an (more generous than mine) uncle or aunt, but as mentioned above came with enough potential for much bigger Lego games. I used to use mine with 6502, 6634, 6604 and 6609 and stage massive rallys (therefore allowing assorted style racing cars).

I can't recommend this set enough, it's current market value on Ebay is silly cheap, especially bearing in mind how much baseboards and minifigures go for, so go out and get yourself one, I promise you won't regret owning an undervalued and in my eyes iconic set.

I think its time to give this set the attention it deserves. Set 6395 Victory Lap Raceway came out the year after and was probably the Town set every child drooled over in that year's catelogue. Yet everything that set has, this does too but in a more compact form.

The Set

This set is easy to build and set up, in no time you can be staging the Legoland Grand Prix. It has a big arch, perhaps the biggest Lego arch of any Town set, with lights and lap counter, crash barriers, commentators box, TV camera and pit area. All of these elements are part of Set 6395, but here they are more compact. The commentators box is pretty basic being two 1x1 columns and a large window plus a printed computer block. A loudspeaker sits on the roof. It has balconies on either side so you can put some spectators up there too. The camera on Set 6395 swivels and slides across, here the camera just swivels but is practically the same. The pit stop has a shelter with sloping roof, ingeniously done by a couple of hinges and resting the roof on two short flagpoles. The pit is well equipped too with jack, spare tyres, fire extinguisher, Shell oil drum, tools and numbered pit stop batons. The base plate has two starting positions and a pit stop area plus a chequred finishing line.

The Cars

Two racing cars, one blue (number 2) and one red (number 3). Pretty basic but look good enough to be an F1 car in your imagination. When Set 6395 came out and the related 6503 Sprint Racer in 1988 the style had moved on with a bigger rear wing. Even 6503 fitted in well with this set and you could easily copy the racers and make your own in different colours if you had the right bricks.

The Minifigures

Two racers with classic style visorless helmets, one suited commentator, one TV cameraman with blue tank top and white trousers and red baseball cap and one mechanic with red dungarees.

Personal Development

I think this was a better value set than 6395, it has all the same essential ingredients but its less flashy and cheaper to buy. You can have just as much fun racing with this set and you can add whatever cars you like to make all kinds of races. There is ample room for a spectator crowd and this set doesn't skimp on pit equipment or lack any essential parts. It remains a favourite set of mine.

It does not surprise me that now body has made a review about this set.
It is a good set with to cool race cars, a nice pit stop with a mechanic, a TV camara with a nice minifigure and a broadcast office.
Also at that time it was easy to buy the white # 1 car and the black # 4 car to complemented your race kid.
The only problem was that it was released in the same time or a couple of years before the 6395 Victory Lap Raceway, this was a much better set that totally destroy the 6381 Motor Speedway.
I just give this set a 4 for all the great memories that I have as a kid doing street circuit races with this model in my Lego town.