Smith first raced in 1956 atop a 1949
Matchless 500cc motorcycle. Later, he was associated with
Husqvarna motorcycles. His renown grew as he won races in the 1960s and 1970s. Smith won eight gold medals between 1966 and 1976 in the
International Six Day Trial. The International Six Day Trials, a form of off-road motorcycle Olympics, is the oldest annual competition sanctioned by the
FIM dating back to 1913. He was a five-time overall winner of the
Baja 1000 (two on motorcycles and three on cars); a four-time winner of the
Baja 500 (one in motorcycles and three in cars); has twice won the
Mint 400 in
Nevada and the
Roof of Africa Rallye; finished fourth in the
1988 Paris–Dakar Rally on cars; and was the overall winner of the 1987
Atlas Rallye in
Morocco. Following his racing career, Smith began developing tools and riding gear. Malcolm Smith Gold Medal Products later became Malcolm Smith Racing (later MSR). MSR was eventually purchased by Tucker Rocky Distributing. He later owned a motorsports dealership in
Riverside, California, with his wife Joyce and two of his four children, daughter Ashley and son Alexander. Smith was inducted into the
Off-road Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1978, the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1996, and the
Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. ==Racing on film==