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Ernie Fisher's Hovey Hawk Konig. Mike Ray did a real nice job putting on a show driving it, pushing it hard, but very under control. In the middle of the video, during the wide angle camera view, the kart can been seen being pushed started (direct drive). This kart was so darn fast, it was hard to keep in the camera frame! I guess this video proves that C-Open was always a super fast class. Also, there are a few job shots in this video of Leon Rippy driving his blue dual McCulloch kart.

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Roger Mulkey shot this video of the same heat from a different camera position. He also captured some good shots of Tom Smith running in 2nd position with his immaculate Max Torque special with dual West Bend 820s.
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Some related photos of interest:



A little background on the Konig motor for those interested:
In the early days of karting, with very open rules on engine types and models allowed, racers searched for motors to build the “hot setup”. One motor that found early success was a motor from the world of hydroplane boat racing made by a German company named Konig. Konig manufactured several class size motors, the Hydroplane A class motors were 14.8 cubic inches (250cc). This size motor was perfect for the fastest class in karting back around 1960, C-Open, which allowed up to 270cc motors with no restrictions on type or fuel used! Konig started making boat racing motors in 1928, and was still setting many racing class records over 40 years later.

For those wanting to learn more about the Konig in karting, here is a Kart Magazine article scan:


OK, here is more! Years ago, right in Quincy IL at 5th Street and Main, was a business called Quincy Welding. Where O. F. Christner built some of the fastest hydroplane racing engines of the day, the Quincy Loopers. They had a big rilvary with Konig, and there are many photos of both engines, factories and people involved at the website link below, look through all the pages, there are more links and pages in there to many great photos. Note that Konig was using a timing belt driven rotary valve back in the 60's.


...and for an encore, here is the up close walk around video I shot of the Hovey Hawk Konig at last year's event at Riverside:
CLICK HERE to watch in Large HD Video mode (requires high speed Internet connection)

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff, for the great coverage of what I consider to be one of the top vintage karts out there. Ernie has done a wonderful job, as has Dave Bonbright with the engine and Mike Ray with the driving. I talked with Dave yesterday, and he's justifiably proud of the beast. Now let's get another one out there in replica of Duffy's GoKart, along with a replica of Chuck Balsiger's custom Yamaha 250! I'd love to see a GK1200 with a YDS2 Yamaha like the one Gary Brewster had in east central Florida. Here's a not-very-good photo before it was disassembled for paint. TJ

Ted,
Tom Smith has the Duffy clone kart ready to weld up, it's been ready for two years, he needs a little push, he has too many projects and that one is on the back burner. He has the correct Konig engine for it also.

Louie

Cool, Tom. Can't wait to see that! The GoKart is a great platform. Mine was as happy with triple Macs as it was with the single stroker Mc10. I've never seen a GK with a Konig in person. Must be "fun" to run the pipes on the early version! TJ

We also need Duffy's front engine Puch. When I have talked to Duffy, it is that front engine Puch kart that he talks about as being the most outrageous of all .... are there any other historic C-Open twins that should be included? and we did see the spirit of Chuck Balsiger's kart at Riverside, not exactly a vintage replica, but incredibly cool...


...here is a scan of some early yamaha twin kart articles, one is Chuck Balsiger's kart, and another one belonging to Elden Williams: Jeff

Ted, the one I have is a 1961 Go Kart 800 with an early version Konig FA. The kart is slightly refined from the 1960 kart Duffy won the Azusa race with.
Duff tells the story of how he beat Balsiger in the final. Another Konig driver jumped the start and ran Duff off into the dirt. He kept the gas floored which let the rear wheels spin causing the Konig to rev up to full power at which point he hit the asphalt again and shot out in front of Balsiger. He says who ever got the jump on the start was going to win because neither one could pass the other.

My friend here is custom making an engine for my Caretta.

Tom, wasn't it Bill Beeler who jumped the start? Anyhow, we didn't get to see the Konigs run in east central florida, but we tried our best to get Brewster's GK 1200/Yamaha YDS2 running right. The guy had all kinds of money, but no patience at all. All it needed was some attention to the carburetion. It was tail heavy and tended to understeer a bit. We DID get to see several micro midgets run with Anzanis and Konigs. The Anzanis were actually faster in the micros. I can't wait to see your FA/GoKart. Was the FA the first Konig with both exhausts coming out the same side of the cylinder? We had a champion 15 C.I. hydro driver living near us in Florida in '60-'63 named Louie Daigh. He offered to sell Pop a Konig at a very good price back in '60, but Pop said that Mom would divorce him... Karts and wives never change!