Custom Vintage Karts

[Bob Alan]

I've never raced karts, but I love looking at the vintage karts. Back during the mid- 70's my local library had a vintage kart book, "Karting Handbook" I think. Seems like I remember one custom kart being made of titanium. I think the builder worked at an aircraft factory, so I assume he "borrowed' the materials from them. This ring a bell?

Then I've seen vintage plans like: Herron, Ison, and the Mechanix Illustrated Class A kart. Anyone see any of these karts that were built back then still around. Maybe you should try and track down some vintage custom karts and do some stories and post some pics of them.

The Ison and MI plans claim that these karts met racing standards, but I don't know if any were raced or not- I've read the Herron was.

[Dan Flanders]

Hi Bob-
You don't see many of the fully customized show karts which is a shame. I hope with the increasing popularity of the earlier karts that we get to see more of them. That is no way intended as slight or a criticism to some of the simply amazing restorations out there (Mark Havery's Blackhawk & Tom Thorin's & Mark Cerramck's Simplexes and Carl B's Moss to name a very few...) but those are a different type of restoration more along the lines of factory appearing rather than fully-customized. It would also be cool to see a revival of the rat-rod tradition. No worries about scratching the paint or nicking the chrome...maybe through in a set of fuzzy dice, a Mexican blanket seat, duct tape numbers and raccoon tail on the whip antenna.

Attached are some pics of the 'Lil Chrome Bug ('Lil Red Bug chassis) built by Jimmy Sunderland in Sacramento, CA. Everything, was chromed with custom tuck and roll upholstery, Mooneye bullet caps on all 4-wheels, steering wheel and fuel tank cap and custom vertical motor mount. The pixs are from posters that came with the kart and are from the '62 Sacramento Auto-Rama.

Mooneye still makes bullet caps (metric threads) and wheel disks if anyone is interested.

Dan

[Ronald Cubel]

Dan, You forgot to tell him you own the kart now and are restoring it back.... Ron

[Dean Seavers]

Regarding one-offs and homebuilt specials, it's such a crap shoot. Other than Rupps, finding any vintage kart is more a matter of luck, so the specials are the proverbial needle in a haystack. If you look at photos from the last Big One there is a gentleman (I'm sorry the name escapes me) who brough a kart out that his Dad built and he raced back in the 60's.

I think most guys who are deep into the hobby and come across this stuff would gladly restore a special, it's just a matter of finding them. Mark Weaverling has one of I think three original Faller Karts that has been restored and made track-worthy and he also built a replica of Duffy's GP Muffler special.

I have a weirdo square tube frame kart that more than likely dates from the 1959/60 period that no one has yet been able to identify. I think it was too well built to be a homebuilt special, but who knows. This will get a sympathetic restoration in time. That's part of the challenge- for every Faller kart that was covered in the magazines of the day at least minimally, or well known by old racers that are still around, there are dozens that have no history included and if they weren't covered in one of the small handful of kart magazines there is no way to know the whole story.

Still, even if a lack of period magazine coverage makes the kart not as historically significant, many of them are very worthy candidates for restoration because they represent a period of vintage karting. I think it's cool to be able to preserve the whole picture. The fact that in the early days of karting, just like the early days of drag racing and road racing, a fair number of folks figured they could build a better mousetrap is pretty cool and significant, even if percentage-wise these folks only made up a small number of the total karters. I think it's a great snapshot of the then American "can-do" attitude and that's what made the early karts small hot rods- so many of them were a personal expression in mechanical form- for better or worse based on engineering merits- but worthy from the standpoint that someone just went out and did it and raced it.

As equipment was standardized and the formula for figuring out the fastest way to get around a track emerged, coupled with more folks becoming interested in doing what it took to bring home a trophy, the homebuilt special faded into the background and the karts became more tool-like rather than a personal expression of ideas. So all of that early stuff is neat. No doubt there were one-offs that continued to get built, but typically by folks who had been involved in karting at an advanced level. Not so much the guy who was a fabricator or a hot-rodder and just wanted to build a kart for himslef or his kid and do a little racing with it.

That said, I'm not sure most vintage karters are really into preserving the bigger history of the sport as much as just wanting something they had wanted or had as a kid. As far as I know, there are only a smattering of folks who are really into and dedicated to the historical aspect and the idea of working to preserve the roots of the sport. Most folks just want an old kart to bang around on and make their own. Not a judgement, just an observation.

Dano and I are still heartsick over one that we barely missed out on a couple of years ago- the original owner/builder was selling it on Craigslist and he had the complete history and I think even the trophies he had won racing it. It was too nice to restore it just needed a good cleaning and a sympathetic rebuild of the wearing parts. But someone else beat us to it to flip- it had either a Mc10 or Mc20 on it (can't remember) and period go faster goodies and period wheels and brakes and such. It's my understanding that the guy who bought it from the guy who beat us to it just wanted the parts. So my guess is the parts were removed and the frame either pitched or cast aside, which to me is a real bummer. All those parts had been together since the kart's inception and everything was still in good shape. Sure, it was worth more for parts, but still...

I'm sure there are still those out there, it's just a matter of digging and some luck. Maybe this could be your forte Bob! It certainly is a real interesting aspect of vintage karting, and I think was probably more common in the early days than by the mid to later 60's.

All the best,
Dean

[Dan Flanders]

Yes, I did leave that bit out Ron. It deserves a full restoration, but with the cost of chroming these days it will be a few years before I get to it. That said, I do intend to run it un-restored and the only real issues are some bubbling and flaking chrome and the grind marks from getting the farmer john angle iron mount off the rear end. Mark H. recreated the motor mount in steel rather than the original aluminum (you should have seen how much that baby flexed laterally ) There isn't all that much left to do to get it running as is (recreate the chain guard, get one rear-wheel unstuck, hook up the brake, mount the motor, new tires, adjust the steering etc.) I do need to find someone to dip the steering wheel with a commercial grade of plastisol, as my attempts with the tool dip failed miserably, but that could come later.

Dean, I continue to be sickened by our loss of Ollie's kart and the subsequent events. I know who got it and I hope that it didn't get scrapped. The guy paid quite a bit for it, so there still maybe hope. I still have Ollies number and had hoped to put the buyer in contact with him, but all attempts to contact have been met with silence.

I'll attach the original ad as proof that good deals can still be had for the diligent seekers and the quick responders. Yes, that was the selling price

[Dominic Salvato]

This vintage kart almost killed me! My son's in the picture are in their 40's. The center picture is from Rod & Custom April 1966.

[Darvin Jahnke]

I like Dean's thoughts on preserving the history. There are some karts that should be restored to as raced in order to showcase the modifications and inovative thinking of their owners/drivers. A lot of history is destroyed by over zealous restorers that think everything should be restored to factory original. I'm not knocking restored to original karts,only saying that some should be left as raced. I have a 60 Simplex that has many modifications and I'd sure like to know the history of it. The front bumper has a small verticle hoop welded to the top side,I assume to protect the steering. There is a footrest welded next to the brake pedal to brace your foot on when not using the brake. The spindles have been changed and it has Hands wheels all around. Steering wheel is aftermarket and it has been converted to live axle with long plates that attach the frame rails to the back of the seat hoop. I bought it in original unrestored condition and it appears these changes were all done back in the day and all are nicely done. Someone went through a lot of work to hopefully improve the performance of the kart. Darv.