Mystery Kart

[Alan Lewis]

I recently came across the kart pictured below and am trying to identify it to determine if it's vintage and worth restoring. Currently it has a cheap Harbor Freight 4 cycle motor on it, but the rest of the package looks vintage to me. It has a few distinguishing features, the steering hoop is quite narrow, the pedals are unique, the frame has two rails on each side that run parallel to each other, the wheels look to be original (the rears are larger and have a 6 point star pattern with 6 bolts. There are a few things missing that would probably help ID the kart, namely the gas tank and the original seat. Any guidance on any of the components or identification of the frame itself would be much appreciated. I have additional pictures to post if there's something you'd like to see that's not visible. Thank you!

[REAR]

Looks like a Simplex. Simplex was a strange company in that the karts were always evolving somehow and small changes and differences between the karts were common.

Could be wrong also since the pedals, back wheels,and the steering wheel are quite different then the Simplex norm.

Simplex or not it is a good example of a early American racer and worth putting back on the track.

R.E.A.R.

[Russ Smith]

Kart is certainly a Simplex. Perhaps a MK 15 or MK 16 (single or dual with the floating aluminum pan and forward pedals) . Steering wheel is not original. Cool kart.

[Alan Lewis]

After further research last night, I to believe it to be a Simplex (generation 2) Mk 14, which was built in New Orleans, LA. The karts only came in two colors, red and black. Best guess as to date of production is 1961-63. It's missing some key components and the frame has been modified a bit. I'm wondering if we have a Simplex kart expert on this site that might be able to steer me towards the missing parts, and give me a rough idea of value in its current state. Guys, I appreciate your responses!

[ted johnson]

The rears appear to be 6" Azusa. Even the bolts appear to be the original Azusa bolts with the compass symbol on the heads, unless my eyes are fooling me. Must be a real bear tying to stay planted in the seat with that low sissy rail and no sissy padding. When I built my Nike, I built the sissy pad setup as original. Couldn't stay in the seat at speed. I ended up with large triangular sissy plates and 4" plus pads to wedge my behind in place Works fine, now! See if you can contact Tom Thorin. He's been the guru on the Simplexes. Ted

[Alan Lewis]

Thank you Ted, I'll reach out to Tom tomorrow. I believe the Simplex karts actually had an original seat with the "sissy side padding." The seat on this kart looks like an owner replacement. Impressed that you even know what the original Azusa bolt heads look like . If the pedals are not Simplex, does anyone know where they might have originally come from? They seem to be fairly unique. I also noticed that their are metal heel stops attached to the pan, which I've not seen before.

[REAR]

Have seen those pedals before but not sure if on a Simplex or not.

If the correct power plant {Clinton or 580 WB] is used the seat will be alright without side pads.

R.E.A.R.

[ted johnson]

Bug Bat Wing pedals. Bug used them for years. You could flip them right for left to put the "bat wing" inboard or outboard to suit where your foot would rest. We all used them on everything. The chrome and dip treatment was optional. I even put them on my Go Kart 800 and 1200 to replace the CHEAPIE Azusa pedals. If you look closely at the attached, they're on my 800 dual Mc20.
As for the no sissy thing, Our next door neighbor kid, Charles Miller, bought a '58 Bug Standard at the same time as I bought my '58 Custom. Clinton A400's on both karts. Charles slid out of his on the old quarter midget track where we first ran karts. Slid out, spun the kart and pulled it over upside down on top of him. Charles got a bit of road rash on his butt, but we all got a good laugh out of it. Be careful of no sissy padding! 580's can put on a pretty good turn of speed, even on an overweight kart like the Simplex. I remember Pop took me out of ninth grade class for a couple days. We drove to New Orleans and toured the Simplex plant. That was in '59. I don't remember much about the factory, but I remember Mom was not best pleased at Pop for taking me out of school for a few days! The Lovett's Piggly Wiggly grocery in Melbourne was where you had to go to buy a Simplex. They were scarce in our area. Ted

[Alan Lewis]

Thanks for sharing those memories Ted!

[ted johnson]

Alan, you can see from the two different engine mounts, and one yellow shroud and one unpainted one that I didn't have a lot of money at 17 years old. That old 800 won a load of races, though! When the 1200 came out, I got one, and Pop took the 800 over. He ran a modified Mc30 in Super Heavy. He won a lot of races, too. I remember when Go Kart went out of business. Pop and I discussed that we should stop running the GK's, since we were no longer selling them. We both had to go back to the Bug products. My Stinger was a good rig, but nothing held a candle to those two Go Kart machines. Ted