Best Handling Kart Made

[Alan Warn]

I hope I don't start a war, but what is the most competitive kart for 1966, 67, or 68? I was 1, 2, and three years old at the time, so I don't know. I want to put together a race kart with twin 101's or Euro motors, and win, so I need to know what to shop for. I'm guessing Nylites are the way to go? I'm just trying to get a general idea. Shake hands and come out fighting!

[steveohara]

Alan,

I started racing karts in 1968 and at that time the Dart Chapparal was the preferred chassis for the front running B Open and C Open drivers. Virtually all the chassis of that era were rear engine designs but there were a few European sidewinder chassis starting to show up in 1968. The only one I remember was the Techno/twin 100cc Parilla kart raced by the late Rick Tate and it was clearly different compared to the Dart and Bug rear engined chassis. It would be a major score if you found one but you would not be able to race it at REAR events.
Robron is making reproduction Dart Chapparal chassis and you can't go wrong with that setup.
Now, about "winning", if you are interested in "racing" you will surely be disappointed. I suggest you get a modern kart and go race since most of the vintage events are closer to demonstrations than races. A lot of the events don't even organize "starts" or "finishes", rather they just group the karts by type, engine size etc and the participants can run as much or as little and as fast or slow as they wish. Wheel to wheel duking it out is discouraged in many if not most vintage events.
Hope this helps.
Steve O'Hara

[Alan Warn]

Hey Steve, maybe for dicing, I should just stick to vintage MX. You guys must run the karts pretty hard though..?? I'm a long ways from any vintage kart races, so I'd like to have some adrenaline going if I have to drive a long distance. Don't get me wrong, I would go just to see the cool karts.

[louie figone]

Alan,

I will echo Steve's advice, if its about winning go modern, in vintage everyone wins just for showing up. We do run hard and so does Steve and we have had a lot of fun dicing with him and others, but when it gets to close we back off, can't replace the equiptment or our bodies. We always start at the rear of an organized event, lots more fun to watch whats going on up front. Do not get into vintage karting if winning is your objective, all you will do is ruin equiptment and piss a lot of people off.

Louie

[Alan Warn]

I have nothing but respect for vintage equipment, so I would never block pass or stuff someone. I have restored a few vintage MX bikes and am close with my GK 800, so I know the difficulty in finding replacment parts and getting the new parts detailed enough to install. As far as bodies go, I once bowled an older first baseman over playing softball and have felt real bad about it ever since, so I wouldn't ever do something to hurt someone in any sport. (again) I do, however want to win clean and fair. A good challenge and racing fast does give me a fix that I need. I'm sure all of you know what I'm talking about. I have tried to explain it to others who don't need a dose of speed, but they never do understand. I always tell them if they don't understand, then there is nothing I can say to make them understand. Anyway, I'm not some spaztic out there trying to wad up your pride and joy, and I know I would be extremely pissed if someone did that to me just for a cheesy piece of plastic to put in the garage and forget about. Hope that is the right attitude for the sport.

[Dean Seavers]

Alan-

Winning just isn't something 95% of us even think about, because we're not racing. It's play racing at most- it's about running your pride and joy at speed and hanging out with your pals. The dicing is about as serious as a ping pong game for laughs. It's just not a big deal to the vast majority of us, and it's about the karts and getting a flavor of the past, not the driver's ego. The ones that seem to get their ego all wrapped up in this are also the ones hanging all sorts of modern parts on their karts to find a performance advantage and the idea of period correctness goes out the window because they "need" a set up that will help them win.

I just think if winning or proving yourself is important, that's what modern karting is set up for.
This is more about preserving history and then playing with them.

Dean

[ted johnson]

Perfect, Dean! If you wanna go serious, go modern! I don't want anyone diving on my Van Tech from off my front quarter. I guess that's why so many of us show up at TBO. No racing. If you want to dice with someone, it's up to that someone to respond or not, and no hard feelings if they don't! Don't get me wrong, I love to race - but if I go racing, I'll buy a TAG. TJ

[Alan Warn]

Shootdang! This post has taken an ugly turn. OK, I promise I won't race with you guys. I understand now what your racing intentions and expectations are. You just want to smell the 2 stroke smoke and run em around a track. I'm guessing alot of the smoke is Blendzall and bean oil, just to be period correct. All that is fine with me. I am in a geographical oddity... I'm about 1500 miles from any and every event. I promise I won't hit any of them with intentions to race. I am, however still going to be in your world, restoring karts and buying parts. I think the vintage karts are beautiful works of art with all the subtle details and variations. Can we still be pals?

[Dean Seavers]

Can we still be pals?

Absolutely!

Where are you located? Are you in Alaska?

[Alan Warn]

Hey Dean, I'm in Spokane WA. 400 miles from Seattle, 500 miles from Portland. Don't know how far from California or Ohio, but a long way.