Word: kart
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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From Six to 60. High sensation at relatively low speed and cost has turned the so-called "go kart" into the newest sensation in auto racing. Born in California three years ago, go karting has grown into a coast-to-coast sport and attracted something like 100,000 lead-footed devotees from six to 60. This year, say the addicts, another 100,000 will go kart crazy. New clubs are springing up at a one-a-day clip, and in California, a town of 5,000 can draw 10,000 visitors for a race. This week Westbury, L.I. will inaugurate...
Today's go karts are direct descendants of the first model put together in 1956 by a crack Los Angeles mechanic named Art Ingels, 41, who set out to build a cheap, pocket-sized racer in the spare time from his job of working on the "big cars" that race at Indianapolis. Ingels' prototype, made from spare parts, was powered by a lawn-mower engine. The new models are often precision-built from equipment specifically designed for go karts, including tires, tiny high-speed (up to 16,000 r.p.m.) engines, steering gears and bodies turned out by some...
...than pinned beneath it, the drivers wear no safety belts, rely on heavy leather jackets for protection. Brakes are sometimes rudimentary; the steering is so sensitive that the slightest nudge of the wheel is enough to jerk the nose around. Most important, a 125-lb., 18-h.p. go kart can match a red-hot Porsche "Spyder" in weight-to-horsepower ratio, and is just as likely to spin out on high-speed curves. After turning two laps in a go kart, Sam Hanks, winner of the 1957 Indianapolis 500, pulled up with a sigh of relief: "This is the most...
...national clubs are doing their best to make the sport a little less hair-raising. California's Go Kart Club of America and Florida's Grand Prix Kart Club of America have both set up rigorous standards for their races. The Go Kart Club does not allow anyone under 16 to race, claims it has never had a fatal accident in an authorized race. So does the Grand Prix, though its rules permit six-year-olds to race karts held down to 30 m.p.h. and twelve-year-olds to compete in the karts that will turn 85 m.p.h...