ENGLISH ARTICLES

Karting

A modern sport of driving and racing very small gasoline-engined vehicles. A standard kart consists of little more than a tubular frame, four wheels, a power-mower-type engine, a steering gear, and a single seat. The tiny cars were originally designed for boys to operate, but adults have also taken up the sport and they drive karts often weighing less than half their own weight.

The word kart is a derivation of “go-cart,” the term originally applied to the little cars when they were first invented in 1957 by Art Ingels of California. Ingels took a one-cylinder, two-cycle, internal-combustion lawn mower engine (a type that was in surplus at that time) and devised a simple but rugged tubular frame that would hold his own weight. To this he attached four small wheels, a simple steering mechanism, and a place to sit down; the whole de¬vice was less than six inches (15 cm) off the ground. The engine drove one rear wheel by means of a chain, and the top speed attained was then about 30 mph (48 km/h). Today there are over 100,000 of these karts in use in the United States, and the sport has spread to all parts of North Amer¬ica and to Europe.

Karts can now be purchased from about one hundred commercial manufacturers in the United States for a few hundred dollars. They cannot be licensed for operation on public roads or highways. One of the important code rules honored by all karting enthusiasts is “no driving on the streets.” Some of the smaller models can fit into a family car trunk and be transported to parking lots, shopping cen¬ters, or specially constructed areas where most of the casual driving and racing competition takes place. Larger models are carried by trailers.

Normal steering in both directions is possible on karts, as they accelerate very quickly to a top speed of about 45 mph. Some models are still driven through a chain connection with one rear wheel, but other models have the standard two-wheel axle drive. A regulation kart is not designed to carry a body enclosing the driver. It should not be con¬fused with the popular quarter-midget racing cars, which have body shells and four-cycle (automobile) engines.
Since its inception karting has been essentially an amateur sport.