My 63' Lotus Kart

[kart40]

G'Day All,

I have attached a pic of a 63' (or so) Lotus Indy go-kart. I won it in the late 60's when I was but a wee boy. I am curious if anyone knows the history behind this machine? It needs work, and I'm looking for others that may have original pics to share. It has a 3.5 B&S lawnmower engine. Is about 6 feet long. I believe it had an oval decal that read "Lotus powered by Ford", but I've yet to find this though massive web searches. I either had a dream, or actually saw this on the "Price is Right" back in the late 60's early 70's. Any thoughts on this kart would be appreciated.

Also attached is a news paper clipping of Jim Clark from 1963.

Regards,
-John

 

[aspock]

Thats fantastic, great bit of history

Aidan

 

[MacfarlaneRacers]

Awwhhh Man Thats Brilliant !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where Did U Get That Man ! Love 1 Of Them !

 

[freakboy]

Nice kart!

 

[porsche930dude]

sweet! i can see why youd have to put your legs outside theres barely enough room in a real one

 

[kart40]

New Pics

Here are some new pics. the yellow is Ford Chrome Yellow, while the green is British Green (what else). I still have to make a windshield (lexan), the engine to rebuild, the tail pipes to attach, and the struts to make. It's getting there...

 

[redsox985]

Looks fabulous. Did you incorporate Ackerman? It looks so. Scrub brakes?

 

[kart40]

Yes, Ackerman and scrub brakes.

The steering has one bar straight across between the wheels, and one half bar from the steering column to one wheel. I can post pics if you like.

It's easy to obtain disc breaks these days, but it might have been all they had 40 years ago... They do the trick, and I can spin a 180 without any problems ;-)

 

[redsox985]

Hahaha. That's always fun.

 

[dave1701]

huh? I'm confused,a verticle shaft engine? Cool kart though, polish that up and get it running right and you would definately turn quite a few heads.

 

[kfosburg]

Very cool! You may want find a serial number on it and hook up with a Lotus car club to inquire about its history. There's a good chance that it's quite valuable to a Lotus collector. I wouldn't modify it before researching.

Karl

 

[Stratogeezer]

Wow - Your kart is an amazing artifact. I love the restoration job you're doing. You're lucky to have won that as a kid too - and to have KEPT it all of these years - good job on that aspect alone too. More photos and videos please! Very cool.

 

[Reelingin]

Go Kart

Hi Kart40,

I also have one of these. My grandfather went to a Sprint car race in Indiana where all the Indy Speedyway car guys would race on the circuit. He and a friend entered a raffle and his friend won it. My grandfather bought it from him for my brothers and me.

I have been planning on restoring it and had it painted a few years ago. I'm ready to start and was looking around and found your post. I have never been able to find out who or what company built it. I believe it is based on Jimmy Clark's 1963 #92 Indy car that placed 2nd that year.

Anyway it is interesting that you won it as well. I'm thinking these were promotional items. I have only seen one other picture of someone in Loisiana that had one, other than yours, and the one in photo with Jimmy Clark.

Do you have all the original pieces to the kart? I have some photos of my brothers and me in it as kids. My grandfather welded in pedals in the interior.

Paul H.

 

[Reelingin]

Also I traced the original triangle "Lotus powered by Ford" sticker before I painted it. I was going to replicate it.

 

[machinist@large]

Ummm...

You do realise this thread hasn't had any activity in over 2 1/2 years? As a general rule, we ask people to not dredge up old/closed threads; you are welcome to start a thread of your own. By the way, welcome to the forum.