Dave, your link didn't work for me, but I'm not in the Book of Faces. I searched for it on YouTube and found this:
https://youtu.be/TJqrlkHPx9o
Pretty awesome stuff!
that's the one
(09-25-2018, 08:40 PM)David Luciani Wrote: [ -> ]this is a repost lynn shared on facebook.
enjoy
Lynn Haddock shared a link to the group: Vintage Karting Association.
8 hrs ·
from Duffy's private 8mm movie collection -- marked 1956 -- Southern California
Yeah, I guess before they could invent the "Helmet Cam," someone had to invent "The Helmet."
That's a LOT of COLOR footage for that era. Toward the end, someone (Duffy?) got brave... filming with that $$ camera while underway... with everyone zig-zagging around. What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
(I'm sooo jealous)
A lot of those shots are from 1957, I believe. I don't think Roy Desbrow's "Drone" kart was built until then. There is at least one '57 Chevy in the shots, though that might have been late '56. There's one short shot that shows a '58 Chevy as well. I especially enjoyed the footage of the "Drone". I had never seen it in motion. It was one of the very first karts with a dropped front axle, and also one of the earliest karts with a live axle. Fun stuff. TJ
Ted,
Which kart is the Drone kart?
Brad
It's the low sitting yellow rig, enclosed live axle, dropped front axle. I think Desbrow had whitewall tires on the back, but I may be wrong. It had the big McCulloch target drone engine, easy to tell from most of the other West Bend engines. It was a "smokey" engine, too. They had to ride herd on the big old beast! It was painted different in the video. Ted
Thanks Ted!
Interesting!
You need to write a book on karting history!
Brad
Brad, I'm pretty limited. There were a ton of manufacturers we never got to experience in the wilds of Florida. If a book is written, Tom Smith is the author we need to get it done. A lot of us might be contributing suppliers of info, but Tom is always "The Man". As far as karts like "The Drone" are concerned, I was always attracted to the weird and unusual. The Drone, Duffy's Konig, Chuck Balsiger's dual Mac kart, later his big Yamaha, Jim Yamane's first dual Mc10's on his magnificent homebuilt were always interesting to myself and my Pop. We were only fascinated by karts that fell into legal GKCA/GPKCA/IKF classes. I wasn't interested in the triple 820's and the like that weren't legal. When Charlie and I built my triple Mac Go Kart 1200, and when we put three rear wheels on the dual Mc30 Go Kart, these were all within the rules. Ted