The Kalifornia Nyke, First Edition. By Jim Waltz
First of all, there is always attribution. I blame Terry Ives first, and I blame Matt Azzara second. Terry for being the inspiration for my getting involved in vintage karting in the first place, and Matt for encouraging me to make contributions to the VKCA newsletter. This narrative is copied from the article that appeared in the newsletter.
So after attending a couple of vintage events in 2006 and seeing Terry on the track, I had the bug. Now, I’ve been an active racer for 20 years as of the 2017 racing season, but in 2007 I saw this interesting looking old kart on Craig’s list, and went to take a look at it. Turns out I bought it from Craig Owens, and it was my very first vintage kart.
Working two jobs and with a disabled spouse, I move at a very moderate pace, plus I’ve kept my modern kart racing going, so this kart sat, waiting for me. Ultimately I decided that Craig Owens' kart would become a “Palmini Special”, for which I am still gathering parts. But that is actually another story.
Then one day, I spied a familiar looking kart on Craig’s list, which is the real beginning of this story. See photo of black kart, a twin to the blue Craig Owens kart.
After a little thought I realized that the black version of this kart needed to be put on the track as a moderately-powered single “loaner” Now the game was on!
By the way, no one yet has been able to identify these factory-built karts, but they look a lot like the n1ke karts from New York, so I finally decided to christen them “Kalifornia Nykes”.
Now to the build…. The first thing I realized is that both these karts were going to need a front porch if I was to drive them. Why not practice on the “loaner” to see how that would work?
So the first step was to strip the kart down and get ready for welding and painting.
As you can see from the photos, this proceeded apace, with the caveat being that I was trying to actually get this kart done for the 2015 Turkey Trot in Dixon, so all the chassis got was some scraping and sanding and a midnight rattle can paint job.
First of all, there is always attribution. I blame Terry Ives first, and I blame Matt Azzara second. Terry for being the inspiration for my getting involved in vintage karting in the first place, and Matt for encouraging me to make contributions to the VKCA newsletter. This narrative is copied from the article that appeared in the newsletter.
So after attending a couple of vintage events in 2006 and seeing Terry on the track, I had the bug. Now, I’ve been an active racer for 20 years as of the 2017 racing season, but in 2007 I saw this interesting looking old kart on Craig’s list, and went to take a look at it. Turns out I bought it from Craig Owens, and it was my very first vintage kart.
Working two jobs and with a disabled spouse, I move at a very moderate pace, plus I’ve kept my modern kart racing going, so this kart sat, waiting for me. Ultimately I decided that Craig Owens' kart would become a “Palmini Special”, for which I am still gathering parts. But that is actually another story.
Then one day, I spied a familiar looking kart on Craig’s list, which is the real beginning of this story. See photo of black kart, a twin to the blue Craig Owens kart.
After a little thought I realized that the black version of this kart needed to be put on the track as a moderately-powered single “loaner” Now the game was on!
By the way, no one yet has been able to identify these factory-built karts, but they look a lot like the n1ke karts from New York, so I finally decided to christen them “Kalifornia Nykes”.
Now to the build…. The first thing I realized is that both these karts were going to need a front porch if I was to drive them. Why not practice on the “loaner” to see how that would work?
So the first step was to strip the kart down and get ready for welding and painting.
As you can see from the photos, this proceeded apace, with the caveat being that I was trying to actually get this kart done for the 2015 Turkey Trot in Dixon, so all the chassis got was some scraping and sanding and a midnight rattle can paint job.
Jim Waltz, West Sacramento, CA