08-15-2017, 02:59 PM
"Randy Forbes....Rest in Peace. We owe you a lot."
So very true, when you examine the history of events that took place back in 1956 or there- about's......Ingel's fabbed up
a "cart" from quarter midget specs at Kurtis Kraft where he worked .
He acquired a power plant from surplus McCulloch lawn mowers that were defective . Of course the West Bend 750 two cycles worked just fine and being of no use to produce anymore Mac Mowers, Flexo purchased them at a huge discount from McCulloch .
As the story goes, Art took the "Cart" out to the sports car races at the Pomona Fairplex or Los Angeles County Fair grounds where Duffy Livingston was participating .
Inspired by what Art had designed up, Duffy fabbed up his own "Cart" to have some fun, and we all know the rest of the story, everyone that saw these little Carts wanted to give them a try .
Duffy being in the muffler business at the time had the equipment to make a few for others, so he asked Art about
building them for sale and because who knew if there was any money or big interest in the endeavor Art had no objection.
We have to remember this all came about because of what all these guys liked to do and what they did to earn a living.
Without those surplus engines being so affordable would Duffy or Art have built these first little racing machines ?
I feel the turning point was Duffy's passion for racing and his desire to make a few kits for others to go racing .
Karting got off the ground because of the passion these early guys had, it was pure Hot Rodding and the desire to have fun .
The rest of the story to how Karting spread was because of Petersen Publishing's Automotive Magazines......the young guys that wrote about what was happening and all the capable people that got involved to make it into a viable Motorsport .
No doubt about it, Duffy designed Racing Karts that were genius in simplicity and soon enough there was an industry
of karts and parts for all of us around the world .
A huge thank you to all those guys that made Kart Racing happen !
If you know the story of how Faye Pierson one Christmas got to drive one of these very first carts, then you can understand how Bug was started . The saga continued on company by company....ups and downs, changes, karts evolved......but it all had to start with guys like Art Ingels, Duffy and their friends.....
So very true, when you examine the history of events that took place back in 1956 or there- about's......Ingel's fabbed up
a "cart" from quarter midget specs at Kurtis Kraft where he worked .
He acquired a power plant from surplus McCulloch lawn mowers that were defective . Of course the West Bend 750 two cycles worked just fine and being of no use to produce anymore Mac Mowers, Flexo purchased them at a huge discount from McCulloch .
As the story goes, Art took the "Cart" out to the sports car races at the Pomona Fairplex or Los Angeles County Fair grounds where Duffy Livingston was participating .
Inspired by what Art had designed up, Duffy fabbed up his own "Cart" to have some fun, and we all know the rest of the story, everyone that saw these little Carts wanted to give them a try .
Duffy being in the muffler business at the time had the equipment to make a few for others, so he asked Art about
building them for sale and because who knew if there was any money or big interest in the endeavor Art had no objection.
We have to remember this all came about because of what all these guys liked to do and what they did to earn a living.
Without those surplus engines being so affordable would Duffy or Art have built these first little racing machines ?
I feel the turning point was Duffy's passion for racing and his desire to make a few kits for others to go racing .
Karting got off the ground because of the passion these early guys had, it was pure Hot Rodding and the desire to have fun .
The rest of the story to how Karting spread was because of Petersen Publishing's Automotive Magazines......the young guys that wrote about what was happening and all the capable people that got involved to make it into a viable Motorsport .
No doubt about it, Duffy designed Racing Karts that were genius in simplicity and soon enough there was an industry
of karts and parts for all of us around the world .
A huge thank you to all those guys that made Kart Racing happen !
If you know the story of how Faye Pierson one Christmas got to drive one of these very first carts, then you can understand how Bug was started . The saga continued on company by company....ups and downs, changes, karts evolved......but it all had to start with guys like Art Ingels, Duffy and their friends.....