In about 14 years from now I'll know if this was the smartest thing I ever did, or the most stupid thing I ever did. My six year old grandson loves racing (and hot rods too) . He's already met our local hero Richard Petty and John Force as well as a host of regional NASCAR Modified hot shots. He wants to race REAL bad; so of course we got him a Quarter Midget for Christmas. Here we go! Now I've got to get busy and build a trick aluminum body for this thing and give it a paint scheme like my Ace of Spades modified roadster! Hmmm... do you think I sould put HAMB decal on it? Future HAMBers of America!
Just my opinion, but no... Traditional Hot Rods and Customs... Not Go Carts... Not meaning to offend... Just the way it is, wouldn't want to see a sticker on anyone's '74 Camaro either...
Leave it in white and just put a number on it. The kids gonna tear it up anyway. It will save ya alotta grief in the long run
No disrespect to you but In alot of my old mags from the 50's there are alot of go cart ,quarter midget articles . So if they went together then why not now? If we are trying to stay true to what was done then I say hell yes, get some exposure to the younger people that will be here later on. But I do agree on the paint for the kids first time racing , maybe later put some nice stuff on it when he get s some practice on him and can really drive . Just my oppinion hope i didnt offend any one
In a way it sounds cool but something is telling me "beware". When I think back how my kids were at 6 years old, I would wait until they're about 8. At eight, the kids motor (no pun intended) skills have developed a lot more than at 6. I watched the funnest home video show the other night and they had a segment on small kids getting thrown off of atv's, minibikes, gocarts, snowmobiles and one kid was even being drug around by a self propelled stand-up mower(dangerous as **** and mommy is laughing in the background). You could tell that the 4-6 year olds weren't really up on the operation of the vehicles, on the other hand, the eight year olds, and up, group appeared to know how to operate the vehicle, they just did goofy stuff to show-off. In the mean time you could slowly work him into it (yeah right!) by using governors and set up skills courses like cones or cans, and let him practice. Teach him to run a course and time him so he'll see an organized purpose to racing instead of just letting him drive up and down the street. Make a big deal out of safety and good judgement and that will stay wtih him the rest of his life. What better gift could grandpa give his grandson? Good luck!
Whoa guys, wasn't meant to be a debate about traditional stuff and non traditional stuff. It was mostly tongue in cheek about the HAMB decal. At least all of us here on the HAMB expose our young ones to traditional rods which in turn make or kids much more astute about cars than others of their generation. As far as the body - yeah I know all about the racing stuff, I spent my life involved in all sorts of oval track racing. I know it's gonna get torn up at some point, but what race car doesn't? Sure he'll tear it up, but it's got to look cool while he's doing it! The car is going to have a nostalgic paint scheme like this.
My dad got me a quarter midget when I was 7. I am 52 now. I have talked about that my whole life. when I was in my 30's I raced off road for a couple years, then circle track for a couple years. Too much money Too much time too much attention for me but it took me several years to figure it out. When I look back, at the time, it was way more important to my dad than it was to me. It was still fun. My dad built and raced midgets after wwll and I remember when He sold his last car, I was about 4 or 5. He will crash it, I did, those kids are pretty young and cant process all the stuff going on during a race. Leave the body till it breaks. Try to have fun and not go broke. -M
If you're going to make a trick alum. body, maybe make it like this, might be a little more appropriate for a HAMB decal.
A super modified body would be way cool, but QMA rules wouldn't allow that. The body panels are going to be contemporary for a down tube car, but, like I said, the paint scheme will pay homage to vintage racing. By the way; is that super yours?
go for it rich. it will make your grandson's decade. sounds to me like you are a good pop. good luck, dan
Just a clarification, Quarter Midgets are not karts, they have 4 bar suspensions with coil over springs and are a off-set ch***is. And before anyone takes offense - I have nothing against Karts.
now i may be young,but didn't hot roddin and racin come from the same place.who cares,you like the h.a.m.b. and yer buildin a race car,put it on there.make it look cool for the kid,hell yeah.shrink the gap between racin and the road and anybody that doesn't like it can complain from the trailor they bring there hot rods to the car show on.
I sure wish you lived in our hood when I was 6. We had to push our T-33 pontoon tank, and use the wheels from old bicycles and 2x4's... I still have the scar from the jagged metal ripping into my leg, before we beat it back with a hammer. Luckily student doctors did s***ches for free back then (wide s***ches)... Your grandson is going to love it. Listen to his fears though.
Thompson Speedway has Little "T" a race facility just for these cars.As a former Boy Scout Master of a troop with atleast 3/4 of the kids in it there NOT because they wanted to be but because the parents wanted them there.BE sure the kid wants to race don't push it on them.I watched these kids and some of the parents on a few weekends and I saw a lot of this there kids forced into a race they didn't want any part of, and I also saw kids just frantic to get out there and run and they ran incredably hard!With that said it's to bad on the body rule because that super body is the first thing I thought of also !Ryan will have the say on the HAMB decal ,But I know very few car guys who don't preach on getting kids involved in our hobby so I say ya its need a a BIG hamb decal on it
Rich, I think a paint like you are showing would be really cool. No HAMB stickers but do some bomber style art work on it.. Or since he is young, flip everyone out and grab some of that green paint which goes so well with the chrome... it will get everyones attention..
wait til he gets his new playstation then we will see it in the cl***ifieds hope not do all lettering upside down until past the rookie staus make it hard to read paperdog
hell yeah put a hamb sticker on it, it just might turn somebody on to the hamb that dosen't know about it,and needs to.you never know what some other grandfather might have tucked away in his garage. my 2 cents
No pressure here. Andrew, my grandson, wants to do this, he loves to go the races. All he's been hoping to get for Christmas is a Quarter Midget. I can't wait to see his face when he lays his eyes on this thing! At six years old he already seen up close and personal; NASCAR Modifieds (numerous times), sprints and NHRA's finest pro catagories. He digs racing and and has attended several Goodguys events. We made a family trip to the local QMA track and checked things out this past spring and to see if there was interest on Andrew's part; and he liked what he saw. With that said, if it turns out he doesn't want to do this after giving it a try, that's okay. Besides, he has two younger brothers, which means we're going to get a lot of milage out this car or we're going to be drowning in Quarter Midgets in the future.
Ok, maybe for the second year... once he has scratched it up a few times.. make sure you polish the rims up... or paint the centers.. Been mocking up the T on the back.. I think I will wait to the fenders are on to finalize, plus I had some sanding and polishing still to do. may also tig a cap to the top and bottom of it.
It is my oppinion and I read what Ryan said also. You paid for the Decal you can do what you please with it, IT IS YOURS. I personally think the HAMB Decal shows where your heart lies not what vehicle it is on. Gumpa
couldn't agree more,,, and as far as zman's post on the first page,,, half of the traditional rods so many on here try to emulate, spent a portion of their life racing around a circle!
Here's a 7 year old demonstrating some impressive counter steer abilities Click here to see Video Click here to see Video
MAN when i found out i was going to be a dad i whent out and bough a go cart a jr dragster and a 50 cc four wheeler and than i had my little girl shes 3 now so when do we get to play with these damn toys! my wife said whan shes 8 but i put her on the four wheller anyways. just a few more years may be i can get her in my dirt track car! how long till i get to build her a daily driver she already has a myrers manks dune duggy and a 67 vette my dad left her.
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