Bought a new toy, need some help IDing it!

Was at a swap meet yesterday and just could not p*** up this old cart. It is home made, but done very crafty. I took the engine out and got it free'd up, but no spark yet. This ****er is so *****in lookin, can you immagine a little kid in the 50's tearing around the yard in this?

Here's my question, has anyone seen plans for building anything like this? I am just wondering if it is a plan built cart or just farm engineered? Note the sprinnger front end and axle, kick start washing machine engine with flexpipe that goes into the side pipe, ****er churner steering, opening hood and lettering. With a tune up, belt and other small odds and ends, should be on the road...too bad I can't fit in it Best thing is it's a flathead....and it was only 80.00

 

dunno, but its cool as heck!

 

VERY kool! I wouldn't do a thing to it.

 

I bought it just for some garage art, but now just wanna get it running...don't wanna restore it

 

harbor fraught has engines for less than $200

 

lookin' at the front bumper, that car has done a little bit of bump drafting.

cool car.

 

looks like adjustable steering ratio pitman arm,
not a bad idea for a multi-purpose race car like that

kick start washer motor and ****er-churn steering
how cool is that!?

 

I was thinking the same thing
What kind of motor? Briggs? Clinton? Lauson?

 

Nice! Me and Cooper will come up and he can tear up the alley in it when you get it running.

 

You pick up the BEST stuff!

These guys are always helpful: http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/ I would ask there if no info here

 

I think maybe Spanky and Alf Alfa left that behind......


HellRaiser

 

What a great find !
We did have the best stuff when we were kids !

RetroJim

 

And it looks like valve spring front suspension.

That's neat, take pics of the engine!

 

Chris, Great find ! Looking forward to seeing it as a runner.

41 Dave

 

It's got a flathead, so it will be at the E vs. W flathead run

 

You guys ****in me? Ive had **** like that for sale in ohio and nobody was interested. I ended up giving it away before i moved. Its home built.

 

Too f!@#king cool....enjoy brian

 

Is that for Memphis dude???

 

Heres pics of the engine:

 

Guess you gotts find an idiot like me to buy "****"

 

thats just to *****in

 

<center>

It's a quarter midget, been around since the thirties, there were plans in Popular Mechanics and similar publications, the Maytag company even made them to sell....

Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte, Bobbie Labonte, Jimmy V***er, or Ryan Newman.. They all got their start in Quarter Midgets as well as Sleepy Trip, Jimmy Kite, Kenny Irwin Jr. and many others


​

A VINTAGE ARTICLE The History of Quarter Midget Racing</center>
This informative article was extracted from the Program for the 3rd. Annual Cal Expo. Winter Indoor RACE, 1985, the author's name could not be found. This was a Quarter Midgets of America (racing ***ociation) event. It then follow that credit must be given to that organization for it's original creation.

Miniature auto racing has been with us almost as long as auto car racing itself. Although it is nearly impossible to date the start of the sport, I'm sure the early 1930s were the real spawning years. Children have always copied their elders, so it was not uncommon for them to turn to "soap-box" racers as soon as the first big cars stripped down and began to race one another.

It didn't take long before fathers began to attach washing machine or similar engines to the wooden boards and toy wagon wheels, so their children could drive on country lanes and in backyards, in imitation of the race cars of those days. The first notice of an organized meet was two day event called the "Children's Speed Cl***ic" staged on May 26-27, 1934 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The cars were built by Floyd "Pop" Dreyer, who worked for the Duesenberg Brothers, Indianapolis race car builders. Oil drums were placed on a section of the main straightaway to mark out a small oval here the cars reached the fantastic speed of 20 m.p.h. Pop's three-year old son was one of the drivers. Prior to this, in 1932, the Winston Corporation of Joliet, Ill., manufactured a "Winston Racer" which was large enough to hold either a child or an adult.

By 1934 the Maytag Washing Machine Company of Newton, Iowa was turning out a somewhat similar car. Both cars had an engine mounted behind the driver and drove the wheels by a "V-belt" arrangement. The engine in this case was the same one cylinder "Multi-Motor" used by Maytag to power their washing machines.

During the years from 1934 to 1940, Maytag sold over 500 of these little "Maytag Racers". By 1938 a group of fathers had banded together in the small Los Angeles community of San Marino, and under the guidance of a local service station operator, Coyle Tracy, formed the Junior Midgets of America, Chapter One, more to keep the little motorized cars off the street than to promote racing.

Some cars were the aforementioned Winston and Maytag Racers, but most were home built. Very few had any form of a body, only wooden frames. Power came from a variety of sources, including ex- washing machine engines, lawn mower and pipe threading engines. One car used an electric battery powered auto starter. Ages of the drivers ranged from six to 14 and included girls. Speeds up to 30 m.p.h. were reached on the 1/10th of a mile flat, dirt oval during the weekly races.

Of the 21 cars, in the club, costs varied from $65 up to $1200. Anything was raceable as long as it had four wheels and an engine under two horsepower, no body, no floor board, no seat belt. Safety equipment, as such, was not required, with the exception of goggles to protect the eyes from the dirt. By winning the "Helmet Dash" several weeks in a row, a youngster could win a driving helmet.

A unique aspect of membership in the Junior Midgets included the drivers' school grades provision, failing grades and no racing that week. Nation-wide attention was given this group of racers by articles in major magazines and newspapers as well as in newsreels and films. A big boost to the sport of miniature car racing came with the formation of the Junior Midget Motor Car Company by a Los Angeles auto parts dealer, Joe Lucus, and Lou Faegol, the son of the owner of the Faegol Truck Company.

They began making a hand-made production model racer styled after the "big" midgets of those days. The engine was mounted in front of the driver and used a chain drive to the rear axle. Without a body, it was called a "Midget-Midget" and looked like the first GoCart. The appearance of these cars brought a standardization to the cars and a few safety features. After World War 11, various groups across the nation formed local Junior Midget clubs to resume racing the small cars.

A couple of kids driving their cars on the street were invited to a vacant lot to participate with other youngsters in some informal races. One of these boys was Jimmy Caruthers, now an Indianapolis 500 race car driver (remember the original vintage of this article). Jimmy was nine years old and brother Danny only four.

The skill and enthusiasm of the youngsters inspired Jimmy's father, Doug Carruthers, to build a track for them on the grounds of his Viking Trailer Company. Dubbed the "Jelly Bean Bowl" it was a 1/20th of a mile, banked, dirt oval. Having had prior racing experience racing dragsters on the dry lakes of Southern California, Doug Caruthers saw the need for some form of organization to the races, and thus formed the Quarter Roadster ***ociation, styled after the big time URA (United Racing ***ociation), using many of the same rules and regulations.

Caruthers also saw the need for a standardization of cars and engines and soon began the manufacture of a rear engine, one- fourth scale midget--a true quarter midget. Many of these cars were sold through a large department store, and soon after many clubs across the country adopted similar engine and car specifications as those of the Quarter Roadster ***ociation. Within a few short years, there were more than a dozen companies turning out hundreds of these little Quarter Midgets.

The hand-formed sheet metal bodies were replaced by the light weight fibergl*** style that were easier to produce. Safety standards were raised, with the introduction of mandatory driving helmets, roll bars and seat belts. National growth came in leaps and bounds to the sport. In Northern California, alone, there were 17 tracks and almost 3000 drivers in 1957. During this period there were 35-40 companies m*** producing quarters as well as hundreds of smaller garages turning out custom made cars.

Realizing the strength in a national organization, another attempt was made to nationalize the sport by the formation of a single ***ociation to be the governing body for all races. These races were to be run under a program of standard car and engine specifications and a uniform set of racing and safety rules. From these efforts was born the Quarter Midgets of America, a nationally recognized sanctioning body for quarter and half midget races in this country and Canada. Since its birth, the organization has been responsible for setting uniform engine, car, racing and safety rules.

Coordinating and sanctioning racing events, providing insurance for tracks and drivers, and publishing an Annual Directory and a bimonthly newsletter--The QuarteReporter all came into the realm of the ***ociation. Annual meetings of National Officers and Directors are now held at the yearly Grand Nationals, Since the formation of QMA, membership growth has not been rapid, but nevertheless it has been constant. In 1964 the first "QMA Grand National Championships" were held in Hayward, Calif., with 150 entries. By 1975, and the running of the 12th Annual "Grand", attendance has grown to well over 500 participants.

A recently added region in Florida has brought the Quarter Midgets of America into 13 regional areas, including a club in Canada. Governed by elected national officers and a board of directors, QMA has taken steps recently to gain more national recognition, including the entry of a float in the Indianapolis 500 Festival Parade.

Many of the regional States Races and the Grand National have had a financial ***ist from major auto parts companies. As to the future of quarter midget racing: it will continue to grow and make changes the same as the sport it imitates.

Already the past 10 years have seen several innovations, such as mandatory safety roll cages, quick release seat and shoulder harnesses, new style fibergl*** bodies with such added strength that it replaces the need for bumpers and nerf bars. In addition, better performance from the small engines has in turn lowered track records with increasing regularity. <table bgcolor="#022a71" border="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="100" valign="top">

<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="100" height="20"> <tbody><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff" height="20">
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> ​

</td> <td bgcolor="#022a71" width="100%">
</td></tr></tbody></table>

 

Yep^^^ My dad built one for me and my brothers. Had an aluminum body. Was fun till I ran it under his Dodge pickup smashing the body down to my legs and stopping inches from my face. No helmet! I was a 9 year old Kamakazie I didn't want to bother with a helmet. HA! Bent the **** out of things.

 

I got a look at that at the swapmeet it is rad

 

Good soap box material there. Leave the engine for something else. Parts are a lot of money.

 

Very neat!! Looks farmerized to me...that looks liek an old galvanized water trough cut up for the body, and then all the other farm parts used to make it go.

Cool find, hope you'll post a vid of it running and driving.

 

That's a Briggs model WM, it's got the plug in the side of the head. That makes it older than a WMB. Supposedly WM stood for "Washing Machine" anyways, it's between 1936 and 1941. Pretty sweet that it has the exhaust. Originally they threw that out the window to vent the exhaust outdoors. Puts out a m***ive 2/3 of a HP. Typical underpowered flathead lol

 

The steering box is off a ****er churn . The hand crank type that set on a big gl*** jar.

 

That little car is killer!

Literally!

I'd keep it as-is and get it running.

 

OK, put down the 1 lunger and step away from the midget. Now, get back on that roadster. It was all the way up to 18 degrees here today so spring is not far off. If you keep getting sidetracked you'll never get that roadster on the road.

Frank