Vintage C3 Corvette Go Kart Brings Out the Kid in All of Us
This realistic C3 Corvette go kart was built in the 1980s and is sure to conjure up some fond memories for many of us.
Many of us grew up driving go karts, and for some, it’s essentially we learned to drive in the first place, or at least honed our skills. These days, most professional race car drivers got their start driving karts as well, which explains why the sport has exploded in popularity among our youth. Regardless, for most of us, karting was simply a way to have fun and enjoy our love of cars, and that’s precisely what this vintage C3 Corvette go kart that recently sold at Bring a Trailer is all about.
This history of this very cool, quite realistic C3 Corvette go kart is a bit murky, but the seller does know that it was built at some point in the 1980s by the folks at Hagstrom Sales Limited of Lilburn, Georgia. Rather than being used and abused, it was apparently stored for decades, more as a collectible or heirloom than a toy, and as a result, looks essentially new today.
Like its full-size counterpart, the body is made from fiberglass, and is finished in red with Corvette badging and styling that’s unmistakeable – save for the fact that the rear portion of the kart is hinged, because the engine is back there, not up front. A Lexan wind shield keeps the bugs out of your grille, and there are reflectors all around for safety’s sake.
This C3 Corvette go kart rides on a set of steel wheels wrapped with 16.5×6.5–8 Armstrong IWT tires, which are mounted to a tubular steel frame with dual Airheart rear disc brakes to help it stop. The interior is pretty darn well-appointed as well, with a tufted black vinyl seat, carpet, a Superior Performance steering wheel, key-operated ignition switch, and adjustable pedals. Heck, it even makes a decent eight horsepower courtesy of a Tecumseh single powerplant, which is mated to a torque convertor and live rear axle.
This super cool, super realistic C3 go kart would make a fine addition to anyone’s garage or office, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly, sold for a reasonable $7k at auction. That’s a small price to pay for something that conjures up all sorts of warm and fuzzy memories, particularly when Corvette prices (and the price of pretty much everything else) continue to rise.
Photos: Bring a Trailer
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