1959 speedmobile

markus

Well-Known Member
#1
Couple months back I ran into a guy at a swapmeet and he told me he had some interesting karts and some parts that he wanted to sell. I finally go with him recently, Unfortuntaly about 2 month before I met him he said he gave his buddy a late '60 chopper minibike he had for years:doah: Day late and a dollar short, oh well. Not an internet savvy guy so pics werent happening and he was about a 140 mile round trip, I was a little worried about what I was going to find. I ended up buying 2 karts some mags, a box of some random stuff from when he was racing conventional karts in the '90's.

This is a 1959 Hedstrom Speedmobile, He bought it over 20 years ago at Carlise swaps when he lived up there and restored it back then. Its been mounted on top of a 6' shelf in his eat off the floor garage, when we took it down he siad that was the first time that it had been on the ground in over 15 years. Says the original "speed mobile" stenciling is still on the seatback under the upholstered piece his wife made for it.

Definitely not a race kart but its in very nice shape and shows very well, and rideable!



heres some of the stuff I picked up as well, gotta try and "id" a couple things and get it sold off


cool small assortment of mags:thumbsup:


I also got a supposed Ringling Bros. monkey kart, I'm gonna start another thread for it though.......
 
#4
That vertical mount motor in that kart is cool...... it looks like they twist a belt to a forward jackshaft and then come back again....curious why they didn't just mount the motor horizontally unless it's a 4 stroke...
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#5
That vertical mount motor in that kart is cool...... it looks like they twist a belt to a forward jackshaft and then come back again....curious why they didn't just mount the motor horizontally unless it's a 4 stroke...

It s 2 stroke power products engine, does exactly what you think it does, the throttle is the idler pulley midway down the kart. it tensions the belt to make it go, the motor is fixed rpms. I dunno why they did it either, I know when I talked to him I tried to research the speedmobiles, the later ones used the horizontal and they had reverse!

Yoop, all the mags/soft cover books are early '60's


Biggest bummer with this kart is its not going to fit anywhere:doah: I thought I could maybe hang it upside down from the ceiling, not going to happen, my house was built for midgets:facepalm:
 
#7
Awesome kart Markus. :thumbsup: How does that old Power Products run?

I am wondering the same thing ?? Does it have any power ?? I have several of these Power Product motors on mower frames my Dad used back in the 60's and I havent junked them yet .
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#9
Awesome kart Markus. How does that old Power Products run?
I am wondering the same thing ?? Does it have any power ??
Not a clue, I went as far as a little oil and and starting fluid just to make sure it fired. Ran it just briefly and buttoned it back up. I would say its not a powerhouse by any means. I'm not gonna bother to go any further at this point, its a museum piece the way it sits, if a buyer wants me to redo the carb for service well find out at that time, but I don't want to go scratching things up etc..


Kart is cool!! Wheres the other one?
that one is the "tom Thumb Kart" thread, while its quite the fixer upper thats what I was after when I bought this one, I had to buy everything though in order to get it.

Heres the original speed mobile artwork that under the seatback, Dunno if I can get all the glue off without compromising the paint though:



All dusted and now listed on local CL:
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#17
I went ahead and went though the carb and got it running, its been raingin so I didn't drive it but I made a vid of it, Trying to sell it so hope the video helps the sale:thumbsup:

1959 hedstrom speedmobile go kart - YouTube



[YOUTUBE]<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kbVtE52-3ak?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/YOUTUBE]
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#19
So I was listing some old comics on ebay today and this caught my eye on the back of a 1960 superman book:



reminded me that I still have this dam kart:doah: I put it in a classic car museum place that consigns as well, so its on display/for sale there. I guess I should check on it :doah:
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#20
:laugh: mike the champion chimp go kart driver!!!



I wonder if the museum I left my kart with still has it, I told them to just keep the dam thing as it was too big to bring back home. That would be a good photo to go along with it. Look like they shortened that one to fit the chimp better.
 
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