The older I get, the fewer full-sized vehicles I want to own. It’s just more work to keep them insured, maintained, and stored indoors somewhere. And that doesn’t count motorcycles, which are easier to store, but I really like unusual and small vehicles like this 1980s Manco Valvoline “Pick-Up Truck” go-kart. The seller has it posted here on craigslist, northeast of Charlotte, North Carolina, and they’re asking $5,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to T.J. for the tip!
A lot of us transition from actual full-sized vehicles to something a bit more manageable. It’s fun to buy vehicles, but shipping has gotten to be such a big expense now and I don’t have the luxury to take three or four days off and just hop on a plane somewhere and drive a vehicle back home again, as a recent commenter said. Actually, the quote was, “shipping is for cowards or people with some money and no sense.” Nice. Speaking of no sense, after taking four days off with no pay, plus the cost of a flight 3/4 of the way across the country, and then adding $700 or $800 in expenses (gas, food, tolls, oil, whatever) to drive back home, so much for saving any money by not having a vehicle shipped.
Shipping is a real thing for most of us who think about vehicles in other parts of the country, or even other countries. I don’t mean to turn this great, never-used go-kart post into another shipping rant, but here we are. I was just saying that some of us are turning to go-karts, motorcycles, bicycles, lighted signs, and other vehicle-related collectibles rather than buying full-sized cars and trucks. These things have taken off lately as vehicle prices have gone through the roof for the most part.
Manco offered many small rides like this one. We’ve seen a couple of similar go-karts here but I searched for “Manco” on the Barn Finds search line and didn’t come up with anything so they must not have been Manco go-karts. The company offered many mini bikes and go-karts, and a couple of fiberglass body karts like this one they called a “pick-up truck”, according to a brochure I found on eBay.
A gentleman named Bill Hatlem, an engineering graduate from Purdue University and a Korean War Air Force veteran, founded Manco Products in 1966. They originally started with mini bikes but soon branched out to go-karts. Eventually, the company started making karts for Sears, which is not a bad client to have. The seller of this truck kart says it has never had gas in it. It was bought new and hung on the wall as art, and a photo of that is above.
The engine should be a 3.5 horsepower Briggs & Stratton single with a centrifugal clutch. I wish we had some detailed photos but the seller has included some nice overall photos of this basically brand new Manco go-kart. Are any of you into small vehicle-related collectibles such as go-karts, automotive signs, etc?
Good show Scotty. What a neat little ride here, awesome Valvoline colors. Your mention of Korean vet Mr. Hatlem, brought to mind my personal favorite airplane. The F86 Sabre.
This is a great find Scotty!!! I think you’re finding a whole new direction for finds here on Barnfinds. I remember seeing these as a kid in magazine ads etc going back to the 70’s and really wanting one. Thanks for the great memories and posting this!!!
And I also like the Red Vette hanging next to it too.
Sold my Manco Corvette in better shape than the one on the wall for $900 and was happy…..it ran great !
Deep in the endless “treasure” trove belonging to my employer, among what those with no visionary thinking would simply call junk, is a similar go cart with a fantastic 80’s Dodge Daytona body splashed with contemporary Mopar graphics and hand painted livery advertising the dealership. Drove it about 20 years ago (last time it was running) and can say it was a scream. 40mph feels blinding fast with your head 2 feet from the pavement.
It’s hard to see someone dropping $5,000 for a go-kart only useful for hanging on a wall. If you buy into the idea that unused items drives prices higher, even driving it around the yard will diminish its value significantly. Good garage art (memorabilia), is getting expensive, but a lot of that is vintage automotive advertising (1960’s and earlier) which was either never envisioned or designed to survive long term. Later advertising pieces are rising in prices, but still pales in comparison to earlier items, due to both quality and rarity.
Recently there was a restored 1986 Manco Valvoline Indy car go kart run through an eBay auction twice with an opening bid of $1,550 and never received a single bid.
Steve R
Yes very cool, but sorry not $5k cool to me.
Wow, that’s a heck of a way to start a post. Let me just say this about that. I didn’t get into that discussion, and am in the same gear as the author. Shipping is just a necessary evil one must endure, because it is the only logical way, for the reasons stated. Scotty is a traveler, he knows full well what is involved, and how seemingly good intentions can go awry pretty quick. Like my mom always used to say, “pay the $2 dollars, Charlie”, meaning, pay the shipping and be done with it.
Okay, I would hope this is a new venture for BarnFinds, stuff the masses here can relate to. If I can add something, Manco, Manco, where have I seen that name,,,AHA! Anyone that did go-karting as a kid, probably remembers Manco go-karts. We had a few go-kart tracks in Milwaukee, usually lackluster ovals in an amusement park, and I think they all used Manco go-karts. An internet search showed Manco did indeed make go-karts for recreation tracks. Insurance must have been outrageous, and the tracks disappeared.
Don’t worry, go karting is alive and well in The Wisconsin Dells, the KING of go-kart tracks today. Many of us got our 1st taste of driving in a go kart. I doubt they use Manco anymore and probably Honda powered, or worse, now E karts, good grief, is nothing sacred anymore? Great post.
Thanks, Howard! Yeah, I wonder what engines they use at those tracks now. I watched a video about Mr. Hatlem, founder of Manco, and he said they started off using Clinton engines until they went out of business. Then they switched to Tecumseh and then for some reason switched to Briggs & Stratton. He preferred Tecumseh because they had “carburetors”, but the Briggs had a diaphragm-type carb and if the go-kart turned over, they would leak and often catch on fire.
It’s super interesting, how Briggs flew him to the plant in Milwaukee and they had a meeting, and once he mentioned the word “fire”, it was done. The company attorney had the warranty changed so they wouldn’t cover mini bikes or go-karts and that was that. Manco switched back to Tecumseh.
It’s around the 4:00 minute mark on this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XyGDYC_Lwg&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Foldminibikes.com%2F&source_ve_path=OTY3MTQ
I bought a Manco cart in 1978. That thing was abused by me and my five kids and is bulletproof. I put a clutch on it and a Harbor Freight motor around 2000. It still loves to entertain.
My son paid $ 1,800 to ship his Shelby GT 500 conv. from Kansas City to Phoenix last year via enclosed trailer.
Thanks for the info, Big Red! Dang, a Shelby GT500 convertible?! And here I was complaining about $1,200 in shipping for a 1974 Sears LT/36E battery-powered lawn tractor from Ohio to Minnesota. $1,800 seems like a deal for that, especially in an enclosed trailer. That is quite a car!