McCulloch Kart Promotion Movie circa 1961

[@RT10Viperman]

In 1963 I woke up Christmas morning with an entry level McCulloch Kart under the tree...! I wore it out and rebuilt it a bunch of times and got my hands on a WestBend Power Bee 7 horse power and went from a 40 mph cart to a 60 mph cart...! Im 71 now and my childhood friend still talks about my fast go kart...!

[@Biokemist-o3k]

That is so cool!!! I want to build one of these with some extra leg room and a larger engine...I just have to get my old Hobart 300 amp Twin cylinder welder running...

[@davestelling]

I had an obsession for a go-kart as a youngster, a family friend helped me build one from an old Sears frame. Had a 5 h.p. Briggs & Stratton engine, etc. Oh my gosh, what memories! I'll be 67 in November, in my dreams I go back!

[@shawntailor5485]

I built a cart out of pas scrap pile and a wrecked 125 Yamaha, got on tv in 1973 in 4-H . I lapped all the other carts and some rich kids dad who owned the local car lot whined to the judges and they started a new class for shifter carts . So I got my ribbon but whiney rich snot boy got his ribbon too . My cart would do 70 on hwy. 34 and near got me in a lot of trouble . Now in my 60s been hanging on to a pair of mac engines for 20 years .😊

[@shawntailor5485]

Man the ribbon girls really laid it on the winners in those post ww 2 days . GIRLS WERE GIRLS AND MEN WERE MEN ! . Even on a kiddy cart !

[@shawntailor5485]

Still got that obsession, now my son has built the only "MOWCART" known to exist . The ridge has an excellent track .​@@davestelling

[@Youreplywasalie]

I lived on a go kart as a kid. For about 6 years. Almost every day. Wasn't the fastest, wasn't the fanciest. But, it was the most fun. I had 160 acres and miles of Country roads to burn on. You can not replace those days. I feel blessed.

[@fastdude2002]

Same for me. I grew up out in the country and in the 1970s I had a one seater and then I got a Sears 2 seater with a 5hp Briggs and Stratton engine. Gave all my neighbor friends rides in my 2 seater.

[@jimmyb1559]

I envy you. We had to ride in the city. I don’t know how we didn’t get run over. Blessed to I guess!

[@steveboru7734]

2 seater got the girls to ride along

[@3nheaven]

I got the Orange Crate from Sears in 1976 for Christmas. Lived in the city. I would ride to the convenience store and get gas and head out to the biggest parking lots in town. I got chased by the cops a few times and got away by getting the jump on them. I always knew when they see me they are gonna come. I just saw them first every time. Rode till it got dark every single day unless it was snowing or raining for 2 years. Man i had a lot of fun.

[@jimmyb1559]

@ Chicago cops would chase me too but I’d make a quick u turn and be gone. One time they snuck up behind me when I was coming home. My father just happened to be in the driveway. The deal was I would only drive up and down the alley… right. I pulled in the driveway and he pointed behind me. I turned around and saw the cop car. Double trouble. They put my cart in the trunk of the cop car and told my dad he would have to pay a fine and pick it up at the station. I never saw my cart again.

[@hugejohnson5011]

So awesome that Don Knotts did this promotional film. He wasn't some cheesy has been either. Top star, and a top guy!

[@tommylitchfield3450]

This was two years before The Andy Griffith Show. Don just got more and more popular after this!

[@guyintenn]

@@tommylitchfield3450 The title says this vid is from 1961. The Andy Griffith Show first aired October 3, 1960.

[@arthurfunk3104]

@arthurfunk3104 0 seconds ago 8:02 "Make you nervous?" "No!" That bit was part of the character he played on "The Steve Allen Show".

[@Mercmad]

He also did the adverts for the new Plymouth Fury.

[@Smedley1947]

I used to love Don Knotts on the Steve Allen Show.

[@roadskare63]

Don Knotts was a BOSS!!! RIP Sir...

[@halfbit]

My grandfather had a couple of these carts with McCulloch model 99 engines. He had a two acre lot on the side of a hill with a gravel/dirt 8 track. I learned how to drift at age 5. I used to get scolded for going too fast. Some of the best memories. Ive also used those early learned driving skills my whole life and never been in an accident.

[@CTSHOEBOX]

I have a dart and a yamaha, noplace to run them

[@Mark-lq3sb]

When I was a teenager in the mid-1970s my best friend had a go-kart powered by twin McCulloch 101's. I remember every Sunday in the summer going to the local Venture (department store.) parking lot because Missouri had a Blue Law, no shopping on Sunday. Only gas stations were allowed open. I recall building a start engine for the Macs. We used a old Tecumseh horizontal shaft engine with a pulley and mounted it to a hand dolly. Using a fan belt to turn the pulley's on the Macs you'd pull back on the dolly and stretch the belt tight and it would turn the Macs fast enough to fire them up. Ironic, my friend attended a technical high school (junior & senior years.) to become a machinist. His first job was at Margay Racing here in St. Louis. He was saving his money to buy a new kart, but other things became more important to him, like building a Harley-Davidson chopper. Man, those were the days of fun in the sun. As long as I live I'll never forget!

[@6stringcodger450]

Fried burritos from the Venture snack bar! Missouri was a backwards kind of place in those days! Katz drug used to block off isles that had anything useful on Sundays. Primitive!

[@JohnnyJimsAZ]

The 60s were awesome. Very little awareness to safety and kids played with large metal Tonko trucks. Plus, being raised in Las Vegas the 60s was awesome and it was such a small town.

[@TheEnergizer1965]

We built a starter out of a Ford engine starter with a socket welded on the shaft. Had a starter solenoid with a push button on it, hooked up to a 12volt car battery...man those were good times, but we had an actual race track out by our airport

[@GregTurner-ks4ii]

​@@JohnnyJimsAZ70's were cool, too, except for disco, haha. 80's started good but went kind of sideways 😳 😬 😐

[@JohnnyJimsAZ]

@@GregTurner-ks4ii the 80s were off, but it was to get better later, but it was also the beginning of the AIDS epidemic that devoured this country very similar to the COVID-19. That pretty much ended half the 80’s discos in the United States. And then eventually all of them. It was also my 80 to 84 enlistment with the Air Force. Looking back I have good memories.

[@PumpkinKingXXIII]

I wish this didn’t show up in my feed. I had a double engine one from my grandfather. He had re worked the front and rear axles so the cart sat about 1&1/2 inch off the ground. The original engines had been replaced with 5hp Briggs. my neighbor painted it for me a green candy apple with glitter in it. My dad put stops to slow it down but I figured it out. He lost it when he was coming home from work and I passed him in the main road.

[@shawntailor5485]

Oh shiiieeet no moment right there . Like when pa pulled in and cought me popping wheelies on the garden tractor he built from a Renault DOLPHIN . The next sunday it got a governor fabricated onto it .

[@scoobyroorogers]

That must have been damn fun passing the ol' man! Enjoyed reading it. Thank You

[@davemoss9505]

I remember once when I was younger in about 1985 I passed my dad on my skateboard while I was hanging onto the back of an AC transit bus. Later when I got home the next day after school he had taken my skateboard and cut it up into little pieces with his jigsaw.

[@scoobyroorogers]

@PumpkinKingXXIII Ha ! Thats crazy!!

[@rodjones812]

My dad raced for McCulloch in the 60’s here back east. He later became a salesman for them. Our farm is full of trophies from that era! He passed away a year and a half ago. We have dedicated a room in our homeplace to his racing Heritage.

[@billm6294]

That's totally awesome. Well done.

[@michaelhayden6936]

Praying sir!

[@queefreak666]

"Here back east"? Where did you come back from?

[@rodjones812]

@ he raced in Maryland in the early 60’s

[@chrispadgitt3689]

Very cool to see Don Knotts doing this. Real....not CGI !

[@chuckwilson2301]

Don was the Best!

[@Smedley1947]

Remember him from the old Steve Allen show? I believe that's where he got started.

[@Famous-Potatoes]

I haven’t seen this film in half a century. Don Knotts was great, Thanks!

[@bradfordbarrettluckotheIrish]

Love it! Don never sounded better!

[@johncarmichael4698]

2024. ……. Film might be 1961 ,,,,, this would be a blast in 2024,,,,,, ❤❤❤

[@oldguy7402]

Grew up in CA in the 50s and 60s. Best friend made a minibike and go cart from scratch. Best days in a dirt lot ever.

[@kayclaydancesupply1933]

I had one of those dual engine racing go karts. It had racing slicks , fast turning and was about 1in off the ground. It would just slide and not flip. It did not have an engine but my father and I built a frame to mount a fan cooled Puch 4 speed two stroke engine with a kick start. With the transmission it could climb steep hills and go down trails. With a gear shift under the steering wheel it performed much better than the centrifugal clutch two strokes. I used to drive it arround my father's research lab at Oak Brook polo fields / airport back in the 1970's . Many good memories of building the cart with my father and driving it around. During the winter I would take it out on the frozen ponds. Plenty of fun doing donuts and sliding around. Being a bit geared down due to the kart tires being smaller in diameter than the motorcycle it buzzed up to around 50mph with plenty of torque! Still remember the loud two stroke ring-ding-ding and cloud of smoke it made. The exhaust was the original header pipe with a lawn mower exhaust fitted with a Budwiser can with holes punched in the bottom to keep the noise to a level where the neighbor wouldnt call the police. It wasn't a tuned expansion pipe but it did work pretty well and did not stick out to far. McCullough chainsaw mufflers were not to much better in the movie. I found recently a vintage book from the 1970's on go kart racing. It's an interesting book of all the companies making karts, engines, transmissions, tuned exhaust pipes and parts. I think go karts are still popular today but much more like a race car. Don Knotts got the pretty girl in the end and dates the movie to the early 1960's.www.amazon.com/Karting-Leroi-Smith/dp/0668019395 nn Another Don Knotts promotional movie where he got the pretty girl in the end: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZ7PiJiNiqlnf6Msi=bVJt6qPqb5PSZXLc and another kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5TCiGSgm9etoJIsi=7VFLjfwPTamK_SCy

[@Lurch-Bot]

I had one that was retrofitted with a Briggs 4 stroke, built by my dad in the '80s. It probably made 12-15HP. We drove it on a track - road style course. I started driving it when I was 3 and a half and quickly got in the habit of drifting through the turns, something it was exceptionally good at doing. It would get up to 55mph in the rather short straights. I was huge for my age but still less than half the weight of a typical adult male so the kart was crazy fast when I drove it.

[@chrismoody1342]

In my neighborhood all the kids had motorcycles. Except one, he had a McCulloch kart. He’d exchange rides with those he trusted. The neighborhood had brand new concrete paved streets that cart loved. We had three sweeping turns and two 90* to go around the block. You’d have to be brave as hell to keep the cart WFO. Man kids today just have no idea how great the 60’s were.

[@Lurch-Bot]

I was drifting a McCulloch kart around a road course in the '80s when I was 4. The '80s were better. The kart had a Briggs 4 stroke that made 12-15HP. Gone were the dual McCulloch 2 strokes. First car I drove was a 1970 Ford Country Sedan, sitting on dad's lap. I'll never forget the dash - it was like being in the Millennium Falcon. He let me fly a Cessna 152 for the first time when I was 4 or 5. I'd say the '80s were more fun. Still got to do wild and crazy things like play lawn darts for the first time when I was 2 years old but we had better tech. in the '80s, just about everyone had a moped or a small displacement dirt bike or a monkey bike. About the only difference was that we were more likely to wear a helmet.

[@WesBell-l4s]

I had a go kart,too,but no Mc collock engine. A 6 hp briggs n stratton! Loved it! Thanks dad!

[@ms-fl7jj]

I was a kid in the 60’s and always wanting a go cart so badly but never got one!

[@gizzyguzzi]

I figure if I'd have had a go kart I would have grown up to be an F1 driver! Nevermind I had motorcycles and never became a MotoGP rider...

[@marty01957]

I was right there with you, never had a cart but did have a mini bike. Burned up the country roads!

[@paulieramos]

I always wanted a go-kart or mini bike and never got one. I supposed if I really pushed my dad for one he probably would've got me one. So I bought a klipper kart at 42 years old and still have it in my garage, im 51 now

[@Smedley1947]

@ms-fl7jj Same here, my folks were way too poor for any items such as this.

[@TheEnergizer1965]

When I was 6 in 1971 my grandfather bought me a racing kart built in the town where I lived, waco tx. It originally had a mac49 on it, but as I got better, he got me the mac101, man I sure miss those days. In my teens I got a margay panther x and put a Yamaha kt100 on it

[@mccow56]

I'm betting if you could have one or the other back today it would be grandpa!

[@charlesarp2664]

Hornet karts were built in Waco TX.. I has one in the early 1980's. They were good frames.

[@TheEnergizer1965]

@mccow56 most definitely. 😞

[@peterpowder8546]

Those were glorious days in many respects. I was fortunate enough to catch the tail end.

[@cliffhaupt5413]

We never could afford anything thing like that. Lucky to have a second hand bicycle.

[@shawntailor5485]

Same for me for poor ,but pa was incredibly and taught us skills with a home made welder as most everything we had was home made . My junk pile go cart lapped all the store bought ones and got me on channel 13 news . Welder was made from a discarded highline transformer. It both cut and welded .

[@shawntailor5485]

Never did own a new bike but it's almost better because the ones ya do get have withstood the acid test of time .

[@jerrywilliams8733]

At 52 i still have the frame of my only bike i ever owned. never had a go cart till I was in my 40's.

[@onemoremisfit]

Second hand bikes here too. Any kid with motorized vehicles for toys is a spoiled brat in my book. My dad wouldn't give us stuff like that if he was a millionaire. He was one of those hard types who didn't want us to grow up thinking life was fun, lol.

[@ffjsb]

Hell, we didn't even know there was organized kart racing.

[@mouser485]

Very cool vid. I always wanted a Mcullough Go Cart. Don Knotts, aka Barney Fife, was surprising to see.

[@605pilot]

They were selling for $137.50 back in the 1960’s. That was a lot of money for those days.

[@Smedley1947]

@605pilot $1 in 1960 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $10.65 today, an increase of $9.65 over 64 years.

[@MikeBarbarossa]

That's like $1500 these days. Doesn't sound like it really broke the bank 🤷‍♂

[@makaveli087]

@@MikeBarbarossa That *is* like $1500 in today's money & as Adults: Yeah, That's nothing *but still* you're talking about (technically) a Kid's toy. My Dad was rich & I couldn't get a hot meal outta the guy - Much less a $1500 GoKart to ruin his lawn with. Even a $500 Gokart.

[@jerryshepherd1645]

I drove for a man in Georgia had Putnik and cyclone frame with two MC 6 s on them We tried the MC 20 also put three MC 6 on one kart great little motor. Race kart from 6years old to 15 years old then went to stock car on dirt track love every minute of it To old now just go watch. They still race the Clinton E65 West Ben / Power Product/ and of course the MC 6 10 20 at Barnville GA right today

[@jerryshepherd1645]

Great show. Down there. Looking for some good racing in 2025

[@sparky6086]

I had a Putt-Nik go kart passed down to me from my older brother. He had it in the early 1960's, then my cousin had it, then I got it in the mid 1970's. Neither here nor there, I just happened to remember the name "Putt-Nik", & wondered if it was a common brand? Maybe it was regional? I lived in Atlanta, GA.

[@brianwhitelegg112]

Nice shock absorbers at the end !

[@phmiii]

Karting has changed a lot since 1961.

[@LemonySnicket-EUC]

So have I. 😅

[@shawntailor5485]

A local kid owns the track record at THE RIDGE . 136 in the straights 97 coming out of the corners

[@Lurch-Bot]

I was driving a McCulloch from the '50s in the mid-80s. The only difference was having 4 stroke Briggs vs a 2 stroke McCulloch or two. I think the kart had originally been a twin engine model. The benefits of the Ackerman steering are rather understated here. I was drifting around the track, with pinpoint precision, before it was cool.

[@ianbarber311]

My mother raced karts, late 50s early 60s. Luckily have some photos. My brother and father also. Both parents ice raced, my father road raced.

[@shawntailor5485]

DICK TRICKLE took me for a hot lap at marshfield when I was about 5 . Never forget it . Thanks for the memory !

[@Earthneedsado-over177]

Love that old timey music. Don sure showed his appreciation for those flowers!

[@johnbritt53]

My dad had a McCullough 9 in the 60’s. He was a pro go kart racer. That kart won him soooo many races. Trophies galore. That “ Mac9” would beat the heck out of twin West Bend engines too. R.I.P. DAD…. Oh, it did 90 mph too !! I did drive it myself at a pre teen age.

[@TWTexasA1]

I never had a store bought go cart before..luckily my dad was a welder and made the frames for every cart I ever had…👍🏼👍🏼

[@radricster]

My dad raced a Fox kart with a Mac9 back in the 60's at Goodwood in Ontario Canada. Grew up listening to his stories about those days, and the cast of characters around the club. I tried racing back in the 1980's but while my dad had a slim driver's build, I was built more to play offensive line. Had fun tho.

[@Smedley1947]

Thank you for posting this and thank you KZbin for having it come up in my feed.

[@Biokemist-o3k]

These were the good old days from what I can see...I love these old commercials..I wonder if Don Knotts actually drove the kart in the commercial..

[@shawntailor5485]

Yes he did

[@shawntailor5485]

Don did something significant in ww2 cant remember what.

[@hugejohnson5011]

@@shawntailor5485 Yes, he made it home alive!

[@Lurch-Bot]

In 1961, McCarthyism was still going strong and there was a constant threat of nuclear annihilation, but sure, the good old days :P

[@hugejohnson5011]

@@Lurch-Bot Maybe so. But, society in general was a far sight better. There were still creeps and freaks, but many kept that crap to themselves. There were no youngsters killing themselves over being cyber bullied. There weren't so many creeps and thugs in our nation's cities and towns. Immigration was not like it is now. Some things were better, some were not.

[@MikeinVirginia1]

I'm 71 too, and our family moved into a house without a basement. I had a nice train set setup in our old basement. A guy where my Dad worked had a go kart that we got for my train set. It had a McCullough engine that I couldn't get running. We put a 5 hp 4 cycle engine on it and I had a great kart too!

[@williamwelch7]

Thanks, a most enjoyable film!

[@AbeFrohman528]

McCullough was big back then, chainsaws, carts etc . I was Born in 61, so I came in on the tail end of the 2 stroke era... I made my own cart in junior high metal shop.....

[@andrewslagle1974]

My father in the early 70s got me a well used rupp ex race kart and all spare parts, a pickup full of parts & what was left of x2 mcculloch 101 engines. we re powered it with brigs engine x1 then x2 . I loved that kart,i spent so much time driving and fixing it . i blew up many engines .that kart and the engines started my love of mechanics that lasted my entire life !

[@paulmccullar1938]

In the 70’s my dad bought an old Nimrod pop up camper and a Sears Ted Williams outboard from a friend that needed some $. That little 7.5 hp short shaft , water cooled 2 cycle outboard motor took us all over lakes here in SoTX. Later when I would perform work on that motor I discovered it was a McCulloch engine. Parts became tough to find and I had to eventually scrap it, a sad day. It was a reliable screamer, that was lightweight and fun to throttle up!

[@grubby1975]

My Dad always talked about the kart he had with twin B-101's and racing it when he was in his early 20's. I ended up racing as a kid/teen up in to my mid 20's. Last kart I had was a new Barbarian with a Briggs Open Motor. Always loved the "Stock Appearing" classes where NOTHING was stock, but it looked it! 😅

[@mikes9759]

Great Vid!!!! Glad I stumbled across this channel!! I'm an older guy from those days and moved on to the muscle cars and Harleys from there!! This is just what I needed to lift my spirits!! Thanks I'll be back! That cart with the twins on it brings back a lot of memories!!

[@steven9428]

I had a few friends that raced carts in the early and mid 1990s. By then they looked like little mini F1 cars. We were all in our 20s at the time. I was in the early stages of opening my collision repair shop and still working out of the revamped tractor shed in my parent's backyard. That was our race shop after 5:00PM. I painted those carts a cool new color and scheme every season. Flames, scallops, flip flop pearl and the like. As I recall, they were powered by alcohol burning souped up Briggs and Stratton 4 strokes. We had a great time with them until the track closed down for good. I don't know if cart racing even happens any more.

[@morganfisherart]

Boy, that's a pretty extended smooch the tall bombshell gives him at the end! I'm in the wrong business... ;-)

[@AsswipeGarage]

If it makes you feel any better, she's probably dead now 🤣

[@Earthneedsado-over177]

I doubt they were kissing, it's all about the camera angle.

[@RT82162]

I don't know... On tv and in the movies, Don usually portrayed shy guys, but according to his daughter, he was actually quite a "ladies man"!

[@morganfisherart]

And she seems like quite a man’s lady. With a fabulous figure!

[@Lurch-Bot]

@@RT82162 It takes a genius to play an idiot.

[@laserdad]

I don't know where you found this footage, but thanks for posting it.

[@jasonmacneil2256]

Don Knotts!! Such a wonderful, kind, loving, and funny man!! Hope to get to visit with him and Andy Griffith in heaven!!

[@MUUKOW3]

I was probably one of the last holdouts racing with McCulloch engines before going to Yamaha. Still have my box of 93B's though!

[@brentchristopher7363]

Neighbor kid had a cart that had 2 mcCulloch engines, each had expansion chambers on them. Dang thing was loud. He’d race the kart at a raceway in south east Wisconsin. I did own a mcculloch chainsaw though.

[@ron8935]

Heck yeah this is just before my time but this is what I love😮

[@Rudimentary007]

Me too.👍😎

[@wayvicle]

I Love Don Knots. He was hilarious. Great physical comedian

[@sixter4157]

I remember my grandmother showing old 8mm home movies of my grandfather racing one of these.

[@62impalaconvert]

Got a Go Kart for Christmas '62 aftter begging for one since I was 13. It had a Tecumseh engine. Turned 16 in '64, got my driver's license and a '57 VW. So much for karting around our cul-de-sac. Dad took took the kart back the the bicycle shop he bought it from and sold it back to them. I had fun on the kart for a year and a half, which was a long time when you are 14-15. The centrifugal clutch was "grabby" but I was too young to do anything about it.

[@rogerw3818]

Don always raced with a bullet in his pocket.

[@devildawg1065]

Funniest comment of the day award. Well done , I needed a good laugh.

[@markdinkel-uh2je]

😂

[@onemoremisfit]

If Don was still around today he'd have TWO bullets in his pocket.

[@charlo8664]

I remember the go kart days. A friend had one. He could turn at a high rate of speed and skid slide. Also mini bikes were awesome.

[@stephenpowers5385]

Friend in High School had a brother who had a half midget powered by McCullough. Raced at Pomona, Ca. quarter midget track. Dave and Rick Nelson raced there. There was a track in Brea. Ca. also. Engines were as pictured, chain saw with bar and chain removed. Accelerator pushed the trigger just like your finger would if cutting wood. This was late 50's early 60's.

[@pudnbug]

Very interesting - especially the end. Just shows you the potential advantages of driving a McCulloch kart. One might get the idea that McCulloch really had something with that shock-absorbing rear end, but I started racing karts in 1962, and by 1963 I was winning races, and I don't recall ever seeing a McCulloch kart. If other karts had problems with vibration, I certainly wasn't aware of it. But maybe if I had been driving a McCulloch kart, I might have been kissed by that gorgeous girl - darn! I missed out!

[@sraiken]

I won the Rota 200 in 1964 with a West Bend 580 V5 engine running against Mc 9’s which were a faster class but this was a endurance multi class race. At 14 years old this was a life shaping experience.

[@bevo65]

I remember McCullough for chainsaws. No idea they made karts. 🤔

[@davemesker9600]

When i was a kid we built our own go carts out of wood using an edger motor a v belt for drive on pullys and lawn mower wheels.

[@guybassett12]

I was also an extra at Desi Lu studios with Andy Griffith, Gomer Pyle Gilligans island, and so many more I mainly did western TV shows I gunsmoke Virginian big valley

[@LazloNQ]

Tell us more!

[@genearbogast7525]

My father went to high school with Don Knotts in Morgantown.... Does anyone remember Michelle's Cartway in South Florida? They were running Mculloch motors in the 70's

[@barabas688]

I never had a kart or even a big wheel. But when I got my old Plymouth duster as a dumb teen, I made up for it. 💪

[@raystarky3896]

I remember those little Karts growing up in los angeles in the mid and late 60's AND i had long gone forgot about those little Karts UNTIL one day a guy brought one into the Machine Shop at the Junior College. IT was a GO KART alright!! He had it hooked up to a RD 400cc. I believe he said he had it up to 120mph.

[@eddroberts1681]

I had a Yamaha 60 mini Enduro that i rode for 4 years. It was too small for me so my dad took the motor off my motorcycle and put it on a go cart. That was so cool having a 4 speed go cart. Rode it for 5 yrs.

[@charleslum2438]

My dad and uncles raced karts with twin, stroked McCulloch Mac 10s with twin carbs and velocity stacks. The exhaust looked like a square trumpet bell. There was a switch to bypass the points at high rpm that was supposed make a hotter spark. They regularly kicked the factory karts asses. They stayed sideways most the time. The first drifting I ever saw, back in the early 60s. There are a couple of them left at the shop I was working at.

[@johnstuchlik5828]

That switch also changed spark advance.maverick spark.

[@SPQR-Z]

Missed the GoKart craze by a few years but was lucky to be old enough to catch the Minibike and Honda MiniTrail craze. Later 60’s, early 70’s

[@RobertBrown-s4i]

So that’s what Juanita looks like…. No wonder we never saw her on the Andy Griffith show……it’s a family show……atta boy Barn….😊😊😊👍👍

[@Campsnowcactus]

What a great blast from the past. I wonder where this add was shown. Never ever saw it.

[@kennethhacker3014]

Oh the memories...thank you for the upload

[@jimlove4541]

I love it, as a little kid my family would tow the house trailer up to the June Lake Loop and stay for a couple of weeks at Silver Lake trailer park. Now that I have set the scene it was the 1960's and for entertainment one of the families had brought a slide projector and record player to go with it. I remember watching a film/slide show with the record playing and prompting with a ding to change the slide. This was a set up from the school district and it was all about the origin of go-Karting . Around 1978 I joined I.K.F. and bought my first Kart out of the Recycler . I still have it now and guess what it is a Duffy Livingston laydown tiller steering . I owned a Mc Donald laydown at one point but traded it for a better deal. I still have the Duffy, a 125 Rotax laydown shifter and a 150 open laydown. I always Race in F.K.E. 2 I had the great fortune to have Known Paul Bemis his son Gene Bemis and Mike Culver. I grew-up in the San Fernando Valley and Knew Chuck Pittenger and his Dad they Owned Pitts Performance. Looking forward to some contact with you folks

[@lonniepruitt5487]

I got used go cart one when I was 9 yrs old in 1968 had blast

[@sbacsigadget]

When I was a kid a friend had a McCulloch mounted in a mini bike frame, you had to work the throttle by grabbing the carb shaft itself. Wasn't the safest but back then if you went home with a banged up body you got banged up some more after the hospital visit.

[@Airsally]

I actually drove that track in Azusa. It was right next store to Aerojet . Across the road later , was Irwindale raceway drag strip.

[@Paintppa1]

late sixties and early seventies i had a Margay with twin 91B's i bought from Dis Dismore in Greencastle, Indiana. His son raced at Indy. great memories.

[@littlemark01]

I would have sold my soul to get one of those in the 60s. I had to wait till I was 16 to get a go-kart with my own hard earned money.

[@1gdfoster1]

I remember racing karts in 1959 and 60 at age of five. Arcata, Calif. I think it must have been a Briggs Stratton because it wasn't very fast. Had a bunch of trophies and Ribbons and I remember getting a kiss from the trophy girl and always wiping the kiss off my lips. That always gave the crowd a laugh. Great memories from what I remember!! Gregg Foster, Sponsored by Bella Vista Market, Mckinleyville, Ca.

[@autocrow]

I enjoyed every minute of this!

[@billclisham8668]

I bought an old Mac when I was 14. It had sat for years in a shed and needed a lot of work but once I got it going it was pretty amazing!

[@scottchandler6250]

In the mid 60s through the Mid90s, my dad ran a cart motor on his 120 super pro McCullough chainsaw. It would pull a 7 foot bar! The big stils wouldn’t even do that. The biggest tree he cut was 22 feet in diameter. I wish I could put a picture of a 20 foot tree I have but I can’t figure out how.

[@farawayfarm2520]

When I saw this video I came looking for a comment like this. My Dad did the same thing with an SP 125 and a cart engine.

[@ccscomments757]

WOW! A LOT of RED SHIFT in the chemicals used in this film. Would be nice to see a restored version with Don Knotts.

[@artvandalay9642]

Ackerman steering! Heard the term for years now I know what it is.

[@davenelson8187]

I think he wore those same goggles during the episode of Andy Griffith, where he bought the military surplus motorcycle to set up his speed trap (checkpoint chickie). LOL

[@jimmyb1559]

My friend and I pooled our money together and bought a cart chassis from a kid in the neighborhood. Oh how we wanted a McColloch engine but couldn’t afford it. It’s still my favorite memory growing up in the 60’s.

[@FarmerKen355]

Yep I had one in 1962, I was fifteen then, I am 77 now. I own four race cars but I still have a Kart, my Kart is an Emmick and the engine is a Komet K78, some may say I am too old, I say hell I am still having fun.

[@CatladyinFL]

I love this old commercial with Don Knotts!!!

[@kevincozzo260]

we had minibikes as a kid , but built them ourselves using 4 stroke brigs & stratton engines....always on the lookout for old edgers being thrown out, lol...Karts like this were for the rich kids...I didn't know McCulloch actually made them, and with 2 engines? Pretty cool, even tho every McCullough chainsaw I ever encountered was a POS, lol

[@Lurch-Bot]

By the '80s an old McCulloch frame was cheap and a good foundation for one hell of a kart. My dad built one on a McCulloch twin engine frame, with a built Briggs 4 stroke that probably made around 12-15HP. I have plenty of fond memories of going to the track, hopping in the kart, putting my foot down on the throttle and not letting up until the tank ran dry. I was drifting before it was cool. Brakes? We don't need no stinkin' brakes! They couldn't have understated the benefits of Ackerman steering more in this promo vid. While most modern drifters run reverse-Ackerman, I like the precise directional control offered by standard Ackerman steering and reverse-Ackerman is for people who struggle to get a car drifting. Probably also better for low speed drifting with reverse-Ackerman. But I wasn't doing doughnuts in a parking lot, I was drifting around tight corners at 50+ mph in a kart where control precision was of paramount importance.

[@leslieholmes2899]

My first job out of high school was with McCulloch. Lots of memories.

[@norahjaneeast5450]

I knew this Chainsaw Company made Motors that got put on go-karts I was under the impression they were just chainsaw motors that like hey this would work on a go-kart so a bunch of chainsaws got there motor taken away from them put on a go-kart anyway can I go back to watching this also I thought this was the thing that happened more in the 70s surprised to see this was the standard for great go-kart Motoring in the 60s

[@vracan]

I had a gokart in early 80' where I had finally put a chainsaw engine. Acceleration was phenomenal. At the end though it caught on fire being a 2-stroke some gas spilled on the engine by accident and it was emregency firemen city after that...and the end of my karting days. Still remember the big crowd that had attracted.

[@davidspringer4950]

A home-made kart helped me cut off the end of my left index finger 40 years ago, might have been different story with a McCulloch ride!

[@tedk2166]

The movie Beach Blanket Bingo had a scene at the end where the gang went to the drag races and there was a twin engine cart doing donuts, my father told my it was Don Knotts driving the cart.

[@leswallis8158]

My twin brother & i had mini bikes & a go cart our father gave us a 12 or 15 hp tecumseh engine of a air compressor he upgraded man that thing could pull a wheelie

[@charliechristie2949]

INCREDIBLE movie...... Barney Fife selling McCulloch carts...... Very Cool !!

[@phillippitts6294]

Don ! Growing up a kid in school had a 2 engine cart like that.

[@andyevans2336]

Grew up with a couple of these in the neighborhood. Frik'n rockets! And how did they find a picture of Super Dave Osborn before he added the red white and blue colors for his helmet for the thumbnail photo?

[@bdogjr7779]

Wow《☆》Don Knots Tokyo Drift👍🏾😁🤳I luvv 2 Strokes❤I had a 73 YAMAHA RD350 with JR expansion chambers 220 main jets. It was punching way above its weight class🍔I remember the mini Mac Chainsaw I inherited from my Dad was pretty tough too for such a little saw🙏🏼Hopefully USA will get back to being more competitive in manufacturing✌🏼😎☯️

[@shawntailor5485]

I threw a brand new mini mac out of a tree many years ago when it turned out to be afraid of height. Prior to the 80s they werent a bad saw . Hard to beat a STIHL for a tree man tho .

[@blackdog7275]

The music is incredible, I never noticed when I was a kid.

[@skitownstreetcred]

I absolutely love this! Now I have to pull out that old 2 Stroke Cart engine my good old friend gave me after his dad passed a few years ago. It was hidden in the basement side cubby hole. It was like a secret stash for him as a kid (Now in his 60's) Willard gave me the engine and I got it running almost immediately until the pullstring broke. I'm going to pull that beast out and see if it's a McCulloch or not. Update coming soon. Maybe I'll post a short for y'all to see it. It's pretty cool! Nice video guys!

[@DavidClark-vu3dw]

Waiting.

[@skitownstreetcred]

@@DavidClark-vu3dw Hey David! Thank you for your patience. I went into my garage and the engine was not there. It IS definitely in my storage unit and I'll run over and scoop it up within the next couple of days. Thanks for your patience!!

[@TheLeadSled]

This is an absolute gem, first of all they used Don Knotts an American icon, and secondly who doesn't love go carting

[@edmundanderson657]

Don actually raced and was competitive.

[@PatrickD-ql6jg]

I was 2, gotta love Don Knots.

[@leversforever9748]

Michelle's cartway, 60s Medley, Florida memories!!

[@davemoss9505]

I love Don Knotts. Just looking at him makes me feel good.

[@StupidEarthlings]

AWESOME!!! Karting was quite a thing back then..

[@KentuckyFriedFixes]

This is great. Thanks guys!

[@kurtvonfricken6829]

MacCullagh 101bs with the kart engine are considered one of best chainsaws ever.

[@davemitchell1323]

GREAT .