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FUN TIMES
Those Wild Rocket Karts!
By Bob DiNozzi

There have been many wild and strange experiments throughout karting’s history. Perhaps the wildest of all were the rocket-powered karts of the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Would you believe that in the mid-60s, a rocket-powered kart turned a quarter mile at over 150 MPH? 0 to 150 in 7.3 seconds! That was Jack McClure with his modified 1963 Rupp Dart Kart powered by a pair of Turbonique T-16 rocket engines. These engines, each producing 300 pounds of thrust, used a special type of mono-propellant which the company dubbed “Thermolene” (actually N-Propyl Nitrate).

The engines powered the little kart to faster times than the rail dragsters of its day. These engines, however, were also very dangerous and killed many users because under certain conditions, they could explode like bombs. Those disasters resulted in the Turbonique factory closing and its owner landing in jail!

In 1967, a company called Reaction Dynamics built a record-breaking dragster powered by a 90% hydrogen peroxide motor. This set the stage for many rocket-powered vehicles in the 1970s among them (back again) Jack McClure with a hydrogen peroxide rocket-powered laydown (Enduro) kart. The kart, which resembled a Margay kart, was actually designed by Jack and built by Glenn Blakely of Tampa, Florida. Jack fitted this kart with an engine built by Arvil Porter that produced 1000 pounds of thrust! Jack needed more speed however and asked Arvil to build him a 1,500-pound thrust version.

This engine, crafted of stainless steel, was 10” long by 7” diameter. The hydrogen peroxide was forced through a catalyst pack made of silver and nickel screens. Super heated steam produced by the reaction at 300 PSI escaped through a 2” diameter nozzle and produced enough thrust to push the little kart to over 215 MPH in 6 seconds in the quarter mile!

For stopping, the kart featured disc brakes (for below 100 MPH) and a drag chute. The driver’s suit was also fitted with its own parachute in case the driver and kart became separated during one of those wild runs. The kart was later sold to Ramon Alvarez who raced the kart for a short time. Hopefully, the kart is still in existence.

In 1980, the karting speed envelope was pushed yet further by Australian Rosco McGlashan. Rosco, who at the time was living in the United States built and drove a hydrogen peroxide rocket kart that surpassed 253 MPH! “It was an incredible feeling sitting in that thing with fuel bubbling and gurgling just behind your head and then hitting the throttle,” says Rosco with a smile. “It was truly an awesome machine.”

Rosco continues to be heavily involved in drag racing and speed exhibitions and is today known as Australia’s fastest man. He is currently preparing an assault on the world land speed record. You can read about his speed record attempt car as well as his historic rocket karts by visiting his web site at: http://invader.iinet.net.au/index.html.

Juan Manual Lozano of Mexico, who supplied information for this article, is himself an experienced rocket car builder and is currently constructing a rocker-powered dragster. After that, he plans to build a rocket kart. We will definitely want to see that! You can check out the dragster project at Juan’s web site at http://spin.com.mx/~jmlozano/rocket.html.

And while you’re web surfing, be sure to visit Vintage Karts at www.vintagekarts.com. There you’ll find incredible images and stories from karting’s exciting and colorful past. See you there!

END

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