History
This kart was raced from 1998 through 2010 by Mike Taylor against many drivers whom have become household names in the racing world. Those include: Paul Tracy, A.J. Almindinger, Ashley Force, Scott Pruit among others. Some of the tracks where Mike competed were Apple Valley, Riverside, Buttonwillow, Fontana, Las Vegas, Santa Maria, Ventura, and Phoenix, in addition to numerous others.
The Honda CR125/2 Stroke motor, with its' expansion chamber, was estimated to have 45 horsepower. The kart also included a 6 speed transmission and incorporated an on board timing system that read speed, lap count, water temp, exhaust temp and head temperature.
These karts had a minimum weight of 385 pounds with the driver on board and would race up to 25 laps on tracks of .85 miles in length up to 2.7 miles. The fastest recorded speed for this kart was 125 mph, which was established at Buttonwillow. Multi time Formula 1 Champion, Michael Schumacher, was quoted as saying that Shifter Karts are "the closest thing to a Formula 1 race car in quickness of acceleration, braking, steering, cornering ability and sequential gearbox shifting.
Thank you Mike Taylor for this beautiful donation!