Alex Soduk's 1968 Rupp J Kart
Alex's dad bought this kart back in the late 70's from an ex-racer. It came with Goodyear
slicks and two huge side-mounted gas tanks. The frame is two-piece, connected at 4 points
by ball joints and some sort of rubber bushing arrangement. Alex wrote the Vintage Karts
web site asking for help in identifying this kart. Carl Billington (President of VKRA and
a real Rupp kart expert) pegged it as a 1968 J Kart.
Back to the story: Alex's dad and his friends messed around with this kart on a backyard track, running some sort of gasohol on Briggs 3.5HP motors. In 1992, the kart had been sitting around unused for about 5 years when Alex decided to drag it out and resurrect it. After some timkering and adjusting, he and his friends "terrorized the neighborhood", trashing clutches and other components in the process. Even a minor frame break. Alex and his dad treated the kart to a weld repair and fresh yellow paint job.
Once all was back in place, Alex let some friends at the local Porsche club drive the
kart. They all loved it and some went out and bought karts of their own. Alex's kart saw
autocross action with the Posche club until a minor mishap:
"At the last event, one of the knock-offs came loose and the driver (not me) didn't
realize it. The wheel's wobbling caused the hub and wheel to be pretty much trashed so i'm
now looking for a new hub, wheel and spinner as well as some "new" Goodyear
rubber. If you think you can help me, e-mail me at asoduk@neo.rr.com."