How to Win Father of the Year
An 85cc solution to your kid’s Little League problems.
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Let’s say your kid sucks at sports. Basketball, baseball, football—it's all futile. The hand-eye coordination just isn’t there; a cinderblock would have better chances of scoring off a penalty shot. By the age of twelve, it’s pretty clear where everybody falls on the spectrum of natural talent. For the kid building dirt piles in left field, it’s time for the next thing. No, not competitive sand-castling: Put your kid in a racing kart.
And, if you’ve got the means, put them in an awesome racing kart, like this vintage one offered at Bonhams Monaco. It’s an old Finnkart 85cc SF A1, hardly fancy and well-worn. Hell, it hasn’t run in 33 years. But you see that patina? Somebody else’s kid laid it on back in 1982, winning the Ronnie Peterson Memorial Championship and finishing second overall in the Formula Mini Series. Then that kid moved up through the open-wheel racing ranks, into British Formula Three and eventually F1. There, he went wheel-to-wheel Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, eventually winning two World Championships at McLaren. Yes, this little 85cc terror is Mika Häkkinen’s childhood ride. Obviously, it’s the perfect thing for that little terror of your own.
So buy it, restore it with your son or daughter, then then set them loose on the track and collect your Father of the Year award. Worst case scenario, they still suck but you own Mika Häkkinen’s old kart. And, hey, that’s sure to make you the coolest guy at sand-castling practice, right?
