This go kart is a prototype that was developed and built in 1980 by Pony Car of Italy to resemble the 1979 Ferrari 312T4 Formula 1 car driven by Gilles Villeneuve.
It’s powered by a 50cc Motori Rizzato single-cylinder two-stroke engine that sends power to the rear wheels. It has a single rear disc brake, a tubular steel frame, and aluminum bodywork finished in Ferrari F1 livery.
This is the full-sized Ferrari 312T4 Formula 1 car, seen here being driven by the great Gilles Villeneuve. Image courtesy of Ferrari S.p.A.
The Ferrari 312 series of F1 cars was introduced for the 1966 season, the first was the 312 which was followed by the 312B and the 312T, which was then succeeded by the 312T2, 312T2B, 312T3, 312T4, 312T5, 312T6, and the 312T8.
The Ferrari 312T series of cars would go on to win 27 Grand Prix, four Constructors’ Championships, and three Drivers’ Championships, which makes it the most successful car design in Formula 1 history.
The addition of the “T” to the model name was for the unusual transverse 5-speed gearbox which was installed in front of the rear axle line – improving weight distribution and handling.
This is the first prototype of a go kart design from 1980 that was designed to look like the 1979 Ferrari 312T4.
Power was provided by the legendary Ferrari 3.0 liter flat-12 engine, the name 312 came from the displacement followed by the cylinder count.
Of course, this go kart had vastly simpler engineering than the car it’s designed to resemble, it also has exactly 27 fewer Grand Prix wins and four fewer Constructors’ Championships under its belt.
But on the plus side, it’s multiple orders of magnitude more affordable to buy and maintain.
If you’d like to read more about this unusual prototype go kart or register to bid you can visit the listing here on Bring A Trailer, it’s being offered for sale out of Portland, Oregon.
Images courtesy of Bring A Trailer
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
