Freddie,
Years ago we used to have a Go-Cart track just North of me where you could go rent them and they had different classes which you had to prove you could drive before they let you move up. The top class ones would really fly and there was no safety stuff on them or around the 1 1/2 mile track. But they were fun even when I was picking myself up from a crash and wondering if all of my body parts were still where they were supposed to be. It was great back in the days before the Govt. decided to make everything safe for kids. And with all of the stupid things I did and tried with others, I do not recall anyone ever getting seriously hurt unless you consider the occasional broken leg or arm a serious injury.
But my favorites were the imitation Soap Box derby cars that we made out of orange crates and any wheels we could scrounge up when I lived down at Santa Barbara. We would drag them to the top of the mountain and then ride them down the fire roads they had cut. Few made it all the way down as they shed wheels and parts like confetti in the wind, and I left enough skin on various trees around there to cover six people. And I still had a lot of fun.
Ron