Offyette Quarter Midget Racer

The Offyette brand of quarter midget racers were produced back in the 1950s by the Larc-Douglas Company for children who wanted to have some fun racing on a mini sized dirt track. The cars were a fiberglass monocoque design with independent front suspension, torsion bar rear suspension and hydraulic rear brakes. The power came from a rear mounted, single cylinder, Continental Red Seal 4 stroke engine.

This particular Offyette has been completely restored and appears to be in immaculate condition. If you look closely at the photos, you’ll notice the long “exhaust pipe” on the left is purely cosmetic since the actual exhaust is down low on the right rear of the car. Also visible in the rear are the hydraulic brake lines as well as what looks like a centrifugal clutch and chain drive to the axle, some pretty well engineered little racers overall for the young kids who had the chance to get out and do battle on the track.

It wouldn’t be surprising if this restored racer is in better condition than any of them were when new, but that seems to happen a lot as some of us older guys start tinkering on things. There are still quite a few quarter midget enthusiasts out there who remember these Offyettes, judging from what I gathered as I did some quick Internet research, and it’s my guess a restored jewel like this should bring a very nice price. Think of the smile on a young racer’s face if he or she had the chance to race one of these! Will this one ever see dirt duty again?