In what year was the first go-kart built?

The first go-kart was built in 1956.

American engineer and racing-car builder Art Ingels assembled the machine while working at Kurtis Kraft in Los Angeles. He used scrap metal tubing and a surplus West Bend two-stroke engine, creating a simple, lightweight vehicle with a rear-mounted engine and no bodywork.

Ingels tested the kart in a Rose Bowl parking lot, where its low cost and entertaining handling quickly attracted attention. The idea spread through Southern California and helped establish karting as an organized form of motorsport. Ingels is therefore often called the “father of karting.”

A common mix-up is confusing the first kart with the later growth of kart-racing organizations. The International Kart Federation was founded in 1957, while the FIA’s international karting commission, CIK, was created in 1962. Those developments came after the prototype itself.