I am bored, but thought this was interesting nonetheless. I did a video on it ages ago but updated a few prices now we have big boy inflation. I wanted to know whether kart prices have tracks common used inflation indexes, or whether they’ve gone higher or lower.
I have taken a lot of data but thought to keep it simple we compare a competitive chassis from 1990 and compare to what a similar relative performing chassis today would cost.
So a Deavinsons Sprint National cost £689 in 1990.
The bank of england inflation calculator rate from 1990 to now in the UK is 126%
In today’s money thats around £1,556.60
A modern Tonykart is £3515 in the UK (latest price from Kartstore UK).
While not exact, the rate of price difference between 1990 and now for a competitive chassis is 410%
Obviously this says nothing about the cost of manufacturer etc… but it’s interesting nonetheless. The price increases in karting are relatively higher, by quite some margin.
True, the other bit is that inflation is an average, that 126% is based on a specific set of items that should be representative of commonly bought goods, so not really applicable to items like a kart. To be more precise, I’d look at few proxies that are similar in nature, to figure out how differently that 126% would look like if you measure it by looking at things like a car, motorcycle, aluminum, few other hobby type of items. Usually whatever entity measure it, probably has a breakdown of its components and how they differ
It might be worth trying to find a price for a TonyKart in 1990 too. I’m sure they would cost more then a deavinsons, maybe not double. But probably closer.
Most expensive I can find is PCR Int spec kart at £790 in 1990. That’s £1,784 in today’s money and represents a 344% increase in cost vs 126% BoE inflation measurement. Obviously we can remove pods from the modern price but as they are a regulatory I feel it’s part of the cost burden.
The uk Office of National statistics records the UK retail price index at 100 in jan. 1987 rising to 360 in oct 2022 ,so that a set of BS YBNs costing 100gbp in 1987 would be expected to cost 360 gbp now.
I know that you said that the numbers don’t speak to manufacturing costs etc… But I think it’s worth considering how karts themselves have changed since 1990…
First thing that comes to mind is bodywork. Four large lumps of plastic have to be included now vs 1 or 2 in 1990 and the consumer cost is not slight.
Of course to record your race you’ll need an 8mm compact camcorder. The Sony one we bought at Circuit City cost about $900 according to some simular vintage catalogs. That would be $1740 in today’s fiat money. And at best you could take it to your friends house to bore them with shaky recordings of your feats on their 25 inch TV.
What’s a YouTube?