Club Car® Golf Cart - History
Golf carts see use in all sorts of places nowadays, from the country club and golf course to utility work and campus transportation. And if you’re at all used to working with these machines, you’ve probably used a Club Car® golf cart or two. We here at Quality Golf Carts want to make sure you get nothing but the best, so we wanted to talk a bit about Club Car’s history and what makes them so special below. To learn more, or to see the Club Car golf carts we have for sale, contact our store in Rock Hill, South Carolina, today!
Foundations
In 1962, Bill Stevens bought the company Landreath Machine, moved it to Augusta, Georgia, and redubbed it Club Car. They launched production that same year, and with a single ground-breaking idea they revolutionized the field of golf cart manufacturing forever. That idea? A steering wheel to control the cart. Before Club Car, these machines were controlled by a lever similar to a tiller on a boat.
Golf carts suddenly became easier to drive and control, and celebrities and professional golfers alike became enamored with driving them. Bill and his son even drove a golf cart from Augusta, Georgia, to Dunedin, Florida, as a publicity stunt. Imagine driving for six days in a golf cart for a PGA show!
Club Car never contented themselves with that one innovation and are known for additional upgrades to the golf cart design, such as roofs, storage compartments, and extra seating. With every step forward, golf carts became more and more appealing to people who wanted the optimal experience in convenience and comfort.
The 2000’s
Roll on down a few decades, and Club Car was still rocking the boat with every model released. In the early years of the millennium, they produced their 1,000,000th golf cart, which rolled off the line carrying one of the company’s original eight investors.
In 2008, the Excel Drive System helped boost golf cart efficiency and control to help promote a more confident driver experience, and later that year they introduced the Villager 2+2 LSV. This comfortable and powerful golf cart was built to be street-legal, allowing for easier travel around the neighborhood, a campus, or even downtown.
Other Innovations
Club Car introduced their first zero-emissions low-speed vehicle on Earth Day in 2010. This was followed quickly by the Precedent® i3, a fleet golf cart with features like an onboard GPS and car tracking. It soon won multiple Best Golf Car awards from Golf Digest Magazine.
Ready to write your own chapter in the Club Car® golf cart history book? Contact us at Quality Golf Cart to learn more, or to see the Club Car golf carts we have available. We proudly serve the people of Charlotte, North Carolina—let us serve you today!