E-Z-GO golf cars: the brand that started in a Georgia workshop

E-Z-GO is an American maker of golf cars and small utility vehicles, founded in 1954 in Augusta, Georgia, by the brothers Bill and Beverly Dolan. Textron took the company over in 1961 and has kept E-Z-GO as a brand; today it is one of several Textron vehicle marques alongside Cushman, TUG and Bad Boys Buggies. Until 1973 the firm made nothing but golf cars, and it still describes itself as the leader of that market.

E-Z-GO Golf at a glance

E-Z-GO has no article of its own in the English Wikipedia; the English page is a redirect to Textron, which gives only the date of the purchase. The rest of this page is based on the German Wikipedia article, for which no model-by-model production data is available.

History of the E-Z-GO Golf

The company began in Augusta, Georgia, in 1954, when Bill and Beverly Dolan set up a maker of golf cars. For the first two decades the range was narrow: according to the German Wikipedia article on the marque, E-Z-GO confined itself to golf cars until 1973 and says today that it leads that market. In 1961 Textron bought the firm; the English Wikipedia history of Textron dates the purchase of E-Z-Go to 1960, so the year is usually given as 1960–61. Textron kept the name as a vehicle brand, and E-Z-GO still sits in the same group as Cushman and TUG, which serve the logistics and works-traffic market, and Bad Boys Buggies for recreational vehicles.

Golf cars first

The best-known series in the company’s history is the TXT. The newest generation of its golf cars is called RXV. Most vehicles leave the factory with an electric motor, but petrol engines are available as well, and the same choice of power applies to the working versions of the range.

Working vehicles

From the golf car base E-Z-GO moved into small multi-purpose vehicles and into commercial vehicles for in-plant transport. The MPT and ST series are working machines with high ground clearance and, in part, off-road tyres, which lets them be used in landscape maintenance; golf cars of the marque are also found on large hotel grounds. In the 1990s the company built a wide range of vehicles for professional logistics use, from the small XI-300 to the XI-881.

In Germany

The general importer for Germany, Austria and Switzerland is Golf Tech Maschinenvertriebs GmbH of Münster, which also imports the Textron lawn-mower brands Ransomes and Jacobsen. E-Z-GO claims the largest sales and service network in the industry, with more dealer locations and independent distributors than any other maker. The marque also appeared outside the golf world: in 2008 it was title sponsor of the E-Z-GO 200 NASCAR race, and in 2009 it received the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence.

Design and features

• Golf cars only until 1973: the marque was built on one product, and still calls itself the market leader in it.
• Electric by default: most E-Z-GO vehicles are delivered with an electric motor, with petrol as the alternative.
• TXT and RXV: the two names that define the range — the best-known series and the newest generation.
• Work derivatives: MPT and ST versions add ground clearance and off-road tyres for landscaping and estate work.

E-Z-GO Golf versions

• Golf cars (TXT, RXV): the core of the range, electric or petrol.
• MPT and ST: working vehicles with high ground clearance and partly off-road tyres.
• XI series: electric and petrol trucks for in-plant and logistics work, built mainly in the 1990s.
• PC personnel carriers: four- to eleven-seat transporters for factories and large sites.

The brand’s best-known series has its own page: E-Z-GO TXT, and the newest golf car is the E-Z-GO RXV. Work versions are described under E-Z-GO ST and E-Z-GO MPT. More vehicles are in the E-Z-GO collection.

Sources

• E-Z-GO, German Wikipedia: history, series, importer, sponsorship, name
• Textron, English Wikipedia: purchase of E-Z-Go, group structure