The Brand Behind the Cart: What I Tell Every Customer About Textron
By Fred, Owner — Charlotte Golf CartsA Company That’s Been Around Longer Than Most of Us
People ask me all the time why I only carry E-Z-GO and Cushman. Honestly, the answer starts with who’s behind them.Both brands are owned by Textron Inc. — a company that’s been around since 1923. That’s over 100 years. A 27-year-old named Royal Little started it in Boston as a little textile company called Special Yarns Corporation. First year sales were $75,000. Today, Textron pulls in $13.7 billion in annual revenue and employs over 45,000 people in 25 countries.
That’s not a startup. That’s a proven American institution. And when I sell you one of their carts, that’s the company standing behind it.
E-Z-GO: Started in a Garage in 1954
Most people don’t know the origin story of E-Z-GO, and honestly it’s one of my favorite things to share. Two brothers — Billy and Beverly “Bev” Dolan — founded the company on June 13, 1954, in Augusta, Georgia. The day after Bev got out of the military.They built their first carts by hand in a small machine shop, using wing-flap motors pulled from old B-17 bombers left over from World War II. What inspired them? Watching Augusta National Chairman Bobby Jones riding a three-wheeled cart around the course at the 1954 Masters. That’s a pretty good origin story.
Six years later, in 1960, Textron bought E-Z-GO. The founder of Textron, Royal Little, was an avid golfer — and he loved what the Dolan brothers had built. Billy and Bev stayed on through 1978, helping grow the brand into what it is today.
That’s over 70 years of E-Z-GO carts being built and refined. That history shows up in every cart we sell.
Cushman: An American Original Since 1901
If you think E-Z-GO has history, Cushman goes back even further — all the way to 1901. Two cousins, Everett and Clinton Cushman, started the company in Lincoln, Nebraska, building engines for farm equipment and boats. They supplied engines during World War I, then built motorized scooters for U.S. troops in World War II.Textron brought Cushman into the family in 1998, and both brands have operated together under Textron Specialized Vehicles ever since — headquartered right there in Augusta, Georgia, alongside E-Z-GO.
When you’re riding a Cushman, you’re sitting on 125 years of American manufacturing history. That’s not something I can say about a cart that showed up in a container ship last month.
Why This Matters When You’re Buying a Cart
Look, I’m not here to give you a history lesson. I’m here to help you make a smart purchase. But history matters in this business — because it tells you whether a company will be around when you need them.Parts availability. Warranty support. Engineering that’s been refined over decades. You get all of that with E-Z-GO and Cushman because Textron has been building toward it for over a century.
One More Thing Worth Mentioning
Charlotte Golf Carts is a Platinum Certified E-Z-GO Service Center. That’s the highest level of certification E-Z-GO awards — and we’re proud of it. It means our technicians are trained and tested to E-Z-GO’s top standards, we stock the right parts, and we have the tools to service your cart the right way.Come see me at Charlotte Golf Carts. I’ll put you in the right cart — and you’ll know exactly who’s standing behind it.
— Fred, Owner, Charlotte Golf Carts
