Westmont History
A Brief History of Westmont Golf Buggie
Researched by Faron Hermanson
The Westmont Golf Buggie was built in Madison Wisconsin from 1959 to 1963 by George Westmont. Note the red cart above with the steering wheel and totally green grass background. This cart was totally restored by Mr. Hermanson. There will be more information and pictures coming up in our Museum Gallery. George Westmont was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a degree in mechanical engineering. He served in both WW2 and the Korean War. George was primarily a manufacturer of oil and gas burners for the oilfield. He also built Yardman lawn tractors and mowers, and later Moto-Ski snowmobiles. They built golf buggies in the summer when it was slow, to balance the work load for his employees. He died in 2003 at the age of 82. These carts were very unique. They came in different colors chosen by the customers. There were several different engines and a couple of different transmissions.
The first ones, like Mr. Hermansons, had an 8hp Kohler engine, later ones had an inline 4 cylinder Continental water cooled engine, and some had OMC overhead valve 4 stroke engines. All these carts have a few features unlike any other carts. First, they had a 3 speed Borg Warner transmission with a cast aluminum shifter housing under the seat. Next, another cast aluminum shift pattern plate on the floor towards the front with the words Hill, Rev, Golf, and Road right in the casting. Also it had a very unique cast aluminum gas pedal, only one pedal. You push it forward for throttle, and rock it backwards for braking. The rear end housing is bolted directly to the frame, using only the tall sidewall tires for rear suspension. It has a springer arrangement on the front fork. The rear end housing has the pinion facing backwards and a cast pulley that runs straight off the pinion with a brake drum machined inside it. It has brake pads on a backing plate and master cylinder that hooks to the throttle/brake linkage. A centrifugal clutch off the engine drives a belt that turns the input shaft on the transmission, then another belt drive out the rear of the transmission to the rear end. The rear end gear ratio is 5:17, and it has 3 forward gears. The body on the later ones was slightly different. The front was rounded like the early models but came to a point in the front. NOTE: Much of the information for this history was obtained from George Westmonts son, Jack, who worked at the factory from when he was 14 years old to 20 years of age.
