The PTW Wildcat Buggy

I started off, thinking I would make a light weight fun buggy, Hungarian style, but during the initial think period, I realised I didn’t want to free style or anything like that, I didn’t want it to fall to pieces at the first bump and I didn’t want the buggy tipping over on rough terrain when turning quickly and so I made it as a cruiser/fun/all terrain pilot friendly buggy. D

DIMENSIONS
Rear wheel centers 1650mm
Front to back wheel centers 1720mm
Swan neck 40mm by 40mm Box 3mm wall
Side rails 33mm 3mm wall
Swinging arms 27mm 3mm wall
Plate work 6mm thick
Wheels barrows Credits to
James and Brian Peasnal for all the lathe work
Kevin Starbuck, for help with the platework
Jon & Helen for the superb leather seat, and covers
& The Hugarian Buggiers for the idea

Wildkat 1

Wildkat 2

Wildkat 3

Wildkat 4

Wildkat 5

Wildkat 6

Wildkat 7

Hi Carl

Well my first hard core sessions on the Wildkat. What can I say, I am speechless….your buggy is awesome, beyond belief.

4 days at Blackrock Sands with serious buggying every day – did more miles, had by far the best average moving speeds and got the max speed. I smashed our club distance record ….all this and I could kite on for another week! Normally, I am so knackered after 2 days that I don’t look forwards to the next days kiting. Your buggy makes kiting in difficult conditions easy and does not punish the arm and back 9as much0 as my other buggies.

For the majority of the time we had big downshore winds – allowing cross beach runs of only about 100m – yet I was still still able to get 35-39mph each run and slide the buggy backend away to brake close to the sea-line and never once felt as though i had over cooked it!

I could slide the back end hard at 40mph and still controll my direction. Huge gusts simple made the buggy float to the side and again could be corrected.

I beat our club distance record doing nearly 116 miles and most of this was done in a short afternoon session when my average speed rose to just above 30mph.

Carl you are a magician!!!!

Lots of people saw the buggy and a good few tried it out. All were massively impressed – and they all know who made it – hope you get some orders mate!!

I can’t thank you enough – i hope you will get some pleasure from knowing how i love your creation.

Now i know you have a few projects on the go at the moment but I have an idea that the Wildkat design could also be modified into a a big foot – smaller than the Cougar – but capable of hard work in muddy beach conditions.

If the geometry can be preserved with Big foots all around necessitating a modified front end – then count me in! If you think it is worth a shot then I will be happy to fund labour and materials for a trial…….

Enjoy your trip to Sand Yeti and watch those dessrt gorse 🙂

Thanks again

Rick

 

Jun 21 2010  01:10 am RAFEL JORNET CATALUNYA   SPAIN

Sep 26 2008  05:39 am amazing workmanship. one day i’ll own one. don’t think there’s anything i can say above the compliments already bestowed. completely and utterly awesome. Paul (RIVER RAT)

Sep 18 2008  08:17 am awesome!

Jan 24 2008  01:04 pm salut je fais du kites depuis 7ans j’ai un folding buggy de peterlynn que j’ai modifié moi meme mais quand j’ai regardé ton buggy il m’a beaucoup impressioné quand je vais dans un endroit faire du buggy tous le monde trouve mon buggy impressionant mais le tiens lui il est impressionant beaucoup plus félicitation et ne lache pas c’est le plus beau sport au monde le kites
je sais pas si il y a de la neige par chez toi mais tu devrais essayer d’installer un kit de ski sur ton buggy c’est vraiment plaisant ca aussi bravo pour ton exploit
Patrick Gravel   pattherath@sympatico.ca

Jan 13 2008  07:43 pm Hi Pops 🙂 First time Ive actually seen all the creation of this bug, you know what us boarders are like..a bit slow 🙂 From an engineering perspective it really is fascinating to see the whole development, and great to see different ideas going into, for somtimes no other reason than just that bit of individuality. My own buggy exploits have got little further than stripping down and respraying, but hope one day that I’ll be able to pinch some ideas off you and create a zummerzet combine version! Next time up ‘home’ would love to chat welds and stuff 🙂 See ya soon Taunton

Dec 9 2007  08:59 pm What an awersomebuggy, well done to you. Guardsman

Dec 4 2007  06:03 am Nice one Carl. If you bring the Wildkat to BLS I wanna see you ride it all the way from the car park! Jim

Dec 4 2007  01:53 am hola popeye, soy dnini felicidades por tu trabajo,es absolutamente genial, gracias desde tarifa,Cadiz,España

Dec 3 2007  05:39 am Hi Popeye, we would like to congratulate for the awsome work you did! As our time allows, we will make you a detailed plan of our buggy. It would be great to see our buggy executed professionally by a pro. Yours sincerely, GYURI and WANEK, the hungarian buggiers

Dec 2 2007  01:17 pm A beautiful work of art as usual and a bloody fine lookin’ buggy!
Thanks for the “look in” Popeye.
Rob
FarOutNorthQueensland,Oz

Dec 2 2007  09:50 am PTW – bloddy awesome looking thingy!!
Come to Oz and test it. I’ll show you some places if you let me help you test it!   🙂
Cya and
goodwinds
Steve www.kitepower.com.au

Dec 2 2007  08:33 am Yo man masterpiece in buggy building looks cumphy ALL THE BEST, FESTA  

Dec 2 2007  07:33 am Truely a work of art. I’m always impressed by your attention to detail & to how much thought you put into all your buggies. This one does raise the bar for sure.
I’d die for any one of your bugs.The stuff dreams are made of! Nighty night.. I’ll be giving it a test run tonight…zzzzzzzzzzz hahaha Well done Carl.
Good Winds Mike

Dec 2 2007  04:11 am A truly awesome bit of kit… nice one!   Love the look and finish.
Noone can ever say all your bugs look the same …

Nov 20 2007  06:02 pm Another cracking looking buggy, shame about the suspention not working out, but the adjustment is a good idea.
Just a thought, had you concidered rubber inserts on some of the joints, rather than springs, to give extra flex?
Only one other question.
WHEN DO WE GET TO TRY IT………
Regards Slipstream

Nov 19 2007  05:35 pm Errrm…. does it levitate this time or what ??? looks like a starwars reject :=).. I forsee a bit of offroading coming along so where are you going on holiday next year ??? UAE to see sand yeti ??
;=) Frakke

Nov 19 2007  12:48 pm I love the look, well done Carl! Brig

Nov 19 2007  05:22 am As ever – a very impressive piece of work – look forward to seeing it in action. HOUSE

Nov 19 2007  05:19 am superb build again carl you’ve done it again best buggy build ive seen . shame the rear didnt come suspention didnt work out id of loved to see it in action well done mate
phil stafford power kiters

Nov 20 2007  02:29 am Carl – Your work quality is just unbelivable mate – It is the highest quility of work I have EVER seen (and I have seen some SS stuff in my time!) It is Awesome Carl, just awesome. I am, however, glad you didn’t go down the suspension road as it would have given you the same difficulties that I encountered with the V-Flex.   Possibly an anti-roll bar could have cured it, I don’t know? Anyway, just to re-cap – ####### Awesome! Jim

Nov 19 2007  04:54 am bloody hell man!!! thats just awesome. Name of the new buggy?? Power Tower? Well done mate, once again a work of art will take flight. Peter – WhitsundayKiteClub

Nov 19 2007  04:21 am Looks like the ultimate comfort bug. With all that suspension, be careful not to drop off to sleep in it when blatting along at 60+ mph. As usual the PTW trademark of a super finish has shone through again. I wondered why you’d been so quiet lately! Obviously, the Wildcat is wasted in the UK. Better you bring it for a test ride in our desert. Let me know when you are coming? Sand-Yeti

Nov 19 2007  04:19 am Nice work again Carl. Hope to see you riding it at Wales 🙂

Nov 19 2007  03:45 am The Buggy factory amazzzzzez use again !

Nov 19 2007  03:37 am one word: awesome!

Some of The Forum Comments
As always you work like no one else. The guys congratulate for your job, they said, it was AWSOME!!! IT’S A HONOUR to see somebody is building a buggy with the idea of a buggy of a small buggy-community of a small country. Keep up the great work!!!
Very Best Regards, Szabolcs [bolts]
Man that’s beautiful! How long did it take? How much did it cost?
Did you make it up as you went along, or plan it all out first?
What materials is it made of?
Seriously awesome!
Great buggy Carl!
It looks as if you have a bit of toe out in the rear wheels (as well as camber) which I suspect you have done to allow the buggy to track faster through the turns.
A truly fantastic looking buggy! Can’t wait to see some video footage of it in action… Great work!
Typical fine workmanship and beautiful execution of design that one comes to expect from Popeye. In other words, bloody ripper of a buggy!
When’s this bloke going to immigrate to Oz???!!!
Hey Carl Great to see a slightly different syle of buggy. Will be interesting to see how it performs, as other susser buggies have been a bit suspect. Anyway stop making all these shiny buggies, and concentrate on making something that makes the wind always blow onshore at Mable
Carl you are truely a stainless steel working genius .
I’ve seen the Wildcat in the flesh this evening and it is a truly good looking buggy
Brilliant bit of engineering there Carl.
Go test it. NOW.
How do you do it ….. it looks a dream
Another triumph
Are you independantly rich Carl? You get through more stainless than a chinese ship yard!
Interesting bug….
dooes look nice… def looks strong…. id cringe a bit sliding tho >.< again id love ago!!
foot pegs look REALLY long!!! and nothing to stop your foot sliding off/bouncing off…. >.< just seen that… 😛 come on carl all that polish!!! and no straps haha
the attention to detail the shine the polish its brill how does it handle is this a buggy for the sand yeti after your meeting this year has he given you a set of details of what would be the ultimate desert bug bring it on let us know how it handles stunning bit o kit
take me hat off again Carl.
back end shocks. have you thought of putting more than one on each side. you could make plates to hold 3 a side and in the middle have the bigger stainless one as well. wish i had your energy mate so i could carry on with a few tweaks to mine.
anyway. nice to see. and dont worry about foot strap as i know a few guys that dont use them in there race buggy. i took mine off and made heal straps. much much better than toe straps. you can relax your legs more and no worries with them bouncing out.
Yet again another work of art there, are you planning to mod her as you go or learn the lessons from testing this one and build another?
And what everyone wants to know… whats the Specs (weight etc ) compared to the Super and how does she ride compaired to the Super.
Pretty work! Popeye nice quality and attention to details. I love stainless,except for that hexavalent Cromium thing.( carcinogen from hell) I was wondering how heavy is that buggy? And what is your wall thickness? And don’t forget to pass some of your knowledge down to younger folks.Not many of us real welders left, so we need to make an effort to teach those willing to learn. you da man!
What’s it for?
Seriously though Carl.
That looks fantastic mate, any trials yet? The rear end looks really different and you can see how much effort and time you have put into this. I bet you could have made 3 more cougars in the same time.
Get out and use it mate and take a video please.
looks nice carl, be interesting to   see it in action
Okay i’ll get shot down for this BUT, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SEAT!!!
just ruins the buggy for me, what was wrong with a normall black seat?? Looks like a work of art. @???? Whats it for?    It should be for the Tate Gallery I reckon. As above posts, get some video and have some fun. Lol!, Tate Modern maybe!
Seriously though, without the dampers fitted, what’s the point? We all know Carl’s construction standard is exemplary, but I’m at a loss to see what benefit the design gives if the suspension is locked off.
Good fun to make though Carl I’ll bet!
What’s happening at the front end Carl? Any pics of that?
check the link, being an engineer you will love it, nice one Carl, looks AWESOME.
Don’t like it, feet should not be on the unsprung section, no isolation from vibration, therefore no point. Torsional stresses on the pivot point will be high, as will wear. Being an engineer means I’ll also not like certain things.
Sorry if I’m coming across a bit negative here Carl, it’s well exectuted as usual, but missing it for me. Sorry, just being honest.
ok you wont love it then ????, was talking more about the build stage pics anyway, I am no engineer. Still looks the dogs danglies so will be interested to hear how it rides. Not that I even buggy but appreciating its looks & build quality big time.
There’s fifty blokes at our place that could do that, Carls a Fabricator by trade, he’s good at it, it’s not like a bank teller made it. Given the resources this kind of fabrication is a given. Hydraulic benders, laser or water cutters, decent TIG welding plants ect in the hands of a guy with Carls skills will give you something of this calibre, but no matter how well it’s exectuted if the design is not right it offers nothing exceptional.
Digging a big hole for myself here aren’t I? My point is that joining metal together well is a skill for sure, but it’s the design that’ll make a buggy good or not. Like the infamous Square Metre ‘V-Flex’, brilliant looks, but limited function. Placing the suspension pivot points so far inboard just makes a bug where the sprung load rolls easily under the side pull from a kite, hence successful suspension either has the entire rear axle sprung as one piece, or independent units close to the wheels. It would be possible to add an anti roll set up to reduce this, so that the compression on one side is transferred to the other, just like almost every car on the road.
I’m going to go with ???? on this one! Although it does look fantastic and the build quality is of the ususal standards (Beautifully executed!). All that said, I’m impressed with the execution and that someone’s thinking outside of the box with buggy design. Hopefully when you take it out, you’ll prove me wrong and it’ll turn out to be one of the best handling buggies ever built!
I agree with you Sam, it looks much nicer with the black seat. The greens are completely different colour Carl and make it look cheap in photos.
dont look bad 1 question if someone smacks into you in that will the rear hold out (i see no cross brace) or if you catch something ei to close to a groine or summin simular
i know you can have the same probs in a standard bug but one axle is easier to replace then a 3 piece
just a query not a dig
I like it a lot, looks like the rear swinging arms should fold like a PL folding bug?
Impressive amount of work gone into it no doubt! Don’t know much about buggies but must say this looks pretty “LeaN and LunaR” Nice work PTW
If that pile of bricks was art (am I showing my age?), then Popeye’s sitting on a fortune   Popeye Da Vinci rules ok
We all need to see a video of it in action, then we’ll have the answer.
its the flying “v” of buggies! looks totally awesome and dont care how well it rides,flies,floats its a fantastic peice of skilled work.good for you carl , keep it up
Carl You are brillant to build your nice buggy
sweet ride!
That is nice work!
you did it AGAIN!!!
All I can say is “WOW”.
Curious as to what the advantages of this style buggy is over the standard buggy layout.
She does look great.
Wow! I was wondering if you had been working on something new.
Stepping outside the square PTW, looks bloody excellent
very nice….. very very nice. good craftsmanship.
What ever people say that is one rude bug.
It should have off road tyres though.
Again, a quality piece of buggy making there, it really looks the business.
10/10 Carl. Sweet!
Another great lookin buggy ! looks really interesting to ride ! nice 1 carl !
wow what the f**k
this is awesome
Very nice job!!! It cost you many many hours to build but after all I guess it’s all worth it! Enjoy your ride…and all the people watching you   nice job carll    to bad that the Suspension din’t work you wil make it work wiht the richt stronger shocks
keep on the good work Respect Carl it’s to beautifull to use if ur ask me   Keep up the good work make 2008 a super build year!!!
Holy Shite!! Nice job dude! This thing would’ve set you back a few.. An expensive job?
I think that you got your idee from the motor off road buggy the backside off your buggy is thesame as the front off the motor off road buggy
am I right or am I right
Its realy a nice ride and very comfortable
Awesome!   This buggy really stands out in the crowd, good job!
Great job Carl! Impressive
Whooow very nice concept. Never seen !!!
RESPECT!!!!!!!
very nice….. very very nice. good craftsmanship.
Good stuff Popye …. yer a true crafstman. Might I suggest you move to a warmer climate
Yet another cool Buggy Popeye, craftsmanship looks top notch as always. Your buggies always look soooo shiny, very bling.
When do we get to see one of your wonderful creations in OZ.   There not available in Australia   Tis a damn shame as they look fantastic