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THE RACERS EDGE

AT MARGAY, WINNING IS EVERYTHING!

Don't let anybody fool you. Winning is everything. Michael Schumacher isn't paid millions to finish second. Richard Petty didn’t score 200 victories just to build his resume and Juan Montoya didn't race at Indy just to impress the babes. At Margay, they don't build winning race karts because it's cool (even though it is) or because it's easy (trust them, it's not). They do what they do because when a driver wins on a Margay kart, the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that they feel is immeasurable. For Margay, winning is the only thing.

Margay was founded by Elmer Freber in 1964 and was originally known as Mar-Kart. Based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), the company’s original claim to fame was a patented quick-change gearbox developed by Mr. Freber for the rapidly growing racing kart market. Not being satisfied with producing only drive-line components for karts, Mr. Freber purchased the well known King Kart Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1968 and set about building complete karts.

At this time, Mar-Kart evolved into Margay Products. Named after the nimble member of the cat family that resembles a small Jaguar; the Margay is capable of running at speeds up to 80 miles per hour.

Margay’s first entry into the race kart market was a kart named the ‘New Breed.’ The New Breed was developed solely for use with the Margay Quick Change Gearbox. Soon after, Margay introduced the ‘Sidewinder’ which was the first production race kart to utilize engines mounted beside, rather than behind the driver, hence the name. This resulted in a kart with a lower center of gravity and thus better handling.

The New Breed was the first of over 50 different racing karts Margay has produced over the years. Other Margay karts with names like Cheetah, Panther X, Cougar, Puma and Lynx represent some of the best selling and most successful race karts of all times. Currently, Margay’s Brava line of chassis are dominating kart races across the U.S.

In the mid-70’s, management of the company passed from Elmer Freber to his son Don, who was a successful kart racer himself. Don Freber quickly picked up where his father left off and Margay continued to be the dominant kart manufacturer in the 1970’s.

Not being content with manufacturing karts, in the late 70’s Don decided that to be the true leader in the industry Margay should design and build its’ own 2-cycle karting engine. The engine, known as the LMR 100, went on to dominate 2-cycle racing in the early 1980’s.

In 1990, management of the company was passed to a third generation. Keith Freber began his career racing sprint karts at age 7 and progressed into enduro karts where he has won several national and world titles. Keith still races enduros and believes that staying active in racing gives him better insight into the product development process. Keith has served as president of Margay since 1993.

Throughout its history, Margay has had a proud association with some of the best drivers in the sport. Indycar stars Scott Goodyear and Scott Pruett spent the majority of their years in karting driving for the Margay Factory Race Team. NASCAR stars Kevin Harvick and Jerry Nadeau also scored numerous victories aboard Margay karts. Many legends of karting have won virtually all of their national and world titles aboard Margay karts. Currently, Margay prides itself on having some of the best up and coming kart racers in the country.

Margay karts have won more International Kart Federation Grand National titles than any other race kart manufacturer.

Margay’s long-standing position as a leader in the karting industry is evidence of the commitment and dedication of Margay ownership and employees to building the highest quality most competitive racing karts in the US. Through this dedication, Margay has remained at the forefront of the karting industry for over thirty years.

Margay Karts - By Model
Since 1968, Margay has built their share of karts, almost 20,000 to be exact. At least 76 unique models account for that number. As the Margay is a member of the cat family, many of the names used over the years also come from the cat family. It may be difficult to find a connection behind other names; however, there is usually a story behind each. Following is a brief Margay Kart Name primer:

‘New Breed’ was the name given to Margay’s first chassis as it was ushering in a ‘new breed’ of kart. The ‘Sidewinder’ featured the first side-mounted engine. ‘AM Pac’ stood for American PACkage which was a turn-key kart consisting of a Panther X chassis with their own LMR engine.

The ‘Bandito’ name was derived from a drawing by Don Freber of a pistol-pointing, sombrero-wearing Margay behind the wheel of a kart as it hurls down the track (still the coolest sticker they have ever produced).

“‘SR-16’ stood for sprint racer 16 as it was the 16th different sprint chassis we built (apparently we spent more time developing the kart than we did the name), said Keith Freber, president of Margay.

The ‘Expert’ name was applied to karts in an era where the IKF ‘Expert’ classes were dominated by karting’s heavy hitters.

‘ELS’ was a designation for Entry Level Sprint. ‘A/C’ designates the adjustable caster feature while ‘F/C’ designates Fixed Caster.

‘TNR’ designated Tom Nields Racing with whom they worked to develop that series of chassis.

‘TK’ stood for Tom (Nields) and Keith (Freber) while the ‘4’ in ‘400’ designated a four-rail chassis design.

‘SE’ designates sprint enduro.

A ‘Tsunami’ is a killer tidal wave caused by an earthquake. That name was applied to another package kart which featured Yamaha engines.

‘Syncro’ had no real meaning or story behind it, it just sounded cool.

Finally, ‘Brava’ was the conclusion of a late-night brainstorming session on the eve of the CIK homologation form submission.

Here is a list of Margay Karts in order of manufacture.
1.    New Breed
2.    Sidewinder
3.    Cheetah
4.    Cheetah Mark II
5.    Cheetah Mark III
6.    Cheetah Concept Enduro (Single & Dual)
7.    Concept Sprint
8.    Concept I Sprint Single
9.    Concept II Sprint Dual
10.    Concept 1XL Single Enduro
11.    Concept II Dual Enduro
12.    Scat-Kat Fun Kart
13.    Panther
14.    Panther ELS
15.    Panther Jr.
16.    Panther X
17.    Panther X Jr.
18.    Panther X Dual
19.    Panther X Pro Kart
20.    Am Pac
21.    Pro X
22.    Bandito
23.    Bandito ELS
24.    SR-16
25.    Expert
26.    Expert II
27.    Expert III 15 degree Narrow, Centered
28.    Expert III 15 degree Narrow, Offset
29.    Expert III 12 degree Narrow, Centered
30.    Expert III 12 degree Narrow, Offset
31.    Expert III 15 degree Wide, Offset
32.    Expert III 12 degree Wide, Centered
33.    Expert III 12 degree Wide, Offset
34.    Expert ELS
35.    Rookie 15 degree Narrow
36.    Lynx A/C
37.    Lynx Enduro
38.    Rookie Lynx
39.    Cougar A/C
40.    Cougar Enduro
41.    Puma F/C
42.    TNR TK 400
43.    TNR Shifter
44.    TNR Single Rail
45.    TNR Dual Rail
46.    TNR TK 400 Rookie
47.    TNR TK 425 Shifter
48.    Mini-Indy
49.    Lynx SE
50.    Tsunami 100
51.    Tsunami 125
52.    Lynx OTS
53.    Dual Rail
54.    Pro Shifter
55.    Single Rail
56.    Single Rail Pro
57.    TK425
58.    Syncro Blade
59.    Syncro Cadet
60.    Syncro A/C
61.    Syncro Quad
62.    Syncro SS
63.    Syncro SSA
64.    Syncro Blade
65.    Syncro F/C
66.    Brava 1
67.    Brava 4
68.    Brava 125
69.    Brava 80
70.    Brava 1 Limo
71.    Brava Cadet
72.    Cheetah Enduro
73.    Brava 2000
74.    Brava 2
75.    Brava SE 2
76.    Brava SE 4

Like we said at the outset, “Don't let anybody fool you, winning is everything”, and Margay is dedicated to helping the kart racer do just that, WIN! Margay Products has a kart for everyone; from the rookie to the Pro and everyone in between and has for years! Check them out on the web at www.margay.com, or contact Margay Products, Inc., 3233 S. Kingshighway, St. Louis, MO 63139. Ordering phone: (800) 562-7429. Main Phone: (314) 771-4242. Fax: (314) 771-8410. Email: Sales@Margay.com, Technical@Margay.com, Info@Margay.com.

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