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Cushman is a manufacturer of industrial vehicles, personal vehicles, and other custom vehicles, including parking patrol auto rickshaws.
Cushman is based in Augusta, Georgia and is owned by Textron Inc. Textron also owns other companies such as Cessna, Bell Helicopter, and E-Z-Go Golf Carts.
The Cushman company operated from 1903 to 2003. The company was started in Lincoln, Nebraska by Everett and Clinton Cushman. The company officially incorporated as Cushman Motor Works in 1913. Until 1936 it produced engines for farm equipment, pumps, lawn mowers and boats. From 1936 till 1965 it produced motor scooters, widely used by the US military in World War II and as alternative to automobiles before and after the war. After scooter production ceased, Cushman manufactured golf carts, industrial vehicles and turf maintenance equipment.
The most successful model of Cushman scooter, the Eagle, was in production approximately 16 years. It resembled motorcycles with its exposed engine and top tank. Other Cushman models used a step-through design common for scooters. Some late 50s Cushmans, designated Road King and Pacemaker, had jet-age body styling. Sears sold a version of these models under the Allstate brand.
One famous Cushman was the model 53, a military model from the World War II era. Designed to be dropped by parachute with Army Airborne troops, it became known as the Cushman Airborne. Other models were used on military bases for messenger service.
Cushman Trucksters were produced from 1958 to 2002. Small and light duty, they have been used for ice cream sales, mall and stadium maintenance, and by police for parking patrol. Cushmans featured an automatic clutch, which allowed the rider to twist the right grip to go and step on the pedal to stop. Oddly, the throttle twisted forward to accelerate, opposite the usual pattern. The step-through design and ease of operation made it popular with men and women alike. Cushman claimed 75 miles per gallon, and advertised penny-a-mile operating cost. Cushman scooters usually weighed about 250 to 335 pounds and had as much as 9 horsepower (6.7 kW). Production ended in 1965, but some remaining Eagles were sold as 1966 models.
Cushman became a division of the Outboard Marine Corporation in 1962. Ransomes (of Great Britain) purchased Cushman in 1989, and then Textron purchased Ransomes.