Coming soon: Margay karts by year…check back soon
Three generations of the Freber family watch as their
driver Kyle Adkins dominates Open Light at the 1975 IKF Sprint Grand Nationals in Quincy,
IL. Pictured from L to R, Jimmy Mann (Margay's 'Ace' dual-engine driver), Elmer Freber,
Don Freber and Keith Freber. Note that the ever-vigilant Missouri State Patrol has been
alerted to their presence and is keeping a watchful eye on things.
Founded by Elmer Freber in 1964, Margay was originally
known as Mar-Kart. Based in St. Louis, 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, WI 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.
