The Swamp Buggy Races began in 1949, a formal competition between hunters who, until then, could only brag about how much faster their much-modified Everglades machines were than the next guy’s.

Swamp Buggy Queen Jami Pearl Torrella emerges after being dunked by top winner Tyler Johns Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015 at the Florida Sports Park in Naples, Fla.

Naples, Fla., is home to the "swamp buggy" races, an Everglades tradition that dates back to 1949. Although airboats and cars have long since eliminated the need for swamp buggies, racing the ...

It’s been a long 10 months for swamp buggy racing legend Eddie Chesser. Fresh off his 21st Big Feature win in March, Chesser was itching to defend his title in November, which was supposed to be ...

Nope, not airboats (good guess though)—it's swamp buggies. The craze was pioneered by Ed Frank, who began wrenching at age 12 and owned his own garage and machine shop by 19. By 1947, he had ...

Swamp buggies, Lightner learned, have come a long way since the 1940s. Nowadays, they’re custom-built specifically for racing, and, in fact, are too loud and fast for hunting purposes.

Some of the buggies had a rough, homemade look to them, but Oates’ $35,000 creations are like Cadillacs for swamp cruising. The vehicles have power steering, automatic transmissions and stereos ...

Swamp Buggy Drive Through the Everglades For this installment of "I'll Try Anything," PM contributor Jeff Wise heads to Florida for a scary but exhilarating ride through the swamp. By Jeff Wise ...

Swamp buggy races have been a tradition in Collier County for the past 72 years. “It started with the hunters,” buggy racer “Barefoot” Bobby Williams said.

As the buggies uses and popularity grew, more hunters and farmers started building their own swamp buggy. These builders would gather together and share a few engineering secrets here and there ...

Swamp buggy rides, airboat trips and horseback rides, gator wrestling and snake shows will be on the agenda. Camping is available at the nearby Big Cypress campground.

To excite thrill-seeking teenagers and 20-somethings, McHugh ordered the construction of a nationally ranked zip line in 2011 as well as a swamp buggy ride, which takes people off-roading through ...