Bob and Tiffany Potter used to have their own tiki bar back in the day, when they lived in Ohio. After the kids moved out, so did Bob and Tiffany, and they headed south to Dunedin, Florida. They thought about building another tiki bar in their new home but saw that everyone rides around in golf carts down there. Bob and Tiffany bought their own cart as well and turned it into a Tiki Golf Cart and this thing turns heads!
What is the tiki scene like where you live?
Bob- Last year we moved back to Florida from Ohio, and we chose Dunedin due to its proximity to Tampa Bay and it’s just such a nice, fun little town. We expected there to be more tiki in the area due to it being a large city in a tropical state, but there’s really not a lot. But it turned out to be a great coincidence that the place that feels the most like a classic tiki bar around here was just completed right in Dunedin, called The Honu (highly recommend this place). We are pretty happy that we can hop in the cart and drive about 2 miles to get to our local tiki bar.
What brought you into the ‘Tiki lifestyle” and how long has it been part of your life?
Bob- It seems like it just came together. My wife Tiffany and I moved into an old 1920’s house about 5 years ago, and our kids were going to be leaving the nest soon. We had a large walkout basement we thought would be a perfect place to entertain, and built a bar. When coming up with themes, a tropical escape just seemed like the perfect fit. We were always reminiscing about the Kahiki since we grew up near it and would go there for birthdays, holidays, and proms as kids. As for Tiffany, the Enchanted Tiki Room was literally her favorite thing to do at the Magic Kingdom. I am a visual designer, and had a great time designing and building stuff. We had no idea until it was done, and we started finding tiki friends and touring regional tiki bars, that there was such a great culture around tiki! Everyone we’ve met through tiki are so friendly and fun, and really embrace the aloha spirit. So that got us hooked and we’ve been into it heavier for the last few years.
Can you give a little history of how you turned your golf cart into a tiki cart?
Bob- We had built a great tiki bar in our basement, thinking we would never leave it. Well turns out, our kids all graduated and we were on vacation in Miami last summer, and we all decided we wanted to move back to Florida. So, we left our old house and the fun tiki bar we worked so hard to build, and moved to Dunedin. The first thing we were going to do was build a new tiki bar. But then we saw everyone driving their golf carts around town, and something just clicked. We decided our first project was to build a tiki golf cart!
Luckily, we found a cheap used golf cart online, got it running, then immediately took it apart to tiki-fy it. I sold the plastic body, and repurposed what I could from the old cart into the new one. I bought a welder and learned enough to weld the bumpers and reconfigure the roof brackets. Then I built the whole body from 5/8″ plywood where support is needed and thin 1/4″ lauan panels for everything else. I recycled all the techniques I already tried on my tiki basement – covered surfaces with bac bac, routed and carved a bunch of trim and columns from 1×8 pine I carved, and trimmed it all with bamboo.
The electric work was my least favorite part of the build. Most of the lights are colored 12v LEDs I bought off Amazon for about $20 for 100. Getting the tiny wires soldered, crimped and routed was tedious. I coated the whole thing with 3 coats of marine varnish, hoping that will preserve and protect it from the Florida humidity and pop up downpours. The whole process took about 3 months of evenings and weekends. We’ve only been driving it around for a couple weeks now, and we’ve only lost a few shells and moss so far!
What has been people’s reaction to your tiki cart?
Bob- It’s been fun seeing everyone trying to take pics and videos when we drive by. We often go down to the pier and watch the sunset, and afterwards there’s usually a handful of people taking pictures over by our cart. It’s been a great way to meet new tiki friends! We have already met some local tikiphiles just from driving to town, and also sharing the golf cart on Facebook. We’ve had a few people ask to sit in the back-seat bar and take pics holding their drinks up. We can’t wait to drive in the local golf cart parades on the holidays!
Any future plans for the your tiki cart?
Bob- I think the cart is about done. We still have plans for a little more decorating and a few more lights, and we’re already thinking about how we can modify it for Christmas decor. We fully expect to move on to building a new tiki bar in our house or yard soon, but this golf cart will be our tiki escape for now.
