Fringe Florida Swamp Buggy Builder Rolls Onto Travel Channel

When I spotted Mike Cox’s swamp buggy masterpiece online I knew I had to connect with him. It wasn’t just that the amphibious vehicle’s tires were taller than me, or that it listed for $100,000. It wasn’t even because the buggy was pimped out like a luxurious RV with swivel captains chairs, stereo, flat screen TV, and wet bar.  It was more the strippers airbrushed across the back,  the unforgettable name, Redneck Royalty, and the three young woman in Daisy Duke shorts posing along its ladder.  

Here was someone who embraced redneck culture like a favorite drunk uncle and apparently spared no expense to do so.

Mike says his Swamp Buggies of Florida is the largest swamp buggy builder in the world and that he’s built more in recent years than all other Florida buggy builders combined. His family builds the towering vehicles for hunters, law enforcement, park services, eco-tourism operators, and recreational users, which I discover is a growing market.

Mike hooked me up with Redneck Royalty’s owner for an adventure at the Redneck Yacht Club Mud Park outside Punta Gorda. Details of the trip and more about Mike are in my book Fringe Florida.

I knew a hungry cable channel would eventually discover Mike and make him a bigger star than he already is at Florida’s mud parks. He’s featured in the “Swamps, Space, & the All-Terrain” episode of Red, White & New airing at 9:30 am today on the Travel Channel. If you miss it, you can catch it later online.