The Florida retirement community called The Villages was designed with 90 miles of golf cart paths to take people wherever they so desire - no cars necessary. That doesn't prevent residents from indulging in their love of cars, with custom-designed golf carts that are street legal.
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The golf cart lifestyle at The Villages - said to have started with a few seniors who couldn't qualify for drivers' licenses - has exploded.
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Don Hahnfeldt, president of the homeowners association, says there are about 50,000 golf carts at The Villages.
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A hot road from California Roadster.
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There are about 50,000 golf carts at The Villages, and only about 16,000 golfers - so two-thirds of carts never touch a golf course.
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Some call The Villages "the golf cart capital of the world."
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One resident, Robin McCain, said her Mustang takes her back to Superior, Wis., "where I watched all the nice Mustangs go by, and I said, 'Someday ...' "
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Now she has her own 48-volt version, with 10" wheels, storage trunk, and high speed gears.
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Flaming hot rod.
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Luxurious interior - air conditioning included.
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Bob told CBS News correspondent Bill Geist he gets a lot of "thumbs'-up" with his hot rod. "A lot of smiles."
"A lot of chicks?" Geist asked.
"Yeah! Well, I keep thinking they're smiling at me [and] not the cart!"
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Steve Quates' dream car - The California Roadster from ACG - features an 11 horsepower engine with a maximum speed of 25 m.p.h. It even sounds like a hot rod, thanks to the woofer speakers.
Little red Corvette.
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Jeanette and Frank Hamby own "his and hers" carts. "We bought my husband's first, because we were invited to a golf cart wedding - to participate you had to have a golf cart," she explained. "And then a year later I was just whining because I had to have one.
"I couldn't go to the pool with a car," she explained. "I couldn't be seen at the pool with a car!"
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Tony Colangelo, known as the Golf Cart Man, will make whatever you want, at prices ranging from around $6,000 to more than $20,000.
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Perfect for tearing up the course.
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"American Graffiti" redux.
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No golf cart is complete without underbody lights.
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Bill Geist got behind the wheel of a '57 Chevy.
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So if you're pulled over and the cop asks, "Where do you think you're going - a fire?" you can truthfully reply, "Yes!"
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The "Cadillac Escalade" features a GPS system - very helping when playing golf to gauge your distance to the green.
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A proud member of The Villages' Golf Cart Precision Drill Team.
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The Rolls Royce of golf carts. Debra Moffat, who also sells the upscale brand, heads The Villages' Streetrod Club, which has 645 members. "We do car shows, and poker runs, and scavenger hunts, and our own parades," she told Geist. "We have a drive-in movie twice a year here. There's a lot of people that just like to cruise around in them."
