Buggy

Buggy is a social open vehicle of the 19th century for 6 persons, to be driven by one of the passengers, designed for summer trips. It was used for walks and excursions to the hunting sites. It was manufactured by Josef Neuss, a well-known Berlin-based manufacturer of sleigh vehicles. Purchased by the Castle Museum in Łańcut for the Museum Vehicle Collection, this buggy underwent a thorough renovation in the renowned company run by the Bogajewicz family in Pniewy Szamotulskie, operating in the years 1890– 2015. Buggy is a vehicle specific to North America. It is characterised by four equally sized, large, multi-spoke (there are as many as 16 spokes, while the typical number is 12 or 14) wheels made from hickory wood, a curved drawbar permanently attached to the evener and a flat long footrest on which are placed upholstered seats with a high full backrest. (The lightweight, two-wheeled open vehicles of that name known in Europe represented a different type). The first American buggies we know, coming from the mid-19th century, were vehicles for passengers and luggage, equipped with one seat. Over time, buggies became (in addition to their unchanged passenger and luggage nature) also excursion, social vehicles with two Sapolsky or three identical, one seat behind the other; it was designed to be driven by the owners themselves. These travel buggies were walking vehicles, also used for excursions to the hunting sites. The described, very elegant buggy kept in Łańcut has a lightweight body with three analogous, two-seater, upholstered seats, situated one behind the other, with rod bent handrails. It has wooden bent side mudguards above the rear wheels, and a wooden, slightly curved front mudguard with a funnel fork. There is also a long-curved lever of the crank-block brake by the front seat. On the sides, the buggy has two, long, narrow, wooden steps hanging from the extensions. The seats are upholstered in maroon cloth. Aldona Cholewianka-Kruszyńska