Steve wanted to demonstrate how much performance he could get from a small-sized engine. The Buttercup became the utility plane that he and his wife flew to support his air racing activities, and handily out-performed airplanes like the Piper J3 Cub and the Aeronca.
Steve never provided plans for this design, but Earl Luce reverse engineered them while re-creating the Buttercup (in the photo, displayed at Oshkosh) in 2002.
The Buttercup fits within the "light-sport" airplane rules, while providing better performance than many newer designs. As we were looking at various LSA designs at Oshkosh, Arlington, and elsewhere, my wife and I searched in vain for something with more luggage space than a shoebox: we need to carry just a bit of kit with us for weekend trips. And then we found the Buttercup! It's got a real fuselage, with real seats, and holds 60 pounds of stuff in a large baggage hold behind the seats.
Oh, and did I mention that it's a STOL aircraft? Wittman used the Buttercup to try out new design ideas, and fitted it with a movable leading-edge coupled to the flaps, for outstanding slow-flight performance.
Other basics: It's a "rag and tube" design: wood wings, steel-tube welded fuselage, two seats side by side. Steve originally used a 50 HP engine. Earl's plans show an engine mount for a 100 HP Continental, but some hot-rodders are using other small engines such as the Lycoming O-235.