I wasn’t expecting to find this absolutely gorgeous and rare performance car when I started writing my first Barn Finds post in a long time (missed y’all)! The original constructor is still the owner of this Cheetah, which is listed for sale here on eBay with a buy-it-now price of $95,000. It’s also rare that I’ll say a car is worth nearly $100,000, but in this case, I’m pretty sure it is. The Cheetah is located in Brookfield, Ohio and since the seller has made it street-legal (barely), you could have the time of your life driving it home from there! Please let us know if you do!
The story of the Cheetah was short (like the car) but dynamic. William “Bill” Thomas was known for racing various Chevrolets in the 1950s and early 1960s, acquiring the moniker “Mr. Corvette” at one point due to his involvement with Chevrolet’s iconic sports car. However, Ford (courtesy of Carroll Shelby and AC) started cleaning up in sports car racing with the 260 and 289 Cobras — something had to be done! The story gets a little hazy there, but some help was definitely given by Chevy (parts, expertise, design, etc.) to create a lighter, better-handling car and the end result was the Cheetah, which debuted in 1963–after Chevy had decided not to be officially involved in racing. While original Cheetah production wrapped up after a fire consumed the production facility in 1965, “continuation” models authorized by Bill Thomas started to appear in the early 2000s. I’m honestly not sure whether this car is a continuation car or not. I would have been sure that it was, if for no other reason than its outstanding condition, but then I saw the above picture included in the ad. The period gauges are nice, but what really struck me were the vintage 1964 and 1965 dash plaques riveted on the transmission tunnel. I suppose they could be fakes, though. You’ll also notice Bill Thomas himself autographed the dash in 2013.
The short rear overhang of the Cheetah is very evident in this shot. It’s amazing to me that the cars don’t have driveshafts; the transmission bolts directly to the differential! I don’t think one could go any farther trying for a mid-engined, 50/50 weight distribution layout than that!
That engine is almost in the middle, isn’t it? Despite the central weight design, I’ve heard that Cheetahs could have truly wicked handling at the limit. One was clocked in the 60s at over 210 miles per hour–that limit was a long way out there! Ultimately, I think this is a continuation car due to the asking price–an original Cheetah was on offer in 2021 for $590,000, and in 2009 prototype 1#003 was for sale for $795,000. while in 2010 continuation cars ranged from $80,000 to $95,000 according to this article. Finally, Bruce Johnson posted here on Barn Finds about prototype #002 being for sale for $4,000,000 (!) in 2021. So I’m pretty sure either this is an incredible bargain original–or a very well-priced continuation. Either way, I don’t think the buyer will be unhappy!
My main memory of a Cheetah was an HO-scale Aurora slot car. I’ve never seen a real or a continuation one in person. Have you?
The seller tells us that this Cheetah is currently fitted with a de-stroked 350 V-8 that now displaces 331 cubic inches. It has lots of period high-performance parts that would not be out of place on an original racer. What do you think about this Cheetah? Is it a deal, or will a buyer be “cheeted”?
Good to have you back, Jamie.
The age-old question about authorized rebuilds being an expensive imitation has gone on for years-Shelby comes to mind as do these. Was a “factory” rebuilt 240Z worth any less because it was refurbished? If the buyer doesn’t do their research and feel they’ve been “gyped”, ripped off or “cheeted”(good one Jamie) whose to blame-the buyer for not doing research or the seller for not asking if the customer understands what they’re buying? If someone’s buying it to make money, that’s their own fault just as buying into the stock market. If they’re a driver and bought it for what it represents they won.
Want to make money?
Invent this generations Pet Rock, Chia Pet or digital watch.
Want to drive/ride/fly a legendary machine?
Do the research for what YOU want.
Thanks for the welcome back! And I agree on the HO—I had a “Tuff Ones” version in orange!
After 60 some years , I still have my HO scale Cheetah. It was white in color, and still runs!
Really have to look these over. If I’m not mistaken. Lots of the kits are just a S-10
Hello Jamie, Thanks so much for the kind words about my Cheetah. Just to clear a few things up, The dash plaques are real, just not to my car. I bought them on ebay for the period correctness of them. The signature on the dash is actually Bill Thomas’s sons, the original Bill Thomas passed in 2010. The car is obviously a continuation car. I’ve had it sitting next to an original and they are extremely similar. Thanks again Pete
Thanks for the clarification, Pete!
BTW, this was one of the cars that always elicited the phrase “That’s BITCHIN’, dude!!!” when they first showed up at the HO tracks…
I actually saw Cheetahs back in the day, and knew a guy who ran one in a couple of vintage races. He said the handling was wicked at best, but fun if you liked getting sideways a lot. It also was incredibly fast.
My memories of the original include seeing the engine in Thomas’s first car, which had Corvette fuel injection. I don’t remember anything about production numbers, except that there weren’t many. One went to the Midwest, where its owner cut the top off.
From what I see, this is definitely a replica. But it appears to be a really well done replica, and so is probably worth the ask.
Replica it may be, but I’d love to own it. These things were monsters.
Agree, this is either a good value replica or a scam…..It will soon be Goodwood Revival in UK, where the TT race will mix unique cars worth millions with “FIA build” Cobras which are new in every sense of the word. I would love to see a competitive Cheetah running at the front there.
Replica doesn’t have to be a bad thing, as long as we can be sure of the difference & provenance. Some things like the Phil Hill era Ferrari F1 156 sharknose only exist as replicas.
Scroll up … it’s a continuation car.
The back end reminds me of the old school dragsters. VERY cool ride.
I remember the old Aurora T Jet Cheetahs. I always wanted one. Thanks for including the picture of the T Jet. That alone brought back some terrific childhood memories… Very nicely researched and written article too. Thank you
Thank you!
Big price but that’s a good looking sucker. Have seen them race and they were blindingly fast.
THE car that got me interested in cars. One look and it was all over. Up there with the Cobra coupe, Ferrari 330 P3, Lola T-70 coupe, Ford GT-40, etc. A classic.
A few years ago I bought a 109 landy from a guy that had a shop in La Grange Ohio. He was building these cars. His shop was neat and and well laid out. I was given the grand tour and was shown five cars under construction. All the jigs painting and fabrication was done in house. I have seen several at car shows and they look great. Cheers Bob.
“109 landy”?
109” wheelbase Land Rover (“landy”). Four door wagon or two door pickup.
Every gray( or no) hair will get a smile here. The absolute coolest car that most of us only dreamed of, OR, as a slot car racer was as close as we got. I had a 1/32 scale Cheetah when slot car tracks were all the rage. I always thought so much cooler than a mere Corvette. I think a sharp trooper would have a field day with this, and would give a new Charger a run for your money. Can’t beat a radio, though. Cool find.
Had a Strombecker 1/32 scale slot car set with the Cheetah and Ferrari cars. Hours of fun as a kid.
AARRGGG! This could be the body that I wanted to buy. In the 80s I took the motorhome and stuff to sell to Iola, alone. When I could get someone to watch my stuff, I went looking at other stuff. First trip out and about …there’s a Cheetah body complete and in white gelcoat untouched. No one was there so I left a note. It was even in my price range! I repeated that several times until it was gone.
There a couple of them that race at Road America regularly.
The one in the Midwest that RayT referred to was owned by Ralf Salyer, and modified by his friend, Gene Crowe. I saw it a couple of times at Waterford Hills, a club track northwest of Detroit. I recall at the time the reason the roof was cut off was cockpit heat, but other articles say that the coupe trapped air, which would mean the car suffered from aero lift. The short wheelbase with mass concentrated in the center means it has what an aero engineer would call a low yaw moment, which means it is easy to change directions and when it breaks loose, it happens too fast for a driver to correct to keep it from spinning. A tightrope walker with empty hands has a low yaw moment. Add a balance pole, and the yaw moment increases, making it easier for the acrobat to stay on the rope.
Depending on your “survival IQ”, maybe you don’t belong on a race track in this.
HarryQ
Generous of you to point out these things about a cheetah. I fear those that would need it, wouldn’t heed it.
How about you buy it and I drive it (if it passes my tech inspection)?
We could inspect it together.
I have a lot of experience! I have other references but
BS Levy:
“You drive every lap like the cops are chasing you.”
::You have so much car control, it’s scary.”
Those are from 20 years ago and I haven’t slowed down.
Besides road racing, I’m seriously looking into a winged sprint car drive.
ps my name is rallye here for some of my years in the past.
B J,
When is your last(?) book III of The Italian Job coming out?? I have read all the others and am waiting to hear what happened in their love Life!!
Good explanation of the tricky hsndling of ultra swb cars. Can be great for rally cars in the right hands, Lancia Stratos, Renault 5 Turbo 1 would be examples. Race cars tend to need to be more balanced. TVR Griffith is an earlier example of V8 in SWB coupé. March built F1 experiment 721X which nearly finished Niki Lauda’s career before it started.
Jamie.. thanks for bringing up the HO Aurora slot cars. Me and my brother had a Aurora slot car track back in 60’s . One was the Cheetah in black and 64 Plymouth barracuda in white. Wish we kept it. This is a beautiful Cheetah but the carb sticking out I wish it was hilborn injection. I seen one in person when I was a teenager at a track. Can’t remember which one. That was wicked looking and loud. I always thought this was cooler than the Corba and Corvette. Imagine if a Chrysler got involved with this Cheetah back then. Somebody is going to enjoy this ride. It worth the money. 🐻🇺🇸
Killer car!! Killer deal!!
Just as a car, it’s probably worth the ask.
As much a testament to how little the dollar is worth anymore…
H.O. slot car is as close to owning one of these, 99% of us will ever have.
Great memories !
Amazing car, tribute or original.
OUTSTANDING JOY RIDE, I grew up in an orphanage in Leavenworth Kansas our toy cars were blocks of wood,
The Cheetah was built to compete with Cobra and they had a race at Daytona yrs ago which I got to see 2 incredible cars go at it.
The Cheetah was ahead in the straightaways, but the Cobra blew past it in the corners as the Cheetah didn’t have the balance the Cobra had and was sliding sideways in the turns as the Cobra blew it off and ended up winning the race!
I have had a lust for these for well over half a century, but I never saw a real one until I attended a vintage race at Road America a couple of years ago. There were a couple there. I never saw them on the track (but part of the reason for that was distraction with my friend’s F5000 car.)
Breathtaking cars though!
Saw one last year at a local cruise in, repro I believe.. Crazy Awsome machine. Looked like you need to be a contortionist to get in and out of the darn thing…
Love it! Had a 1/24 Cheetah slot car that was my favorite on the track. That’s close enough.
I wonder why they called the engine a destroked 350 when the 350 and 327 use the same block and a 331 is a .030 over 327 ?
Likely because that’s exactly what it is
He said it was a 350 with 4-bolt main caps and a 327 crank. The casting numbers would not be correct for a 327 which could be an issue if he misrepresented it through eBay.
In 91 I went to an automotive book swap meet in Pasadena and told the automotive writer Len Frank that I was moving to Vermont. He told me he’d be at Lime Rock that labor day racing a Cheetah roadster. That’s when I first started going to Lime Rock vintage races, but I never did see Len Frank or the Cheetah.
Then a few years ago I saw this “Cheetah” at a car show in MA.The owner said he bought the fiberglass body in Ohio but built the Chassis himself. It’s a beauty!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi-bvKtSQk0
A friend of mine bought on totally in piees. Still beautiful. He sold it before he had asebbled it! Way too bad. This was in the late 60’s.
I agree with all of the above but I would comment that the Cobra Coupe was about as difficult to get into as this looks to be. In the Avation world just below the cockpit windows they require a notification of EXPERIMENTAL on some planes that have the feel like this one. I would suggest that this have the notice just below the windows on each side of ORGAN DONERS ONLY. But it looks like so much fun. What a beautiful way to make noise, burn tires and upset the neighborhood. LOL. I really hope it finds a good home.
One of just a few cars that look absolutely vicious just sitting still. Can’t imagine what it must be like to drive one. I think I would get a lawn chair and just sit there and gaze at it. One of the all time greatest American cars.
The ebay ad states BTM Auxier body, which confirms that this is a continuation car: http://www.speedhunters.com/2013/08/btm-continuation-cheetah-up-close-and-personal/
A good expression for this is “Hair Shirt”
Cheetahs was first drawn on napkin by don edmonds and bill thomas first cheetah body was built in alluminium then they fabricated them from fibrrglass some say 23 some say 26 and after the fire not known how many . Engines were small block but only 1 big block Robert Auxier has built the continuation cars with permission from Bill Thomas who has sadly passed FIA put the cheetah in the experimental class due to not being able to build enough 100 for homogulation class in the sixties gullwing doors no drive shaft 48/60 weight transfer and lighter than a cobra
No one will be “cheeted ” of you read the whole listing. The seller clearly states it’s a BTM Auxier body (BTM licensed continuation bodies) it’s registered as a self-constructed vehicle (kit car) and he’s the original owner and builder.
That’s enough for me to comprehend it’s not an original from Bill Thomas.
I had the awesome opportunity to be up close and personal with one of these at the 2002 SEMA show in Las Vegas. Actually, got a little giddy just being in its presence… Also, had the Aurora version of the Cheetah slot car.
I have an L72 427 motor purchased From Bill Thomas racing in Anaheim in mid 60s
He was installing these In Cheetahs as well
Can you imagine BBC solid lifter power in one of those???
Congrats to the owner of this masterpiece. I hope to see it at a car show, better yet next to my Heartbreaker built 427 Cobra at a Chicago area show!