Original team mechanic Larry Webb driving the Alan Green Chevrolet Cheetah. Photo courtesy of CheetahCars.com.
In 1964, Chevrolet was officially out of racing, thanks to a General Motors ban on participation in motorsports. Unofficially, the bowtie division kept its fingers in a few low-key projects, including one that promised to give Carroll Shelby’s Ford-powered Cobra some serious competition. Fifty years later, that oddly proportioned but wickedly fast sports car, Bill Thomas’s Chevrolet-engined Cheetah, will get its due with an upcoming anniversary celebration at Road America.
Powered by a fuel-injected 327-cu.in. Chevrolet V-8 stuffed so far back in the chassis that a U-joint, not a driveshaft, linked the transmission and differential, the Cheetah’s 90-inch wheelbase and fiberglass body helped it tip the scales at a mere 1,500 pounds. With an output of more than 375 horsepower, that made for an impressive (or as some would describe it, terrifying) power-to-weight ratio, and Cheetahs were reportedly capable of 200 MPH top speeds. It quickly showed its capabilities at Road America, with driver Ralph Salyer and mechanic Gene Crowe capturing victory in the Cro-Sal Special (a derivation of their names) at the 1964 SCCA June Sprints, before going on to take 10 more wins in the 1964-1965 seasons.
Bill Thomas with the Cheetah. Photo courtesy Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum.
Thomas, an engineer with a passion for Corvettes (and Chevrolets in general), envisioned his Cheetah as Chevrolet’s response to the Shelby Cobra’s dominance in road racing. Initially, Chevrolet bought into the idea and agreed to supply drivetrains and other components, even though it was “officially” out of motorsports at the time. Thomas, with the aid of master fabricator Don Edmunds, set to work building the 100 copies that the FIA required for homologation, but when the FIA increased the homologation number to 1,000 units during the 1964 season, Chevrolet got cold feet and ended its support of the Cheetah program. Thomas did his best to keep the Cheetah venture going, but a shop fire in September 1965 saw his dreams of a Cobra beater go up in smoke. Just 19 Cheetah chassis (plus 33 bodies) were built before money ran out.
A Cheetah at Salon Retromobile in 2009. Photo by Mikael Restoux.
There have been continuation Cheetahs through the years, along with fiberglass Cheetah body recreations, but despite this the total population of Cheetah automobiles remains low. This summer’s The HAWK with Brian Redman promises to deliver the largest collection of Cheetahs (both original and continuation) ever seen in one place, and Bill Thomas III, the son of the car’s creator, will be on hand to serve as host of the marque’s celebration. Expect to see (and, of course hear) original and continuation Cheetahs on display and on the track as part of the long weekend of activities at Road America.
The HAWK with Brian Redman will run from July 17-20 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. For additional details, visit RoadAmerica.com.