The Roaring Season

Here is the Cheetah of my late friend Albert Way, his brother Ron Way is going to restore it this year so it may be seen once again. It had a fiberglass body when I had it and Albert had this new Aluminum body built for it.

Wow, that looks amazing Jerry! Is this your old car that had the big block?

Small block chevy with weber 58's in chasiss #2 owned by Ron Way

Steve: I never had a big block in my Cheetah, Albert Way has restored my old car with a new aluminum body and has a small block with Weber 58 mm side drafts on it. He has since passed away and his brother Ron Way now has the car.

photo:Ron Way collection

Denny Doherty of the Mamas and Papas with his Cheetah in the day
Denny traded me a Triumph 500 Daytona motorcycle and cash for the car. I had to pick the motorcycle up at a towing yard as Denny had left it one night outside a bar and it was towed. This was 2 months before I made the deal with him. I had quite an impound bill on the bike.

photo: Havey Lasiter collection

Great picture Jerry. Is that in the Hollywood hills?
You sure got Bob upset about your claim that your car was chassis # 2. Love these guys that come along 30 years later and try to tell us what happened back in the day. We were there. We raced the cars. We worked on the cars. Guess that is not supposed to count for anything.

Jerry Entin wrote:
Denny Doherty of the Mamas and Papas with his Cheetah in the day
Denny traded me a Triumph 500 Daytona motorcycle and cash for the car. I had to pick the motorcycle up at a towing yard as Denny had left it one night outside a bar and it was towed. This was 2 months before I made the deal with him. I had quite an impound bill on the bike.

photo: Havey Lasiter collection

I love this photo! Thanks for sharing Jerry.

Here is the ad for my Cheetah at the time I bought it.
John Grow who owned Friendly Chevrolet in Rialto, California was very nice to deal with, a real straight shooter as they say.When I bought the car I was told it was the second car made and the factory racer. I don't think that John Grow would lie to me and sell me the 3rd or 4th car if they existed at that time.

I am glad you are enjoying the picture that Harvey Lasiter had in his collection. It had never been seen before I put it on The Roaring Season and Fred Yeakel's Cheetah site.

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Paul Wilkinson wrote:http://bringatrailer.com/2015/02/06/finally-a-real-one-1964-bill-thomas-cheetah/

Wow! After 25 years ownership Fred is selling his "Teardrop 8" Cheetah for US$580,000 (NZ$790,000).

This car has appeared several times in this thread, and has an interesting - and well documented - history. It started as a race car in 1963; was converted to a street car in the 1970's; was then restored back to its 1963 racing specs; then recently updated to how it raced in 1965. Until very recently it was still completing in historic racing in California.

Jerry Entin wrote:
Here is the ad for my Cheetah at the time I bought it.
John Grow who owned Friendly Chevrolet in Rialto, California was very nice to deal with, a real straight shooter as they say.When I bought the car I was told it was the second car made and the factory racer. I don't think that John Grow would lie to me and sell me the 3rd or 4th car if they existed at that time.

I am glad you are enjoying the picture that Harvey Lasiter had in his collection. It had never been seen before I put it on The Roaring Season and Fred Yeakel's Cheetah site.

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This is superb Jerry! Thanks for posting. What was this car like to drive? Were the cockpit temperature issues sorted by then?

John B wrote:Wow! After 25 years ownership Fred is selling his "Teardrop 8" Cheetah for US$580,000 (NZ$790,000).

This car has appeared several times in this thread, and has an interesting - and well documented - history. It started as a race car in 1963; was converted to a street car in the 1970's; was then restored back to its 1963 racing specs; then recently updated to how it raced in 1965. Until very recently it was still completing in historic racing in California.

Yeah, wow! Great car, I always loved the beautiful flares this car featured. They weren't factory, but they sure looked good.

Wow, another Cheetah has now come onto the market. It is approx. 15 years since the last genuine 1963 Bill Thomas Cheetah was sold, and suddenly there are two for sale.

It seems that another Cheetah owner is taking advantage of all the interest generated by Fred Yeakel's car that is for sale at US$580,000 (NZ$760,000), so they have decided to advertise their car for US$620,000 (NZ$815,000).

Anyone out there with a spare NZ$1,575,000? You could have a matching pair!!

This stunner was on Sports Car Digest this morning. Not often photographed view, I am sure fairly often seen by other cars

This car looks purposeful and aggressive from any angle but this shot really sums the car up-low, wide and minimalist.

Cutest bum around :-)

Oldfart wrote:[ATTACH=CONFIG]29089[/ATTACH]

This stunner was on Sports Car Digest this morning. Not often photographed view, I am sure fairly often seen by other cars

Great view, thanks Oldfart, and no funny tail-lights

CHEETAH FOR SALE - HERE IN NZ

If you can't quite stretch to the NZ$760,000 and NZ$815,000 being asked for the two Cheetahs currently for sale in the USA, my 1963 Cheetah project here in NZ is for sale.

After working on a Cheetah in the USA in the 70's, Duncan Fox (Auckland-based McLaren guru) originally brought all the components back to NZ to assemble his own Cheetah. I bought all the parts from Duncan three years ago, but unfortunately now have to sell the project. The details are...

► ENGINE :
1963 Corvette 327 cu. in. V8 engine (to be stroked to 377 cu. in.)

► GEARBOX :
M21 Muncie 'Rockcrusher' gearbox

► CHASSIS :
Exact recreation of chrome-moly tube chassis

► DIFFERENTIAL :
1963 Corvette diff and half shafts

► BRAKES / SUSPENSION :
Corvette brakes and uprights with fabricated wishbones and trailing links

► STEERING :
Triumph Herald / Triumph Spitfire rack

► WHEELS :
15" American Racing 'Torq Thrust' (not the BMW wheels in the images)

► BODY :
Fibreglass front, body and gull-wing doors.

► WINDOWS :
Pexiglass front and rear screens

► WEIGHT :
Goal weight (as raced in 1963) approx. 750kg.

All parts are 'period correct', so this would make a very quick classic racecar. Remember, one of these cars was clocked at 215 mph at Daytona in 1963.

CAD drawings of the chassis and suspension will be supplied, plus a large number of books, magazines, photos and research material.

I would be happy to offer advice and information after the sale, and Andy Culpin can finish the project for the new owner if required.

Call John for more information...

► Phone : 09-414 5959
► Mobile : 021-378 989
► E-mail : mailto:?subject=&body=

And here are some more images of the Cheetah as it is currently...

And a few more...





Note : The correct wheels are not fitted in these images. The correct (wider) American Racing 'Torq Thrust' wheels will be supplied.



This final image shows just how low the Cheetah sits. The 1969 TVR Tuscan is not a big car, but looks lanky in comparison to the squat, 42" high Cheetah...

Sad to see you won't be finishing it John. I was looking forward to that sight on track. Hope the next custodian can progress it.