On the prowl: Chasing the Cheetah
Got a lead on a car I always dreamed of and drove to St. Louis to view an example. Since I have a birthday coming up I thought it would be fun to look for a present for myself
. Turns out the fella collects old cars and lives about a mile from one of my boys in University City (St.Louis), so I got to tour his cars and play a bit with my son. He had some 22 antique cars, and his collection was all over the place in terms of make and genre.
The car in question is a “continuation car” based on the 1963-66 Cheetah project championed by Bill Thomas, back-doored by Vince Piggins of GM back in the day. This body was made in Indianapolis, IN circa 1983. I was told that three fiberglass bodies were made, exact copies of the original. These are made nowadays as “kit cars” but the dimensions are different, having been widened and lengthened and fitted with more modern drive trains. This was not a kit car, it was a “continuation” but not sanctioned by Bill Thomas (there are some of those out there as well, they go for Big Bucks). It had a 454 connected to a five speed, definitely not of the same era, but interesting. Would look better with a 409 .
We snapped a few pics of the car as well as some of the others he had, including:
1936 Mercedes 540K (the real deal, not a clone)
1957 Mercedes 300S cabriolet
A pair of 1930s Auburns
A Ford Model A “brass car”
A pair of 1956-7 Ford retractibles (no pics, but really nice)
A Lamborghini Countach (under a tarp, no pics)
1948 Packard
1948 Hudson Commodore
1950s Studebaker
1968 Camaro SS
The 1963 Cheetah “continuation” car
Enjoy!
TomK
Got a lead on a car I always dreamed of and drove to St. Louis to view an example. Since I have a birthday coming up I thought it would be fun to look for a present for myself
. Turns out the fella collects old cars and lives about a mile from one of my boys in University City (St.Louis), so I got to tour his cars and play a bit with my son. He had some 22 antique cars, and his collection was all over the place in terms of make and genre.The car in question is a “continuation car” based on the 1963-66 Cheetah project championed by Bill Thomas, back-doored by Vince Piggins of GM back in the day. This body was made in Indianapolis, IN circa 1983. I was told that three fiberglass bodies were made, exact copies of the original. These are made nowadays as “kit cars” but the dimensions are different, having been widened and lengthened and fitted with more modern drive trains. This was not a kit car, it was a “continuation” but not sanctioned by Bill Thomas (there are some of those out there as well, they go for Big Bucks). It had a 454 connected to a five speed, definitely not of the same era, but interesting. Would look better with a 409
.We snapped a few pics of the car as well as some of the others he had, including:
1936 Mercedes 540K (the real deal, not a clone)
1957 Mercedes 300S cabriolet
A pair of 1930s Auburns
A Ford Model A “brass car”
A pair of 1956-7 Ford retractibles (no pics, but really nice)
A Lamborghini Countach (under a tarp, no pics)
1948 Packard
1948 Hudson Commodore
1950s Studebaker
1968 Camaro SS
The 1963 Cheetah “continuation” car
Enjoy!
TomK
