We’re pretty fond of classic fiberglass kit cars around here, there’s something about the timeless classic grunt and underpinnings of a vintage muscle car with a funky lightweight body on top that resonates with us on a deep level. Check out our profile on the Fiberfab company if you don’t believe us. But there were plenty of companies in the mid 60s peddling fiberglass kit car bodies across North America.
This Chevy Corvette-based Cheetah race car is one such example, and it looks absolutely wicked even when half-completed. With the vague resemblance to the front fascia of an early DB-series Aston Martin up front with a sleek-swooping side profile, it’s a look that screams timeless 60s old-school cool in a way kit cars from this period are famous for. As the brainchild of the famous Chevy engine tuner Bill Thomas, the Cheetah was a fiberglass bodyshell designed to the exact specifications of one of the great unsung heroes of the first muscle car tuner renaissance.
In short, the Cheetah was essentially a competitor to another lightweight V8 sports car poking around the US around this time, that being the Mk1 Shelby Cobra. In its complete form, the Cheetah was tailor-built to accommodate the small-block 327-cubic inch (5.3-L) V8s that Corvettes made use of and were also adored by tuners for their seemingly endless upgrade path. Even when stroked up to 383 cubic inches (6.2-L), these Chevy small blocks fit comfortably under the fiberglass hood of a Cheetah. That includes all the aftermarket upgrades that you could possibly fit to such an engine.
In some bizarre alternate timeline, it was the Cheetah who became the poster child for American sports cars of the ’60s, not the Shelby Cobra. At least, you get that impression when you see what one looks like when it’s complete. Sadly, this example from a Craiglist ad near Cleveland, Ohio, never got the chance to be completed. So the story goes, the original owner of this Cheetah kit car managed to attach the frame to the body,
bumpers, steering wheel, and the gear stick before an unverified negative circumstance stopped progress in its tracks.
The original owner sadly passed away before they could get work going again. In that time, the bare body and rolling chassis have sat unpainted in the elements for a considerable period of time. Is it even possible to safely restore a fiberglass body shell like this one and not have it fall apart after the first drag strip pass? Some DIY guru better than any of us could probably claim to do it. To that, we say, please fork out the $2,500 bucks this fellow’s asking for on Craigslist and give it a shot for yourself. We’ll give you a shoutout if you can restore it like this one is.