1964 Bill Thomas “Cheetah”

In the years 1963 to 1966, the Bill Thomas Cheetah sports car was produced by Chevrolet performance tuner Bill Thomas as the return salvo to Carroll Shelby’s Cobra.

In the late 50's, Thomas had tremendous success racing Corvettes and he gained the attention of influential men within GM. After starting his own company in 1960, Thomas used his connections in 1963 to gain covert support from GM to develop a concept vehicle. The prototype was designed jointly by Thomas and his lead fabricator at the time, Don Edmunds. Edmunds is also credited with the bulk of the construction of the car. Using his racing connections, Thomas arranged for material assistance from Chevrolet for the major components , namely the Corvette engine, transmission and running gear.

Following delivery of the drive-train components, Edmunds began sketching the body. Edmunds showed his drawings to Thomas and after a few minor changes, was given the green light to begin construction. Once Edmunds had the lower half of a rolling chassis built, he constructed a plywood body buck which fit on top of the chassis. Once completed, the body buck and forms were sent off to California Metal Shapers and Aircraft Windshield Co. respectively A second car was also built with an aluminum body but the remainder of the cars were fiberglass.

The chassis was constructed of  tubing that was arc-welded. The Cheetah was unusual in that the engine sat so far back in the chassis that the output yoke of the transmission connected directly to the input yoke on the differential without a driveshaft. Since the engine was positioned in this manner, the driver's legs were beside the engine. For this to work, the exhaust system headers passed over the top of the driver's and passenger's legs. This design gave a front/rear weight distribution of a mid engine car without the cost of an expensive transaxle. However, this design style also meant a very hot driver's compartment.

The engine was also prone to overheating, due to the failure to account for vents to draw hot air out of the engine compartment. Overheating problems were solved by using a larger Pontiac NASCAR radiator, cutting various configurations of holes in the hood and full-length belly pan, and  by adding spoilers to draw the hot air out from underneath the hood. Another major problem was the chassis lacked the rigidity necessary for racing. As a result, the Cheetah  proved difficult to handle even for experienced drivers. Also, under hard acceleration, the trailing arms could bow outwards, allowing the rear wheels to toe in.

Despite handling difficulties on road courses, few cars could catch it in a straight line due to its Thomas-built 377 cu in , dual air-meter, fuel-injected Chevrolet small block V8 based engine. On the drag strip, the car reportedly posted faster numbers than the coveted 427 Cobra.

A fire in the factory destroyed the original plywood body buck, the factory drag car and some spare parts inventory, contributing to the eventual demise of the car. Another factor in the end of production was due to General Motors compliance to the automaker racing ban, thus killing backdoor projects like the Cheetah and the much-required parts supply.The remaining original cars are  highly desirable collector items. No official records are known to exist, but estimates indicate as many as 29 cars were built to varying degrees of completion and configuration. Bill Thomas died on October 10th, 2009. Finding an original Cheetah today would be the equivalent of the “Pot O’Gold” at the end of a rainbow…but cooler. And faster….