New Cat On The Prowl

Even for someone with the incredibly fertile mind of Bill Thomas, the Cheetah was something completely different.

- Drew Hardin

Thomas had built a reputation with Chevrolet for making power and making that power work, on projects that ranged from Super Stock Impalas to Corvairs and Chevy IIs.

Yet the Cheetah broke new ground. Comparisons with the Cobra are common, since they were contem poraries and, at one time, Chevrolet hoped Thomas’ exotic-looking GT could chase down the Shelby roadsters that were giving Corvette racers so much grief.

Unlike the Cobra, though, which relied on Shelby joining existing parts to form a new whole, the Cheetah was essentially a clean-sheet design. Chevrolet contributed many of the car’s mechanical components, including Corvette powertrains and rear ends, heavy-duty sintered-metal brakes, and the like.