This is what happens when the spirit of competition is unleashed. Seriously, what innovation is going to come out of NASCAR when all the cars are leashed down to such finite rules and regulations? It’s really ridiculous. Back in the early days of SCCA and AMA racing, Ford decided to punch Chevrolet’s sport coupe, the Corvette square in the jewels with the 289 Cobra. Despite all the internal politics within the racing bodies, Shelby went ahead – funded by Ford, of course – and proceeded to take back the winner’s circle one race at a time.

Knowing full well, that the writing was on the wall for Corvette, Bill Thomas, one of Corvette racing’s builders, approached the General Motors brass with a request to build a competitor for the Cobra using Corvette parts and pieces.To Thomas’ surprise, he was given the go-ahead, but with the stipulation that no less than 100 units be built. Coined the “Cheetah,” Thomas proceeded to piece together one of the oft forgotten legends in Chevrolet racing.

Employing the Corvette’s 327 small block, he had it stroked to 377 cubes and capped it with the Rochester Fuel Injection. Rated at well over 500hp, the stroked small block was mated to a 4-speed manual gearbox and tied directly into the Corvette independent rear suspension. By eliminating a driveshaft, it helped place the front-mounted engine nearly center in the spaceframe-type chassis, earning a 48/52 weight distribution.

The Cheetah’s body was crafted from lightweight aluminum with gull-wing doors, attached to the roll cage. The exceptionally lightweight coupe weighed in at around 1900 pounds, and combined with its high revving small block, propelled the Cheetah to 220 miles per hour around the track at Daytona in 1964! Amazingly, at such speeds, the gull-wing doors literally blew off!