Hold for 27 years? 😳

The Bill Thomas Cheetah was a mid-1960s American sports car designed to challenge Carroll Shelby’s Cobra. Developed with covert support from Chevrolet, the car utilized a 327-cubic-inch V8 engine and various components from the Corvette parts bin. Its design was radical and prioritized a front-mid-engine layout. The engine sat so far back that the transmission connected directly to the rear differential via a universal joint, eliminating the need for a traditional driveshaft. This resulted in a nearly 50/50 weight distribution but forced the driver to sit almost on top of the rear axle, where heat from the engine headers often made the cabin nearly unbearable. The Cheetah featured a lightweight fiberglass body over a tube-frame chassis. While incredibly fast in a straight line, it lacked the structural rigidity required for consistent road racing success. Production was halted after only a small number of cars were completed—estimates suggest roughly 11 to 23 original units—following a devastating fire at the Thomas workshop in 1965 and changes in racing homologation rules. It remains a rare icon of American performance. #racecars #rarecars #vintageracing