Cheetah Cars

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Cheetah Cars
legal form
founding 1983
resolution 1986
Seat Chester-le-Street , County Durham
management Kevin Mason
Branch Automobile manufacturer

Cheetah Cars was a British manufacturer of automobiles .

Company history

Kevin Mason founded the company in 1983 in Newcastle upon Tyne , County Tyne and Wear . He started producing automobiles and kits . The brand name was Cheetah . In 1984 the company moved to Chester-le-Street , County Durham . Production ended in 1986. A total of about 19 copies were made. One source writes of poor quality and poorly thought out constructions.

vehicles

The GT 40 from 1983 was a replica of a Ford GT 40 and remained a one-off.

The 1983 Mirach was somewhat similar to the Lamborghini Miura . The four - cylinder boxer engine came from the Alfa Romeo Alfasud and the windshield from the Ford Cortina . The manufacturer himself warned of a difficult assembly. Only one copy was made.

The Mirach 2, the successor to the Mirach , was presented at the 1984 Kit Car Show in Stoneleigh . It looked more like the Lamborghini Miura. Either the Jaguar XJ 6 or the Ford Granada formed the basis . There were different versions: one with an Alfasud engine as a mid-engine , one with a semi- monocoque and four-cylinder engine from Ford , as well as V6 engines from Ford and V8 engines from Rover as the front engine. Three copies were made by 1986.

From Shamal two copies were sold between 1984 and 1986. This was a coupe . Here, too, there were different versions in the range. With the engine from the Lancia Beta as a mid-engine, the vehicle offered space for 2 + 2 people. One version had the engine from the Ford Escort in the front of the vehicle and rear-wheel drive. Two-seaters were available with the Alfasud engine, either as a mid-engine or front-wheel drive .

The Viper was the most successful model with eleven units sold between 1984 and 1986. It was a replica of an AC Cobra . Many parts came from Triumph and Ford, the windshield from MG .

The SV 1 was on offer from 1985 to 1986. It was a roadster . Engines came from the Lancia Beta or Alfasud. A copy was made from this model.

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Cheetah (III).
  • George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 1: A – F. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 268. (English)
  • Steve Hole: AZ of Kit Cars. The definitive encyclopaedia of the UK's kit-car industry since 1949 . Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2012, ISBN 978-1-84425-677-8 , pp. 55 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Cheetah (III).
  2. ^ A b c d George Nick Georgano (editor-in-chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 1: A – F. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 268. (English)
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Steve Hole: AZ of Kit Cars. The definitive encyclopaedia of the UK's kit-car industry since 1949 . Haynes Publishing, Sparkford 2012, ISBN 978-1-84425-677-8 , pp. 55 (English).