Cheetah Racing Cars
Cheetah Racing Cars was an Australian racing car manufacturer. The cars were designed and built almost exclusively by Brian Shead . They were made in a small factory behind Shead's house in Mordialloc , a suburb of Melbourne .
history
The first Cheetah was built for Shead himself in 1960. It was a replica based on the Cooper for Formula Junior . The second Cheetah was made in 1962 and the third in 1963. In 1970 Shead put on a completely new design and a friend convinced him to build another car. In 1973 Shead stopped designing and building racing cars full-time. One last racing car was built in 1989, a Mk. 9 for use in Formula Holden . There were cars for Formula Junior, Formula Libre , hill climb , the Australian Formula 3 Championship (AF3), the Australian Formula 2 Championship (AF2), the Australian Formula 1 Championship (AF1, Formula Atlantic or Formula Pacific ) and the Formula Holden built. Cheetah Race Cars dominated the AF3 in the 1970s and was also the dominant manufacturer in the AF2 in the 1970s and 1980s. In Formula Holden, the only Cheetah ever built for this series from 1989 competed against the much more modern GRP -made cars from Ralt and Reynard in the mid-1990s .
Brian Shead also built a cart with covered wheels. This Cheetah Clubman was made for the Sports 1300 racing series . His driver, Peter Jones , won 132 races with him, including seven titles in New South Wales and three in Victoria .
Cheetah racing cars are a common sight in Australian historic races, hill and sprint races, AF2, and Formula R. In both AF2 and Formula R, Cheetah Mk. 7 and Mk. 8, built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, are still winning races and titles against the newer GRP racers from Dallara and Reynard.
Although Cheetah vehicles are no longer being built today, Shead is still busy making these vehicles. He takes care of the spare parts supply and advises the owners of his racing cars.
Models
| Surname | Racing series | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| Mk. 1 | Formula Junior | based on Cooper |
| Mk. 2 | Formula Junior | Revised Mk. 1 |
| Mk. 4H |
Formula Libre hill climb |
|
| Mk. 4A | AF3 | |
| Mk. 4B | AF3 | |
| Mk. 4 | AF3 | First series chassis |
| Mk. 4E | AF2 | |
| Mk. 5 | AF3 | |
| Clubman | Sports 1300 | Clubman |
| Mk. 6 | AF2 AF3 |
First monocoque chassis |
| Mk. 6E & Mk. 6GE | AF2 | Mk. 6 with revised underbody |
| Mk. 7 | AF2 | First car with calculated downforce, front axle springs inside |
| Mk. 8 | AF2 Formula Mondial |
Full utilization of downforce, smooth outer skin. |
| Mk. 9 | Formula Holden | Last cheetah, smooth outer skin. |
Championships
| season | driver | automobile | championship |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | Brain Shead | Cheetah Corolla | Various Formula 3 state titles |
| 1970s | Brain Shead | Cheetah Corolla | 4 Formula 3 titles |
| 1977 | Ian Judd | Cheetah Oldsmobile | Australian hill climb |
| 1979 | Brian Shead | Cheetah Mk.6 Toyota Celica | AF2 |
| 1979 | Brian Shead | Cheetah Mk.6 Toyota Celica | AF2 series at Amaroo Park Raceway |
| 1980 | Peter Macrow | Cheetah Mk.7-Holden Gemini | Formula 2 (Victoria) |
| 1981 | Bob Prendergast | Cheetah Mk.7 VW Golf | Hill Climb (Victoria) |
| 1983 | Peter Beehag | Cheetah Mk.7 VW Golf | Formula 2 (Victoria) |
| 1984 | Peter Glover | Cheetah Mk.7 VW Golf | AF2 |
| 1985 | Peter Glover | Cheetah Mk.8 VW Golf | AF2 |
| 1985 | ? | Cheetah Mk.7 VW Golf | Formula 2 (Victoria) |
| 1985 | Robert Rumble | Cheetah Mk.6 Renault | Hill Climb (New South Wales) |
| 1986 | Jon Crooke | Cheetah Mk.8 VW Golf | AF2 |
| 1986 | Derek Pingel | Cheetah Mk.8 VW Golf | Racing Car Championship (Queensland) |
| 1986 | Robert Rumble | Cheetah Mk.6 Renault | Hill Climb (New South Wales) |
| 1987 | Arthur Abrahams | Cheetah Mk.8 VW Golf | AF2 |
| 1988 | Rohan Onslow | Cheetah Mk.8 VW Golf | AF2 |
| 1988 | Rohan Onslow | Cheetah Mk.8 VW Golf | Australian drivers championship Gold Star |
| 1993 | Graham blee | Cheetah Mk.6GE | Winton Championship |
| 1994 | Craig Lowndes | Cheetah Mk.9-Holden | Australian Silver Star |
| 1997 | Hugh Gartley | Cheetah Mk.4 Toyota Corolla | Winton Championship, Formula Libre |
| 1998 | Bruce Combe | Cheetah Mk.7 Toyota Celica | Hill climb, under 2 l displacement |
| 2002 | Brendon Cook | Cheetah Mk.7 VW Golf | AF2, Rookie of the Year |
| 2004 | Kevin Lewis | Ransberg Cheetah VW Golf | AF2 |
| 2006 | Kevin Lewis | Ransberg Cheetah VW Golf | AF2 |
| 2006 | Edward Gavin | Cheetah Mk.8 VW Golf | AF2, Rookie of the Year |
| 2007 | Edward Gavin | Cheetah Mk.8 VW Golf | AF2 |
Lap records
| Racetrack | Route length | class | driver | automobile | year | time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symmons Plains | 2.4 km | AF2 | Jon Crooke | Cheetah Mk.8 - Judd Golf VW | March 9, 1986 | 54.73 sec. |
| Baskerville | 2.01 km | AF2 | Jon Crooke | Cheetah Mk.8 - Judd Golf VW | March 16, 1986 | 50.24 sec. |
| Surfers Paradise | 3.2 km | AF2 | Jon Crooke | Cheetah Mk.8 - Judd Golf VW | May 18, 1986 | 1 min. 7.3 sec. |
| Oran Park | 2.62 km | AF2 | Jon Crooke | Cheetah Mk.8 - Judd Golf VW | June 8, 1986 | 1 min. 5.8 sec. |
| Lakeside | 2.4 km | AF2 | Jon Crooke / Arthur Abrahams | Cheetah Mk.8 - Judd Golf VW | June 15, 1986 | 50.6 sec. |
| Sandown | 3.9 km | AF2 | Arthur Abrahams | Cheetah Mk.8 - Golf VW | September 14, 1986 | 1 min. 40.2 sec. |
| Amaroo Park | 1,946 km | AF2 | Arthur Abrahams | Cheetah Mk.8 - Golf VW | June 21, 1987 | 46.52 sec. |
| Winton - Short Course | 2.03 km | AF2 | Arthur Abrahams | Ransberg Cheetah Mk.8 - Golf VW | December 1988 | 56.96 sec. |
| Eastern Creek | 3.93 km | AF2 | Arthur Abrahams | Ransberg Cheetah - Golf VW | August 25, 1991 | 1 min. 29.35 sec. |
| Wakefield Park | 2.2 km | AF2 | Craig Smith | Cheetah Mk.8 - Golf VW | September 16, 2001 | 59.0361 sec. |
Web links
- CAMS website ( Memento of October 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- Formula Robertson website ( Memento from March 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
- Cheetah at OldRacingCars.com (English)
swell
- Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1985/86, No. 15 (1986)
- Australian Motor Racing 1982, No. 1
- Australian Formula 2 Club, Inc. (English) ( Memento from September 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive )