Quote Originally Posted by kiwi285 View Post
That car will certainly be a great addition to the historic fields when it is completed. Do you have any approximate deadline. When you talk about the same spec - do you mean still using drum brakes !!!!
Can't decide about the brakes. As you know the Cheetah was based upon the 1963 Corvette, and GM wanted Bill Thomas to use as many Corvette parts as possible (even the Corvette tail lights). The 1963 Vette didn't has discs, so the Cheetah didn't have disc brakes. Thomas finally opted for 11" Chevrolet passenger car drum brakes, as used in NASCAR at that time. Apparently they were very effective because the aluminium bodied Cheetah was only 685 kg (the fibreglass only bodied cars were slightly heavier).

However, in 1965 the Corvette was finally fitted with disc brakes as standard equipment, and some of the racing Cheetahs were then upgraded to discs. So we may construct our car as a "1963 Cheetah as raced in the 1965 season".

As for an approximate deadline, we would love to have it on the track for the 2013 NZ Festival of Motor Racing, but maybe that is a little optimistic. We have only just started on the project, having spent the last 12 months doing research, CAD design, and collecting parts. If we had the money I believe 12 months is do'able (the Cheetah is a very basic little machine), but we need to sell another race car to fund this project ... same old story!!