The Cheetah

[Jerry Entin]

McLaren Mk 1 next to 427 Cobra during making of Spinout
The driver of the White 427 Cobra was Bob Drake. He drove Ol Yeller 2 to 2nd place in the 1960 Riverside Grand Prix. The fellow with the helmet on is Cary Loftin. He was the head stunt man for this movie.

[Wal Will]

And tell the story about the motor sabotage Jerry.
This was around the time I met Jerry, I was working at Traco Engineering in L.A. on a McLaren project and Jerry used to come in on a regular basis.

[Jerry Entin]

During the making of Spinout, someone decided if my engine was wrecked in my McLaren, that the movie would take longer to make. Thus giving everyone more pay. They put ball bearings down the carburetors and they fell into the engine. Wally Willmott and Gary Knutson were at Traco working on the Indy Ford trying to make it go into Bruce McLaren's Formula One chassis. A young guy named Al Bartz was doing the work on the Olds engine for me. He worked at Traco at that time. Also working at Traco was George Bolthoff. Both of these guys would end up working with Bruce McLaren at later dates.

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, I'm just loving this thread, and the stories you guys are relating! Fantastic stuff! What a neat adventure Jerry. So did the ploy to wreck your engine work?

[Steve Holmes]

Attachment 6205Steve:
Gene Crowe driving the Cro-Sal Special with Mark Salyer in passenger seat

Steve: Elvis was very nice and his buddies from Memphis were in Spinout also. They were dubbed the Memphis Mafia. They were his buddies from high school. You can see them in the scene where they are pushing the car.

At Dodger Stadium Elvis got into the Cheetah and I had a great picture of me holding the door open for him. My little brother has all my pictures from the day and I may be able to find it when I go to visit him in March. If so I will show it. The film crew and mechanics were all very nice. It was an MGM movie.

Another superb photo. Thanks for posting. Yeah I'd love to see your photos from the filming.

[Steve Holmes]

Hello everyone. My name is Fred Yeakel and I live in Southern California USA. I am new to your site. I know two of your members, John B and Jerry Entin. Jerry and I both drove the Cheetah in the 1964-65 time period. From 1963 to 1966 I raced first a 1959 then a 1957 Corvette in "B" production in the Cal Club region of the SCCA. Jerry and I raced on many of the same race weekends. I knew Jack Goodman who owned Dixon Cadillac in Hollywood. I would help Jack at the track with his Cheetah. As a reward he offered me the opportunity to drive the Dixon Cheetah at the February 1965 Cal Club races at Willow Springs. Jack's Cheetah was originally a street car. Then he and Rolf Picard decided it would be fun to go road racing. Jack had Bill Thomas fit a dual air meter FI to the car and off they went to drivers school. In July 1965 Jack had Bill Thomas put a 396 big block motor and a Munci Rock Crusher transmission and off we went to the San Louis Obispo regional races for a shake down with Rolf driving. What a disaster. It would stick in gear and overheat. Then Jack had Rolf run the car in the 1965 Times GP at Riverside. Jack made Rolf run 1 lap to collect the starting money then come in. I was told to drive it from the pit lane back to the trailer while Jerry was out there running his Cheetah. The car was slower with the big block than with the original motor. You might be interested in checking out my web site www.cheetahcars.com
Question for Jerry, did your car ever have disk brakes?

Fred, it seems your car had its wheel openings flared when it was converted to street trim. Did you have to go an un-do this work when you bought the car or did you fit another body?

[bry3500]

Awesome thread..Jerry , I'm loving your input here...

[OCTARD-USA]

This very recent addition to the Friedman Collection images on Flickr, posted by The Henry Ford Museum:

1964 Augusta USRRC: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/sets/72157629381172336/with/6901621502/

has some of the best Cheetah detail shots I've seen. Of course there are a bunch of other great cars and location images in there as well.

For the best viewing experience, I'd recommend you click the applicable buttons (magnifying glass, then "View All Sizes", then "Original") to take you to the largest version of each of these proof sheets.

[Steve Holmes]

Chad, thanks so much for that link. Some stunning pictures in there, I wish they could have posted them individually, but I'm sure the time to do that would have been too much. The pics are superb, and not just those of the Cheetah, but I see Chaparral I and II, and one of the Corvette Grand Sports in there too, among others.

[John B]

Steve, this is the easiest way to get to the individual images in the "Dave Friedman collection"...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenr...7628488413505/

[John B]

And here is another set of racing images from the Henry Ford photostream on Flickr...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thehenr...7629285223977/

[Steve Holmes]

Oh thats brilliant, thanks heaps John.

[John B]

Finally made a 'little' progress with the 1963 Cheetah. We've finished the chassis, and I'm a bit surprised just how small and light it is! No wonder the car was so fast.





How the hell does a 377cu.in. Chev fit into this? More importantly, how the hell am I meant to fit into the car?

[John B]

The 40 year old fibreglass body has finally been mounted (temporarily) onto the newly reproduced chassis. And amazingly it all seems to fit together OK!





Damn this thing is small. Just a 90 inch (2286 mm) wheelbase, and 140 inch (3556 mm) overall length.

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, looking great John!

[ERC]

Great stuff! Good to see CW's F5000 on its wheels too...

[John B]

Great stuff! Good to see CW's F5000 on its wheels too...

Sharp eyes Kemosabe! Yes, CW's F5000 is looking sharp, but apparently won't be racing at the NZFMR - just on display from what I understand.

[Jerry Entin]

Cheetah at Riverside in 1965

[Steve Holmes]

Nice photo Jerry, is this you pictured?

[Steve Holmes]

The magazine Hot Rod Deluxe has released a special collectors edition 'Best of the Best' issue recently, containing old Petersen Publishing photos taken for various magazines from the company between 1955 - 1965, including Hot Rod, Motor Trend, Car Craft, Sports Car Graphic etc. There is a nice spread from 1963 Sports Car Graphic which shows four very neat photos of the Cheetah in the test, including two interior shots and an engine bay shot.