davintosh

Here’s another machine that we saw at Automania 2008. What a jaw-dropper!

When I saw the car at the show, I had no idea what it was. No sign on it, and the owner was talking with some other folks when I was there. I only overheard parts of what he was saying about the car — something about 500-plus horsepower in a 1,500 pound car…

Then earlier this week I was poking around online and at random clicked on an ad in the project cars section at carsonline.com, and ended up at Nickey (with a backwards K), and found this listing for a 1965 Cheetah for sale — same car! And only $99,500.

The Cheetah was commissioned by Chevrolet as a competitor to Carroll Shelby’s Cobra, and was built in limited numbers by Bill Thomas. I won’t attempt to explain the history of the car; others have done that already, and all you ever wanted to know can be found on the Cheetah Wikipedia page and Official Bill Thomas Cheetah Website. Production on the car was pretty limited back in the early sixties, but a kit car version of it has been available for some time, and is still being sold. Not sure, but I think the one at the show was an original fiberglass-bodied version.

It’s a mean looking car in pictures, but the photos really don’t do this beast justice. In person though… Wow.

More photos: KitCarMag.com, BillThomasCheetah.com, Wikipedia, CheetahCars.com, and others.

When I grow up, I want to work at MAT (Makela Auto Tuning). Yes, I’ll move to Finland. Yes, I’ll learn the language. Yes, I’ll put up with the long winter nights. Just for the chance to work on some of the great projects they showcase on their site.

Take for instance the 1929 Model A Ford (featured yesterday on Jalopnik). They took a beat up old Model A, tore it down to bare components and rebuilt it using a Cosworth racing engine and lots of other updated parts. The suspension retains the look and a lot of the parts from the original solid-axle design, but has been stiffened and tuned to make it handle like something a little more modern. The level of craftsmanship exemplified in cars like this Model A is just… breathtakingly beautiful.

Take for instance the wheels; while they look like the original wood-spoke wheels, they are actually milled from billet aluminum.

And the engine… I haven’t seen a lot of Model A engines, but at first glance this thing looks as vintage as the rest of the car. But when this thing is wound up, the thing screams like the banshee that is the Cosworth; load the video on YouTube and make sure the sound is turned up! Then they added one last trick for realism; a “secret misfire switch” on the shifter that makes it sound like the old pop-and-miss Model A engine.

Some of the other cars they’ve got showcased on the site are even more spectacular than the Model A; Ferrari’s, Maserati’s and others that they have rebuilt to better-than-new condition. These guys are better than good.

Ok, so moving to Finland isn’t really an option I’m considering — not that it’s likely they’d hire me anyway. But a guy can dream anyway!