Cheetah Racing Cars was a prolific Australian manufacturer of race cars. The cars were almost solely designed, engineered and constructed by

Brian Shead Brian Shead (1937–2020) was an Australian racing driver, constructor and administrator, best known for designing, engineering, constructing and driving Cheetah Racing Cars. From May 1970 to February 1980, Shead competed in 293 events, from whi ...

in a small factory at the rear of his home in Mordialloc, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia.

History

The first Cheetah was built for Shead's personal use in 1960. It was a '

Cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ...

Copy' built to race in

Formula Junior Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...

. A second Cheetah was built in 1962 and third in 1963. A completely new design was commenced in 1970, after which a friend (Don Biggar) persuaded Shead to construct an additional car, Mk4H Hill-climb car powered by an Oldsmobile V8 engine. By 1973 Shead gave up his usual job to design and build race cars full-time. The final car was produced in 1989, being a Mk9 for use in Formula Holden. Cars were constructed for

, Formula Libre, Hillclimbing, Australian Formula 3 (AF3), Australian Formula 2 (AF2),

Australian Formula 1 Australian Formula 1 (AF1) was a motor sport category for open-wheeler racing cars which was current in Australia from 1970 to 1983. AF1 was introduced by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in 1970, initially restricting cars to unsuperch ...

(AF1 or Formula Atlantic or Formula Pacific) and Formula Holden. Cheetah Race Cars dominated Formula Three during the 1970s and in Australian Formula 2 they were the dominant manufacturer during the late 1970s and most of the 1980s. In Formula Holden, the sole Cheetah built for the category in 1989 was still competitive in the mid-1990s against far newer carbon fibre cars built by Ralt and Reynard. Brian Shead also built one car that was not an open wheeler, being a Cheetah Clubman built for the Sports 1300 racing category. It was raced by Peter Jones, winning 132 races, including seven New South Wales titles and three Victorian titles. Cheetah race cars are common sights at Australian historic race meetings, hill climbs, sprints and in Australian Formula 2 and Formula-R. In the latter two categories, Cheetah Mk7 and Mk8s which were built in the late 1970s and early 1980s are still winning races and championships against far newer carbon fibre tubbed Dallara and Reynard Motorsport cars. Although Cheetahs are no longer manufactured, Shead is still actively involved with Cheetah race cars, supplying parts and advice to Cheetah owners.

Models

Championships & Series

Lap Records

{, class="wikitable" , - !Track !Distance !Class !Driver !Car !Year !Time , - align="left" ,

Symmons Plains Symmons Plains Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Australia, located about south of Launceston, Tasmania. Since the closure of the Longford circuit in the 1960s it has been Tasmania's premier motor racing facility. The circuit is one of th ...

, align="left", 2.4 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Jonathan Crooke , align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Judd Golf VW , align="left", 9/3/1986 , align="left", 54.73s , - align="left" , Baskerville , align="left", 2.01 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Jonathan Crooke , align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Judd Golf VW , align="left", 16/3/1986 , align="left", 50.24s , - align="left" ,

Surfers Paradise Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

, align="left", 3.2 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Jonathan Crooke , align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Judd Golf VW , align="left", 18/5/1986 , align="left", 1m07.3s , - align="left" , Oran Park , align="left", 2.62 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Jonathan Crooke , align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Judd Golf VW , align="left", 8/6/1986 , align="left", 1m05.8s , - align="left" ,

Lakeside Lakeside or Lake Side may refer to: Places Australia * Lakeside College, Pakenham, Victoria * Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City, Joondalup, Western Australia * Lakeside, near Reservoir, Victoria * Lakeside International Raceway, Pine Rivers, Quee ...

, align="left", 2.4 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Jonathan Crooke / Arthur Abrahams , align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Judd Golf VW , align="left", 15/6/1986 , align="left", 50.6s , - align="left" , Sandown , align="left", 3.9 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Arthur Abrahams , align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Golf VW , align="left", 14/9/1986 , align="left", 1m40.2s , - align="left" , Amaroo Park , align="left", 1.946 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Arthur Abrahams , align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Golf VW , align="left", 21/6/1987 , align="left", 46.52s , - align="left" , Winton Motor Raceway - Short Circuit , align="left", 2.03 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Arthur Abrahams , align="left", Ransberg Cheetah Mk8 - Golf VW , align="left", -/12/1988 , align="left", 56.9600s , - align="left" ,

Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney Motorsport Park (known until May 2012 as Eastern Creek International Raceway) is a motorsport circuit located on Brabham Drive, Eastern Creek (40-kilometres west of the Sydney CBD), New South Wales, Australia, adjacent to the Western Sy ...

, align="left", 3.93 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Arthur Abrahams , align="left", Ransberg Cheetah - Golf VW , align="left", 25/08/1991 , align="left", 1m29.3500s , - align="left", ,

Wakefield Park Wakefield Park Raceway was a motor racing circuit located near Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. It is named after Charles Wakefield, the founder of Castrol. The founders of Wakefield Park, John Carter and amateur racer and former ...

, align="left", 2.2 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Craig Smith , align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Golf VW , align="left", 16/09/2001 , align="left", 59.0361s , - align="left", , Adelaide International Raceway , align="left", 2.41 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left", Peter Glover , align="left", Cheetah - Golf VW , align="left", ?? , align="left", 52.5 , - align="left"

References

* Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1985/86 Number 15 (1986) * Australian Motor Racing 1982 Number 1
Australian Formula 2 Club Inc.

External links

CAMS website www.formula-robertson.comwww.oldracingcars.com
Australian racecar constructors Formula Two constructors