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 Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...

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 Formula Holden was an Australian open wheel racing category introduced in 1989. History Known during its development as Formula Australia, it was initially for chassis constructed from aluminium only, running a 3.8-litre Buick V6 engine as ...

. Cars were constructed for

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppor ...

Hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the fir ...

Australian Formula 3 Australian Formula 3 has been the name applied to two distinctly different motor racing categories, separated by over twenty years. The original Australian Formula 3 was introduced in 1964 based on the FIA Formula 3 of the period and intended a ...

(AF3),

Australian Formula 2 Australian Formula 2, sometimes abbreviated to AF2 or ANF2, is a "wings and slicks" formula racing category in Australia. The category is one of Australia's oldest, dating back to 1964. The current format of AF2 was introduced in 1978. Brian Shea ...

(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 Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club o ...

or Formula Pacific) and

. Cheetah Race Cars dominated Formula Three during the 1970s and in

they were the dominant manufacturer during the late 1970s and most of the 1980s. In

, 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 Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under t ...

and

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...

. 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

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 Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...

and

Reynard Motorsport Reynard Motorsport was the world's largest racing car manufacturer in the 1980s. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vaux ...

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 Baskerville is a serif typeface designed in the 1750s by John Baskerville (1706–1775) in Birmingham, England, and cut into metal by punchcutter John Handy. Baskerville is classified as a Serif#Transitional, transitional typeface, intended as a ...

, 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 Arthur Abrahams) is a semi-retired Australian race car driver. He won the 1987, 1991 and 1993 Australian Formula 2 Championships driving a Cheetah Mk8, Ransburg Cheetah and Reynard 913 respectively. he also won the Australian group C touring ...

, align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Judd Golf VW , align="left", 15/6/1986 , align="left", 50.6s , - align="left" ,

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...

, align="left", 3.9 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left",

, align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Golf VW , align="left", 14/9/1986 , align="left", 1m40.2s , - align="left" ,

Amaroo Park Amaroo Park Raceway was a motor racing circuit located in Annangrove, New South Wales, in the present-day north-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Opened in 1967, the road circuit served as a venue for a variety of competitions including t ...

, align="left", 1.946 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left",

, align="left", Cheetah Mk8 - Golf VW , align="left", 21/6/1987 , align="left", 46.52s , - align="left" ,

Winton Motor Raceway Winton Motor Raceway is a motor racing track in Winton, near Benalla, Victoria, Australia. History The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958, as a replacement for their existing track at Barjarg. In 1960 it ...

- Short Circuit , align="left", 2.03 km , align="left", AF2 , align="left",

, 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",

, 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 The Adelaide International Raceway (also known as Adelaide International or AIR) is a permanent circuit owned by Australian Motorsport Club Limited under the auspices of the Bob Jane Corporation. The circuit is located north of Adelaide in So ...

, 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