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On Any Thumbnail to View A Larger Photograph
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Vehicle
Description
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1965
Bill Thomas Cheetah Race Car
For Sale By Owner
Offered For $99,500.00
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| 1965
Bill Thomas Cheetah Continuation #019 Completed in 2007.
This Cheetah comes with letter of Authenticity signed by
Bill Thomas. This Cheetah was driven by Bob Bondurant at
the Nov 2007 BTM. Bill Thomas and Bob Bodurant Reunion in
Chandler Arizona at the Bob Bondurant School of high performance
driving.This is a street version powered by a Chevrolet
350 350HP Dual Quad Induction setup, 4 Speed muncie transmission
4.11 Corvette rear IRS axle.4 wheel coil over suspension,
4 wheel Corvette disc brakes. Correct 62 Corvette Radiator,
All Original Style Interior, SW gauges, American racing
Torq thrust wheels mounted on BFG Radial TA's, Original
style Aluminum fuel tank, Original adjustable Pedal Assembly,
All High Quality hand laid Fiberglass body panels and interior
panels. This car has a 90" wheel base and just over
1600LB's turnkey ready to go. Retail $99,500This model features
a 350 ci engine and 4-speed Muncie transmission. This vehicle
was manufactured by the owner, BTM of Arizona, the One and
Only Official Website for the Bill Thomas Cheetah. Each
vehicle manufactured is signed by Bill Thomas, himself.
Offered for $99,500.00. Details coming soon. |
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"Cheetah
Roars Back"
Chevy's 1960s' race car is reborn in Tempe
by: Bob Golfen, Arizona Republic
November 18, 2007
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| "The
Cheetah is a rakish little race car with an abbreviated
back end and a Chevy V-8 set so far back in the chassis
that no driveshaft is needed between transmission and rear. |
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| Only
a handful of them were made in 1963 and '64 by race-car
tuner Bill Thomas of Anaheim, who hoped the Cheetah would
do for Chevrolet what the Shelby Cobra was doing for Ford.
But the partnerships soured, and the much admired Cheetah
passed into race-car legend. |
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| Today,
the Cheetah is back, being manufactured under Thomas' guidance
by a Tempe company in versions for street or track. These
are the real deal, said company owner, Robert Auxier, no
replicas or kit cars, but actual continuations built to
original specifications. |
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| The
rebirth of the Cheetah spawned a historic reunion recently
when Auxier brought two of the new Cheetahs, a street car
and a specially built full-bore racer to the Bob Bondurant
School of High Performance Driving in Chandler. The reunion
was between Thomas, 87, and Bondurant, 74, who in 1963 was
the first profession driver to take a Cheetah out on a racetrack. |
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| In
a singular piece of racing magic, Bondurant became the first
to flog the new-generation Cheetah race car, driving the
coupe to its roaring limits on the twisting road course
of his driving school. |
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| "He
tested Bill's first car and now he's testing our first race
car," Auxier said. |
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| The
years seemed to drop away as Bondurant wriggled into the
tiny cockpit, donning a helmet painted to look like his
old helmet from the '60's. He hurtled along the track more
than a dozen times at incredible speed, tossing the Cheetah
around the curves, then hunkering down on the long front
stretch and rushing past the wide-eyed spectators. |
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| And
just as he had done with Thomas in 1963, Bondurant described
his driving impressions to Auxier. Bondurant said the new
car is more tractable than the original, especially with
the addition of modern disc brakes. |
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| "The
last time I drove this was, good Lord, about 40 years ago,"
said Bondurant. I drove it the first time it went on the
track, at Riverside (Raceway), when they had just finished
it." |
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| Watching
the tough-looking little car hurtle along was Thomas, Auxier
and his son, Charles, 24, who runs the manufacturing company
along with his Dad, plus Thomas' son and grandson. Auxier's
other son, Robert Auxier III, is serving with the Army in
Iraq. |
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| The
Tempe company's name, BTM, and logo come from Thomas' original
firm: Bill Thomas Motors. |
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| Auxier
said Cheetah was a "back-door" project among Chevrolet's
staff in 1963. The plan was to stuff Chevy's racing engine
into a lightweight car that would do battle with Shelby's
Cobras, which had arrived at the same formula using an AC
Ace body and chassis from England. But General Motors brass
turned up their noses, pulling the plug in 1964. |
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| Thomas
soldiered on briefly with the Cheetah, but a fire at the
Anaheim plant in 1965 ruined the forms and machinery needed
to build the car. Thomas lost heart in the project and moved
on. |
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| "I
wanted to do much more with this car," Thomas said
during the Bondurant reunion. "This could have been
like Shelby, except with Chevrolet." |
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| Thomas
was a renowned race-car builder and tuner who prepared many
of the winning road-race Corvettes of the day. Bondurant,
who built he early career racing Corvettes, said he bought
his first race car, a 1957 roadster, from Thomas. |
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| "Bill
helped me out a lot when I was racing." said Bondurant,
who was sidelined after a crash in 1967, after which he
started his renowned driving school. |
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| "That's
what's so great about racing, the people you meet, then
get back together with and reminisce." |
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| Originally,
Bondurant was to race the Cheetahs, but he received an offer
from Carroll Shelby that became a milestone in his career:
drive the new Ford Shelby Daytonas in endurance road racing,
including the famed 24 hours of LeMans. Bondurant and driving
partner Dan Gurney helped Shelby beat Ferrari, a landmark
accomplishment. |
|
| Auxier
said he's known Thomas since 1994, getting to know his philosophy
of race car building. Auxier, 46, a life long car guy whose
father was a mechanic, said the Cheetah rebirth is the culmination
of a long-held dream. |
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| Thomas'
involvement in the Cheetah revival legitimizes the continuation
series, Auxier said. Several companies have produced Cheetah
replicas over the years, but none has made the effort to
accurately duplicate the originals. The disc brakes are
the only significant change, but they are legitimate in
vintage race-car competition. |
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| "There's
a letter of authenticity that goes with each car, which
Bill signs," Auxier said. "What that does for
the race car, it makes it legal to vintage race. It's a
real Cheetah." |
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| Thomas
said he's impressed with Auxiers' efforts. |
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| "I'm
really proud of Bob and what he's doing, a nice job,"
Thomas said. "I'm proud to have him carry on." |
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| For
more information contact the owner directly at 623.606.3155
or use the form below to send an email. |
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| WARNING
TO RESPONDENTS: USE
OF THIS FORM TO MAKE A FRAUDULENT OFFER ON THIS VEHICLE
WILL RESULT IN YOUR NAME & EMAIL ADDRESS BEING REPORTED
TO THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS. |
| LISTERS:
PLEASE REPORT FRAUDULENT OFFERS TO THE FBI. TO MAKE A COMPLAINT,
CLICK ON THE LINK THAT FOLLOWS: http://www.ic3.gov |
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| CONTACT:
1965 BILL THOMAS CHEETAH |
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1965
Bill Thomas Cheetah For Sale |
