Powering this classic American sports car is a 377 cubic-inch Chevy V8. This rare example recently traded hands for $520,000 on Bring a Trailer. Bill Thomas Race Cars is thought to have built as few as 19 Cheetahs. Plenty of automotive enthusiasts dream about building a car of their own, but very few actually muster up the courage (and funds) to make it a reality. Back in the 1960s, Californian engineer Bill Thomas was one of the few who attempted to build a legitimate Ferrari and Shelby Cobra killer, and one of his rare creations was recently up for sale. Bill Thomas gained experience building race-prepped Corvettes for GM in the mid-1950s before founding his own company, Bill Thomas Race Cars, in 1960. With the support of Chevy’s Performance Product Group boss Vince Piggins, Thomas locked in the supplies for important C2 Corvette parts to build his own race car around. Read: Steve McQueen’s 1963 Shelby Cobra Is All Original And Insanely Cool Working in partnership with lead fabricator Don Edmunds, Bill Thomas built the Cheetah. Equipped with a Corvette 327 drivetrain, it adopted a front mid-engined layout and was built around a chrome-moly tubular chassis with independent suspension from the Corvette. It has a profile unlike any other car of the era, with the cabin pushed back as far as possible, meaning the driver and passenger sit almost exactly over the rear axle. A V8 Beast Photos Bring a Trailer Sadly, a fire ripped through the Californian workshop that handled production of the Cheetah, and only 19-23 examples are thought to have been built. One of these rare cars was listed for auction earlier this week in the US and traded hands for an impressive $520,000. According to the Bring a Trailer listing, work on this Cheetah began in late 1965, shortly after the workshop fire. It has lightweight fiberglass body panels and is painted red, sitting on 15-inch Torq-Thrust wheels with Firestone tires. The car was delivered to its original owner without a powertrain, but was later equipped with a 377 cubic-inch Chevrolet V8 with mechanical fuel injection. Drive is sent to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual transmission .A half-finished dream turned six-figure collectible. Not the worst outcome. Photos Bring a Trailer
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