Video: The Cobra Killer takes on the RAC TT Celebration

29th August 2024

Simon Ostler

Duncan Pittaway encapsulates everything that’s good about the Goodwood Revival. He is of course most famous for his Beast of Turin, the Fiat S76 that draws so much attention at the Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport and the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, but at the Revival we’ve also become used to seeing him behind the wheel of another eye-catching machine.

The Cheetah’s is a remarkable story. After the success of Carroll Shelby and his Cobra, Chevrolet wanted to get back at Ford, and it was Bill Thomas who came up with an idea for a ‘Cobra Killer’. Initially the Cheetah was just a means for Thomas proving himself to Chevrolet, a road car first and foremost that would later be thrown onto a race track.

Two prototypes were built with aluminium bodies, the car that Pittaway now races is the original one first completed in 1963. The plan was for the Cheetah to become Chevrolet’s world-beating sportscar that would overthrow the dominant Cobras, but its early promise in testing would never be realised in competition.

Homologation rules changed in 1964, requiring manufacturers to build 1,000 cars, rather than 100, which ultimately led to Chevrolet pulling its support for the Cheetah project. In all only ten were made before manufacture ceased in 1965.

The Cheetah was a unique sight in the RAC TT Celebration, a front-engined brute with a distinct stance that sits the driver directly over the rear axle. It’s always dramatic on the track, with far too much power and some questionable handling characteristics thanks to miss-match suspension, while the sound that comes from its 327 V8 is truly biblical. But it’s Pittaway’s contagious enthusiasm for racing it that makes it all the more special.