1964 Cheetah Coupe Coupe

This Cheetah is the fourth customer-delivered fiberglass-bodied Cheetah and the second in the series of three delivered to Alan Green Chevrolet in Seattle, Washington. Two of the three were intended for racing, but this example was the only one of his Cheetahs to go road racing. During its career, it was driven in ten FIA events in 1964-1965 by Jerry Grant, Allen Grant, Don Jansen, Gary Gove, and Larry Webb. It also competed at drag strips where it recorded a 134 mph run in the mid-10-second range.

The car was delivered to Mr. Green in red and was without the rear fender flares that later would be fitted after the FIA dictated the modification to reduce the amount of track debris being thrown by the big rear tires. It was then given Alan Green graphics and the number '8'. Its first outing was at the California Sports Car Club event at Pomona in 1964. A few months later, it was repainted in his signature green.

Subsequent owners raced the car in several SCCA Regional championships. In 1972, its new owner decided to turn it into a legal streetcar. In order to register it for street use, the owner stamped his own 'serial number' BTC003, which has led to confusion over the car's identity.

The current owner acquired the street-modified Cheetah in 1989. He had the original body removed and replaced it with a never-used one that he had painted red and restored to Alan Green's 1964 livery. It was then vintage raced for the next 21 years, including ten times at the Monterey Historics. It won the USRRC Seniors Tour Series, Entrepreneur's Cup, in 1994.

In 2012, the replacement body was removed and the original body with 1965's livery was re-united with the vehicle. It was also given a modern wiring harness and rebuilding the dual-meter Rochester fuel-injection system.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2016