Wrestling a mighty V8 Cheetah up the Goodwood Hill | FOS onboard

Duncan Pittaway likes a handful, aside from owning the Fiat S76 "Beast of Turin" he also owns this incredible Bill Thomas Cheetah. Powered by a mighty five-litre V8 engine it was designed and built as Chevrolet's "Cobra Killer".
At the Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard in 2021 Duncan wrestled his mighty Cheetah up the hill and it sounded and looked awesome.
Members of the GRRC community can view all of Goodwood's videos first, including an inside look into what makes the Cheetah so special here: www.goodwood.c...
#FOS #ChevroletCheetah #V8 #onboard
Official Website 👉 www.goodwood.co...
Facebook 👉 / goodwoodrrc
Instagram 👉 / goodwoodrrc
Twitter 👉 / goodwoodrrc
SUBSCRIBE for more racing cars, supercars, new car reviews, historic motorsport and Goodwood event coverage 👉 bit.ly/GoodwoodTV
Buy your Goodwood Event tickets 👉 bit.ly/GWBuyTic...

[@ehkale6789]

Finally a dash that won’t crack

[@THE_Michael_Westen]

One could make the argument this has four-wheel-steering. The front whels through the steering wheel of course. And for the rear wheels there is a pedal just under your right foot. 😉

[@bikesqump]

The rudder pedal?

[@mikeh.753]

Your comment is spot on . Modulate the the rear of the car through close attention to the throttle. Because it appears that we he gives it the right amount of throttle response the car is capable of some serious cornering. Imagine that this was built before all of the fancy CAD designing that today's car designers benefit so much from. Kind of reminds me of the SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. Really ahead of it's time. I would love to ride in one, but I'm not sure if I would like to drive one. It looks like it takes an experienced driver to push it out to it's limits.

[@johncunningham4820]

Yeah . That's called Drifting .

[@jerrytee2688]

@@johncunningham4820 This is a "race-car", drifting is the "Synchronized Swimming" of motorsports.

[@johncunningham4820]

@@jerrytee2688 . When done in Pairs , maybe . Still DRIFTING if you are on your own , but .

[@jasonleech1254]

That is possibly the most beautiful sound on earth.

[@nitinkumar7329]

Watching this video made me appreciate the old racing drivers. They did this for living. What a feat. No traction control, no abs no power steering and above all manual shifts. Men of courage and steel.

[@patrickmchose7472]

It's a shame we have to turn all that crap off in todays vehicles to re-learn how to drive. Makes us lazy. Now cars are driving themselves. I taught my kids to drive only on manual transmission autos. It was the least I could do...

[@willjones7132]

Cool that actually gets used and shown. Too bad you didn't at least get an exterior shot of it running past the finish, it's one of the coolest looking cars ever made.

[@GoodwoodRR]

This is a little taster for the full film. Coming soon to KZbin, available www.goodwood.com/grr/event-coverage/festival-of-speed/2022/1/video-meet-chevrolets-cobra-killer--the-cheetah/

[@willjones7132]

@@GoodwoodRR Nice call on doing a feature of it.

[@secretivescorpio891]

@Alby Goode yeah, they aren't shy about taking your money, preferably in chunks

[@leepicgaymer5464]

@Alby Goode It is coming to youtube, so i dont know what you're complaining about.

[@brhjrh088]

Sorry for being American here, but I love that V8 sound, always have.

[@thephilpott2194]

No apology necessary. We are much more comfortable being allied with the US than with mainland Europe....much of which has effectively banned older classic cars from public roads.. (twats..)

[@stevieray6216]

@The Philpott V8 driver from the Continent here. Classic cars not quite banned ... yet. In Germany there’s a special license plate for them (“H plate” like in historic) that even allows you to enter restricted environmental zones. Nobody knows of course if it will stay that way.

[@ChrisJohnson-rn2ls]

NEVER apologize for being American!

[@nicolafox5786]

No apologies needed hope you have a great morning afternoon or evening 😊

[@honesttexan7745]

I mean, what’s not to love?

[@garthlundquist3623]

A local auto dealer in Seattle owned a Cheetah and drove it on the street back in 1970 or so. I clearly remember it ripping up Highway 99 past Parker’s Ballroom late one Saturday night. It was the fastest accelerating car I had ever seen on a Public road. It was loud, raw, and mean. It looked like a Jaguar XKE Coupe on acid.

[@thephilpott2194]

I raised my eyebrows at hearing some well timed double-declutching on what must be a very tough tolerant gearbox....then- 'Oh, it's Duncan Pittaway, that explains it'.

[@realMaverickBuckley]

@Poly Bun Isn't he just heel toeing/ rev matching?

[@hal900x]

Coolest coffin ever built. I salute anyone daring enough to drive it in anger.

[@liamm-c1287]

Imagine owning both the cheetah and the beast of turin. Those are 2 of my top 10 goodwood cars of all time. This guy is fantastic

[@catjudo1]

The fine folks at Goodwood have hosted Babs (the land speed record car) on the hill climb. I can't think of many other vehicles less suited for a run up the hill than something with a bonkers engine and tall gearing. My other hill climb favorite is the Ford Transit test mule with the Jaguar XJ220 engine midship. Two amazing vehicles.

[@jcgabriel1569]

He also owned a Plymouth Barracuda, and a Bugatti Type 35, both regularly raced. The Bugatti for example, straight after it's rebuild, got driven from the UK to Monaco, raced at the Monaco Historique, and then driven back home again!

[@ChrisJohnson-rn2ls]

OMG!! EARGASM! If only I could figure out how to loop this video continuously. 😱😱

[@ssnerd583]

Had a very healthy 351 in a '66 Mustang FB that was like that....the throttle was used for coarse direction corrections and the steering wheel was the modulation/fine coarse correction device. That car REALLY taught me a LOT about driving and I still miss that one a LOT. It got totaled out while parked on the side of the street......at least I didnt wreck it....lol

[@15DEAN1995]

nothing can beat the sound of an old american crossplane v8, they can send shivers down your spine and no other engine can do that. (im from europe and while these are kinda normal for americans they are exceptionally rare here. pretty much the closest we have to these are the old mercedes amg 6.2, the bmw m3 4.0 and the audi 4.2 engines but those are a complete minefield as far as reliability goes. manuals arent an option on the mercs and theyre not a wise choice on the audis because they wear out too quckly. only v8 you could confidently own here is probably a lexus isf but those are incredibly rare and they never had a manual either. 5.0 mustangs are pretty much the only option for a manual v8 but they hold their value really well so they will be diffiicult to buy)

[@K1lostream]

Vauxhall Monaro would like a word....

[@skrillah6259]

A high revving v10 wins any day

[@15DEAN1995]

@@skrillah6259 v10s are great in their own way but owning one would be difficult. the only "cheap" v10s around are the BMW m5 and m6 v10s along with the turbocharged audi s6 and rs6 v10s. the bmws sounds absolutely phenomenal but theyre a grenade with pin already pulled waiting to go off at any time. meanwhile the audis are cool but dont rev that high but are at least reliable as far as im aware.

[@SpecialKLSX]

@@15DEAN1995 *gen 1 viper* Am I a joke to you?

[@SpecialKLSX]

@@K1lostream aren't those engines based on the GM Small Block? (Lots of parts interchangeably)

[@jorgefernandez-mv8hu]

Well that was really cool! Love the V8 sound!

[@tsarbomba1]

Man that puppy is a handful! I can't even imagine sitting back that far in the car... almost on top of the real wheels.

[@hughbarton5743]

Isn't it funny how the road gets MUCH narrower when you go fast? The fastest I've ever driven was about 146mph, and three wide lanes of American superhighway were like trying to drive through a toll booth.... Love that Cheetah! What a monster....

[@bogthing1]

You'll have to check out I-285 in Atlanta sometime, they'll get 146 out there on the reg'lar!

[@vasopel]

anything above 100 mph is very irresponsible (and also ilegal), go to racetrack you maniac! ;-)

[@wewantourdarbyback]

Duncan's gearchanges are exceptional

[@stevewheat9030]

There's nothing quite like a high horsepower engine in a small light weight car.... 😍😍😍

[@milesdufourny4813]

That's one of the greatest "Soundtracks" of all time!

[@grahambrown5822]

This guy knows how to drive… period.. I loved watching this. Congrats

[@chrisrautmann8936]

One way the Cheetah saved weight was to make the body panels as thin as they could, even thinner than a beer can. The problem with that is the aerodynamic forces at top speed were a bit stronger than the body panels. They were so strong, some body panels separated from the car. It literally blew its own doors off.

[@robertowarren7007]

What beasts those Cheetahs were!

[@christophernorgaar6373]

Thank you for a view that virtually no one gets to see.

[@bogthing1]

Totally mad vehicle. Saw one race at Loudon years ago.

[@northernzeus768]

I bet those hedge rows have had many a car in them. As the mighty Clarkson once said…” I was hoping to end up in a different sort of hedge tonight.”

[@aeiouxs]

Fantastic onboard - thank you. But yes just 1 exterior shot for those of us who don't know what this is, would be, well, nice! thx!

[@cheesenoodles8316]

That was so cool. In younger days my brother had a Corvette, drove normal...a year late ...he used the throttle to slide hard in the turns....he learned the craft well.

[@RealMaxoou262]

Man or woman that driver got balls of steel!

[@rs3unos]

Look at that tach going crazy during every up and down shift

[@user-kj9dp6fq2e]

Какими автомобили должны быть на самом деле-живыми, со своим характером....мы забываем об этом...

[@zhain0]

I want a ride in the bread van, thing looks mental

[@LukSter18998]

Looks to only seat 1:/

[@MrNoodlyone]

That sound is perfect! It screams Merica, while being narrated by a refined English Gentleman.

[@HLife719]

Definitely no need to be sorry for loving the sound of a tunes American V8. Since my childhood in the sixties V8 sounds makes my hair stand up and chills run through my body.

[@The_R-n-I_Guy]

GM has always had some great engines. This one sounds like a symphony to my ears

[@markharris1473]

I love that sound. Music to my ears ❤

[@TheMykkH]

Best soundtrack ever,

[@Ronsonic]

I love that dash. This is the ultimate expression of the sort of car we'd draw on our notebooks in Jr High.

[@georgedennison3338]

I remember the Cheetah as a kid. It was at the height of the short lived slot car fad. Not the plastic snap together tracks, the real slot car tracks were in empty, old business buildings where some dedicated adults would build an 6-8ft wide track w/ high banks & long straights between & among the corners. Like the plastic track, there were ⅛" wide slots, 8 typically, w/ an electrical contact on each side. The driver had a acceleration controller, which connected to the track. The cars were the focal point, wide foam rubber tires, a DC motor driving the solid rear axle via a ring & pinion gear set. Not much for structure, but strong enough to take full speed wipe outs. As long as the car didn't make the 3-6' fall to the floor, they were ready to go. Hitting the floor usually bent the axle & you were shut down until you could earn enough to buy a new one for 1.89, (gas was ~0.13/ gal.) The bodies were the newest in technology construction paper thick plastic, vacu-formed in the shape of Ferrari, F40 & the coolest & typically fastest, the Cheetah. I remember the Chretah, both from infrequent, grainy tv shows & live, in person in 1/24 scale. The strange part about my 10 yr old slot car career is when I was in my mid 20's, started a business w/ an old friend, who grew up in SoCal. We built street rods, race cars & did antique auto restoration; the employees did mundane auto repair, body, paint & glass, plus we had an industrial sand blasting & painting biz. They all operated so we'd have the tools & facility to build the toys. My partner was 10 yrs older; in '61-62, as a young fiberglass wiz, a Corvette customer asked if he'd ever heard of vacu-forming. The no answer got a biz card & invite to drop by & check it out. Two weeks later, my partner was carving molds to vacu-form into a new line MPC, (Model Plastic Cars), was launching... slot cars. The Corvette Owner was an exec at MPC.

[@dtj9923]

If I had to pick a V8 suicide machine to go out in, it's the Cheetah. BRUTAL car. Raw. Pure. Uncompromising. This one sounds amazing.

[@Ogsonofgroo]

Was always fond of the Cheetah's lines, great video for morning coffee, a vicarious road killing drive, wheeee!

[@jasonrackawack9369]

Love the carburetors sticking through the hood! It is the perfect blend of everything great about an american hot rod and european sports car, designed to take on the shelby cobra. (Yes I know they were 100% american)

[@izom]

amazing ride !!😃

[@tomoday4450]

Fantastic 👍🏻 Real driving old school 👍🏻Sick Cheetah 👍🏻❤️🇺🇸

[@larryarmstrong1500]

Saw one of these and a Wolf GT playing with each other in the rain at St Jovite ,Canada , and it was assume. Rooster tails like power boats !

[@steves9905]

wow...aint no room for error on that climb...esp for something squirrely as a cheetah

[@jamesdamron2065]

Yep. The cheetah she can bang!!!

[@erniearambula3525]

That's one badass cat.

[@melodigrand]

The Cheetah never reached the production volume needed to race production classes against Cobras and Ferraris. That didn't stop Ralph Salyer from racing his Cro-Sal Special Cheetah in C-modified against the fastest mid engine sports racers of the day. In 1964 Salyer managed to win the Road America SCCA National event in C modified, besting the Lola Mk6 GT, Chapparal 2, and a Shelby Cooper King Cobra.

[@campervanbug7658]

Sounds just like our old plow truck😍

[@donlarocque5157]

Awesome. Now I have to find the chase scene from Bullitt.

[@SportingDrivesinColorado]

Thank you! Maybe a bit more ride time, please! :)

[@GR1MRACER]

Brilliant design. Lets have the exhaust sit over the driver's feet.

[@barrygrant2907]

Built for when men were men--and knew it.

[@ronaldsteveson76]

Most fun I had a mourning!😎👍

[@oh8wingman]

A friend of my sons built a replica Cheetah with a 700HP big block. Thought it would be a great car. It wasn't. Due to it's light weight the car was un-roadable. If you stabbed the power at any time under 65MPH it was all over the tarmac. He ended up re-powering it with a 350HP engine and then sold it off. Today he has a very nice big block Cobra. Sometimes things just don't work out.

[@eharris6347]

Son of a beast master !!!

[@literallyshaking8019]

Music to my ears.

[@nhragold1922]

Short wheelbase, lots of power = fun!

[@bob_._.]

Not made for slowing down, is it?

[@stevieray6216]

Not meant for going in a straight line either.

[@mapex1976]

Grrrrrreeaaaaattt💥

[@johannmckraken9399]

Drum brakes!? You must be insane! 💯😬😬😬

[@jamessutherland5107]

Sweet sound

[@2HacksGarage]

Looks like a lot of fun!

[@billyrayvalentine7972]

When two gloves are your traction control

[@AtZero138]

Yup . That's the Stuff

[@scootosan]

those tires are wrong for this surface condition. That car has so much more.... so we're on the same page it was Awesome to get a ride along. Cheetah's don't do well being penned up (you proved my point)

[@brittenv1000]

Can't wait for my ev to sound like that

[@wls64]

insane

[@boycottjews]

As rare as these are, just by chance I've seen many in the same place once. A cheetah club event was near my house and I happened to be driving by.

[@XrayxRich]

That thing is super squirrely.

[@nicolafox5786]

Awsome thanks 😊 ❤👍

[@phillipthethird42]

I have yet to see a real cheetah , and I'm in my 60's but in the 60's as a child I had a toy cheetah and I thought it was the coolest car I had ever seen. And still is.

[@samwalton4598]

What a nasty beast! And Just an awesome sound!! It gives me wood!! 💪

[@83j049733rfe4]

There's a lot of times when saying you survived just Driving a car, not Crashing it, you came back from operating a motor vehicle without incident is a bit of an eye-roller, a little overdramatic, being extra-exagerative... But you can really feel just how much this thing was trying to get out from under his thumb. You could clearly see this machine trying to take him out with it.

[@DouglasJWalker]

Special

[@deebee68]

That thing is a handful

[@moparmanicgarage]

Gotta love a mechanical tach!

[@brianc9642]

She’s a handful!

[@brianvaller6589]

this is one of the most sketchy/awesome things I have seen in a long time

[@RobertKarlBerta]

The Cheetah was a mid 60s car designed as a Chevrolet powered car to compete against the Cobras of the day. Never had the development budget but they were an intersting car and a nice looking car. typical American car with the engine pushed back to make it more a mid engine type car and with the driver sitting over the rear axle.They were a fast car and while not sucessful as the Cobras...they later became quite a fast car and won a class championship in SCCA as I recall.

[@shanew.williams]

Great ride !

[@martinphilippo1347]

Fantabulous

[@jerrylarson723]

I have seen only one in my life. . American and I delight greatly in the V 8 s . Had a few

[@cliffdiver5357]

Small car with no weight and huge power. Cheetahs are awesome 👍

[@bokkie9005]

Old school...great 💪👌🤘

[@TheoneGodfather]

Reminds me of trying to control the Tuscan Speed 12.

[@rambler1964]

Phwoar! Yes please!

[@caribman10]

This one has the trick BT modified fuel injection system. Nice.

[@petesmitt]

Just being cruised up the hill, no doubt being careful not to crash; I'd like to see it driven all out.

[@scootosan]

Except for the G's and the smell... I was there. Therapeutic.... let's schedule your next appointment. (anytime works for me)

[@michealfigueroa6325]

"I'm a lumber jack and I saw all day..." brought to you by the Bill Thomas lumber company

[@thatdudeinorange2297]

Should have pressed the ESP button! Oh, it doesnt have one...? Nor any fault codes stopping the mad fun 👍

[@maxbassful]

Awesome

[@markthibault8579]

Quite the handful...

[@gseric4721]

The first thing in my mind was I hope this car is in a sim XD

[@seanokeefe703]

I have seen some big block super charged jeeps with 4 wheel drive in austin texas I would like to see go up the hill

[@kimmorrison9169]

was it wet? tires kept spinning under power.

[@ickleshouse]

there is a company in America that makes these. Full copies.... dream garage.. with our GT 40 etc.

[@michaelwilliams8297]

Rowdy....

[@SomeGuyInSandy]

Sounds like my daily driver... (I wish)

[@toddburgess6792]

Imagine if that thang had traction!