Chesnut "Cheetah"

[john chesnut]

Originally Posted by Tommy

John, I like the way you took the Cheetah concept and made it your own. And I notice this is a "step in" car without doors. Most people don't realize that one of the challenges of the Cheetah coupe design is the doors. That may be why some previous Cheetah replicas were roadsters that looked a lot like Cobra replicas reshaped as Cheetahs. It is also why it would be very challenging to add a top to a car that has no provision for side opening doors. .... Your design looks much better than other Cheetah roadsters I have seen, and the top concept is beautiful.

Thanks Tommy. Deleting the doors certainly makes the body much simpler. My 2 piece body is much like a dune buggies. Very simple and easy to mount. It mounts securely to the upper frame rails. The front is full tilting.

I do love the top idea and how I think that it can turn out.

Incoming, Thanks for the questions. The fuel tank holds 15 gallons. I'm getting 17mpg as an average with my SBC, Richmond 4 speed and 3.07 gear. I'm building one now with a mild LS1 (just freshened), a new Tremec TKX with 32% overdrive and the 3.07 gear. I had a similar set up in my Cobra and got in the 30's for fuel mileage.

I only had 6 gallons in it when I weighed it. With the 6 gallons the car has 50.6% rear weight. It will increase with more fuel and with my 200lbs in it. The seating position is skewed as far rearward as possible.