Practice and rookie qualification at the Big Bend Open Road Race 2014
And a Gas Monkey, too!
Cheetahs are so cartoonishly sexy. Love them.
In reply to alex:
Agreed, and is the driver's seat bolted to the rear axle, or do you actually sit behind it??? 
In reply to petegossett:
I believe the axle is there for lumbar support.
I wanted to go this year but it just didn't happen. I need to go next year.
More Pictures!
Can't imagine doing better than highway speed in a Cheetah. Not known for their high speed stability
I would love to get down there too. Cheetah's are a rare bird, was that a real one or a kit? More pictures would be awesome.
Mike Kirby
In reply to Mike924:
Considering that they only made about 20 of them, I think it's safe to say its a kit.
Is this the car that they were building on "Gas Monkey Garage" or whatever the name of that show is? Cant stand reality shows, but the car was looking promising.
Never mind...it is, with a wrap. Found the facebook page.
bravenrace wrote: In reply to Mike924: Considering that they only made about 20 of them, I think it's safe to say its a kit.
I heard a report it is actually a real one... the driver/owner is a Brit who shipped it here just to run in this event....
In reply to NOHOME: It looks good up close, too.
More photos coming. The cars are on display this afternoon, and the race is tomorrow.
There are lots of GRM-style cars participating.
Edit re: Cheetah This one will have two people it it for the race, I believe. It's tight for one person ...
Open road events are awesome and should be on every GRMer's bucket list.
Cool. I keep forgetting about it and each year I say that I need to sign up to volunteer and then forget about it when the time actually comes to do it.
CBS News filmed a short segment Tuesday and Wednesday. Mostly accurate, all good.
In reply to slantvaliant:
That big Coupe De Ville was a GREAT way to finish an awesome set of photos!!!
Were they filming the Gas Monkey Falcon run? Cool to see that Aaron is running it.
I never saw any film crew around the Falcon. There was a CBS crew there earlier for the piece referenced earlier, but the Falcon hadn't arrived yet. I was 35 miles from one end, 24 from the other, so I have no idea what filming might have happened elsewhere on the course. It's an interesting bunch of racers, and Aaron and his friends seemed to blend in very nicely. I hope they come back next year.
There was a professional taking photos and taking orders for posters. For other photos and video, you may have to settle for amateur stuff like mine. Some will appear at bborr.com, and on the FACEBOOK PAGE.
ok, I need to make sure to apply this next year. You remember when they open it up to register? Then I just need to figure out who will keep time and run the 125 class.
That Cheetah has a disconcerting amount of nose-high attitude. How fast were they going there?
I remember seeing a Cheetah being hounded by a Porsche 904 and at the same time chasing a Cobra at a race at Mosport in the 1960's when I was a kid. That Cheetah has always left an impression on me. One of my all time favs but way too rare to really think about often. I'm assuming this car is a replica just like the Cobra roadster and Daytona?
I owned a Tiger. My TR8 is so much less problematic as a regular warm weather driver. But you can't go wrong with a V8 in a British car.
The Falcon is also cool, not to mention the GT350.
the caddy is the coolest car in the whole lot
TR8owner wrote: I'm assuming this car is a replica just like the Cobra roadster and Daytona?
look at oldeskewltoy's post near the top of this thread … supposedly it's a "for real"
The Cheetahs are brutal. Tons of power not balanced by tons of brakes or handling and quite small and hard to get in and out of, as well as having you sit almost over the axle, which makes you feel like one of those kids toys with a ball tethered to a paddle. A guy that competed in my class with another car (57 injected Corvette - only slightly slower than my MGA ;-) ) owned a Cheetah so I had the chance to take a really good look at one. I can't say as I'd really like to be racing one....
It would seem to me that a kit Cheetah could be made to handle and brake quite nicely. Don't see anything essentially wrong with the configuration except for the lift-prone aerodynamics.
Sorry for the delay in responding ... had a medical adventure Monday. To answer some of the questions ...
The Cheetah was running with a 110 MPH target speed.
Registration opens on January 1 or thereabouts, IIRC. More on that will be posted at bborr.com, as will the final results.
Highest average speed in Unlimited was 164. Top speed through the trap was around 206. The winds were kicking pretty good, so that might have held them back a little.
More pics (all are still in the ALBUM)
Air Superiority:
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