History
Cheetah Racing Cars were a prolific Australian manufacturer of race cars. The cars were almost solely designed, engineered and constructed by Brian Shead in a small factory at the rear of his home in Mordialloc,Victoria.
The first Cheetah was built for Shead’s personal use in 1960. It was a ’Cooper Copy’ built to race in Formula Junior. A second Cheetah was built in 1962 and a third in 1963. By 1973 Shead gave up his usual job to design and build race cars full time. The final car was produced in 1989, being a Mk9 for use in Formula Holden.
This particular car is the last of only Three Formula Pacific/Atlantic cars. The car was delivered new to Peter Macrow in Feb. 1983. Peter went on to be Cheetahs most successful racing driver, placing 3rd in the Australian National Formula Two Championship in 1985.
Peter approached Penrite in 1985 for sponsorship and the car has held the Penrite branding since then. The Cheetah is the only car in the Penrite race stable that can be raced with the unique Penrite branding. The other cars in the team predate formal sponsorship agreements and only original sponsorship / branding can be displayed.
Penrite is proud to have this Cheetah Mk 8 as part of its collection.
