I remember reading in a musclecar mag a number of years ago about a "Beaumont Cheetah" that was a dealer option with pawprints or something on the hood. Anyone know about these cars? What years were they made? Any photos?
Information on the Cheetah is hard to find. If I remember correctly, the dealer that built them was ConRoy or something like that. I have never seen a picture of one. From what I have heard and read, there is a guy name Ron that has one that is being restored. I believe he also has a 68 SD convertible. James
i've been asking around to see some old photos or current ones of any existence, nothing so far... but they did exist... in 66 and 67 SDs as well... usually granada gold cars, black vinyl tops and they had die-cast cheetah emblems added...
I'm sure there was an article in an old Musclecar mag on one. My goal this weekend is to start organizing my 20 years worth of car mags. If I find the article I'll scan it and show it here. I seem to believe it was a '67 Beaumont.. Todd
The cars were dealer modified by Conroy Pontiac in BC. They were very limited production similar to what Yenko, Baldwin Motion, Berger, etc. were doing with the Chevy's. 427 engines and the cheetah paw prints
Apparently many of them were cosmetic only, they kept the 396s... I dont think anyone has a verified a 427 transplant? darn i want to see some pics! ... some badges went on the front fender and sometimes on the rear roof sail panel...(again all based on word of mouth info)...the badge was cast with cheetah in the shape of a wide badge (where the beaumont emblem would bolt thru on the f.fender)...
Conroy was in West Vancouver, just across the Lions Gate bridge from Stanley Park. I was wracking my brain trying to remember what I knew about the Cheetahs. There was a yellow 67 Beaumont running around back in the early to mid 70's that was a 427 car. I was led to believe it was a COPO car, but now everything is falling into place. I think it was a Conroy conversion. That name changed in the early 70's, along with the Chevrolet dealer I worked for in North Vancouver. It was originally called Mander Chevrolet, and they were big on performance too.
i was looking at your cheetah posting and thought i would add that conroy pontiac was in west vancouver and turned into royal pontiac before the leased land went back to the indian band ,some royal pontiac started a nother repare shop in the area called white glove service witch was conroy pontiacs saying, they had a large white glove that was a sign in there show room that sayed home of the white glove service my friends dad was the service manager at conroy pontiac and drove the odd hot rod home for the locals to drool on,also my 66 sd cheetah has a glove that was in the glove box that says home of the white glove service and has a list of cars that they sold and there was a complementry garbage bag in the glove, also mander chev olds was in north vancover not far away, they also sold performance stuff,and i also have a 67 ss malibu 396 from mander chev olds its a canadian car also, as far as i have been told there was 29 cars biult from 66 to 68, also my cheetah is red with a black int and a black vinal top, cheetah emblems are on the front fenders behind the wheels, also my car came with a wood chevelle steering wheel, wood dash headers ,456 gears,and hurst wheels , conroy also sold gto so that is were the wheels derived from , there was a nother 66 cheetah in maple ridge that was a 427 4spd car white with a red int and the rear panel had no beaumont on it and was never drilled, i no longer know were that car is, but it was once know to be the fastest car in maple ridge and was owned by andy mekenzie the owner of the old gas station at 216th and duedny,
i left out that my 66 sd cheetah started life as a 360 hp 4 spd posi car with a transisterized ignition, dash tack tinted glass head rests and non power steering non power drum brakes, car now has chrome bullit racing mirrors finned diff cover hurst shifter and shocks ladder bars and old byass skinny cheeter slicks, it runs but needs to be restored,
Hi Ron Thanks for clarifying the Cheetah info for us. I was hoping you would find your way here. Do you have any pics of your car? Did Conroy install the 427?
i do have pictures not any real good ones i will take some when the weather gets better , i was thinking of taking pictures of the emblems and glove box glove to , i had one of the guys from muscle car review eric english come by from seatle and look at some of my cars and he wants to put the cheetah in there rag when i get it restored, im building a new shop so it will be a wile, the cheetah has a 942 66 427 4 bolt block no vin so its a over the counter 427 square port mill installed by conroy pontiac , i was also told that only a few early cheetahs got this transplant because it wasnt a cheap install and this car was more $ than the gto, the late cars had cam shaft changes headers gears and wheels and mirrors , one of my friends worked for andy mickenzie a 66 cheetah owner and sayed andys car came with a after market ignition intake carb and m\t valve covers, this was the white 427 car with 456 gears, i was also told that there was 29 cars in total mild to wild, any info on these cars is far and few between, i have tracked dn some conroy people thru a friend that was in a north shore car club back in the 60s and 70s and i am waiting on some info , aparantly bill conroy sponserd the north shore car club and was heavly into the drag racing seen in the 60s , my good friends dad the parts manager for conroy pontiac that was the guy to talk to past on 2 years before i found my car so i never had a change to ask a million questions about these cars but hopefuly soon i will have more info, any info that any one can find would be gold for sure , one other thing i forgot was that my car has a ansen cast iron scater sheild,
No luck as of yet. I have gone through about 250 musclecar mags without any luck. I know I've seen one in a magazine as that's how I first heard about them.
Not that I'm aware of. He's in the valley, and I was more in the city and suburbs. My brother sent me the link. I keep hoping to find some photos of some of my old cars on other websites. I had a W31 that I raced a few times at Mission and Boundary Bay, and would love to find some shots of that. I know someone took some drag photos, because I've been told so. I just remember that Beaumont, and am pretty sure there were a couple more 427 cars around there too. Conroy Pontiac Buick became Royal Pontiac Buick in the early 70's, and I worked for the other GM dealer on the north shore. That was Mander Chev Olds, which became Dick Irwin Chev Olds.
I was told theres a black on black 66 Cheetah in Winnipeg, was for sale in the early 1990's for $6500 had an M22 tranny in the trunk and modified big block under the hood, sitting in a barn requiring restoration, I tried many times to track the car-no luck, but someone who lives there may have better luck, the guy who told me of the car worked at the library can't remember the name, not much to go on but hey you never know
Interesting! ...i've never heard of the car, but it sounds like its been off the road a long time. Maybe i'll have to post a "want ad" in the buy and sell!
67BBSD, do you know the contact info of the person with all the beaumonts for resto in that 'beaumont heaven' post from ON??
Oh the old cheetah rumor, when will we ever get to see some pics? Heres another somewhat related topic; anyone ever seen or heard of the "Panther" ? I guess its a special 69 toronto dealer made Camaro.......
There was an article on a Panther is a magazine not too long ago.. I have to try to remember which one it was. I think it was Canadian Classics. Anyone else?
I posted the information about the Panther a while ago. I am overseas now returning tomorrow so I will repost it and try to scan the picture of it. It was in Canadian Classics.
Back in 69 - 71 there was a 67 Cheetah here in Calgary. I remember seeing that Beau quite often. It was a very quick car. It was butternut yellow and if my old memory is correct today it had a black vinyl top. I do remember the guys name I think, Mark, I think haha. Anyways a long time ago and a very cool car
The Beaumont Cheetah was a dealer option put out by Conroy Pontiac Buick of West Vancouver. I worked at the dealership in sales as well as other functions as I was growing up. The vehicle was identified by a plaque in the rear roof support pillar. It was the dealer plaque stating that the vehicle was a Cheetah by Conroy LTD. This was a Marketing tool and reflected what some of the large US dealers were doing at the time. Race on Sunday sell on Monday.
The Ambassador car club of West Van worked in conjunction with the dealer to drag race the Cheetah model for 1966-67.
The SD version 396 was run with spartan options to keep it as light as possible,bench seat with a lot of deleted options.
Most Cheetah's as I recall were green with a black vinyl roof.
not sure how many were sold but not many as I can recall.
