1965 Beaumont SD "Cheetah"

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

1965 Beaumont SD "Cheetah"

67SD396 · Poncho Master!

My 2 cents says build it as a Cheetah with a hot 327! No reason why Conroy wouldn't have built it that way based on the other performance cars. My bet is they would have dropped in an L79 in place of L74 for the performance upgrade in 65.

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

If that car is documented as having the C08 vinyl roof cover then it is the first Canadian Chevelle or Beaumont I have ever heard of with such. I know in the U.S it was a new Chevelle option for 1965.

Talbot Mirror. Not many people use the correct term to describe them so I am impressed that you did!

65sssd · Poncho Master!

The gm docs are already on poncho and yes it has the C08 option. I too wondered if a L-79 upgrade was done. I know of a 66 283 Cheetah that I am told was a early one and it was only a dress up package. I'm told the motor changes are on the later ones but you never know. If I was dreaming I would go for a 1965 375 HP 396 like the Z-16 cars. I think a L-79 dress up on my 300 HP is very likely. I love the look of that but that's way in the future.

Lefty · Uber Guru

slightly off topic, but does anyone remember these Cheeta's
Chevy's answer to the Ford Cobra
the Blue one was my brother-inlaws back in the 70's
that sucker sure went fast 200mph between Penticiton and summerland
even with the old "S" curves
last i heard of it was when he sold it and the person knocked out a livingroom wall and put it in his house !!

cheetah 427 · Poncho Master!

my 66 cheetah has hurst wheels , not the buick wheels, i was told years ago there was 65 cheetahs but i have never seen one, i dont think there was to many made 1 or 2 maybe ? my buddys dad was the service manager at conroy pontiac and would bring cars home from time to time, wish he was still around he new all the cheetah stuff, he would take the local kids out for burns in the muscle cars he would bring home , he didnt like anything but the fast ones, he liked the trans am's too, he passed away two years before i got my 66 so i never had a change to ask more about conroy cars, theres not many guys around that would be up on the cheetahs anymore.

67SD396 · Poncho Master!

Lefty wrote:

slightly off topic, but does anyone remember these Cheeta's
Chevy's answer to the Ford Cobra
the Blue one was my brother-inlaws back in the 70's
that sucker sure went fast 200mph between Penticiton and summerland
even with the old "S" curves
last i heard of it was when he sold it and the person knocked out a livingroom wall and put it in his house !!

I recall those Cheetahs quite well. Never seen one in person but read about them in the early 80's. Always wondered why they didn't have the same fame as a Cobra. The power to weight ratio must have been incredible. Look like a real blast to drive.

I had never even heard of the Conroy Cheetahs until this site came along.

Lefty · Uber Guru

I was like riding on a skate board untill you reacherd 125mph and +. It was only 1500lb. the one he had was cut down the middle and 20 in added in to make it more stable.
It was fantastic to drive it would corner lke the corner was not even there.
I wish i had taken more pics, he had a huge flame down the side done with pearl pain that was hardly visable untill the light caught it.
It took two people to drive it because of the massive blower, i forget how much horse power but i know it had the biggest motor Chevy had that he could find.

65sssd · Poncho Master!

cheetah 427 wrote:

my 66 cheetah has hurst wheels , not the buick wheels, i was told years ago there was 65 cheetahs but i have never seen one, i dont think there was to many made 1 or 2 maybe ? my buddys dad was the service manager at conroy pontiac and would bring cars home from time to time, wish he was still around he new all the cheetah stuff, he would take the local kids out for burns in the muscle cars he would bring home , he didnt like anything but the fast ones, he liked the trans am's too, he passed away two years before i got my 66 so i never had a change to ask more about conroy cars, theres not many guys around that would be up on the cheetahs anymore.

Sorry for your loss of a friend. If he was here that would of been very cool to here the old stories. It's good that you have heard of 65 Cheetahs because I'm out on a lim when it comes to verifying this car. Like I said the talbot mirror is untouched and the extra holes on the original fender are there for the Conroy emblem along with the way it was ordered with the Cheetah options. I hope there is somebody out there that will comment to help nail down what drivetrain it came with and verify it's existance also. Somebody must know of somebody?

Canadian Poncho · A Poncho Legend!

There's a lot of stress restoring such a rare car. I felt the same way when I had my 59 Dodge Royal D500. It was one of only 2 known to still exist. No pressure there!

grande jim · Guru

Try this guy...I saw his car at the Qualicum car show this year ...being a cheeta owner he may have some helpful info for you

tin indian · Poncho Master!

educate me please, the cheetah: and conroy: is this the same idea as the u.s. yenko, copo, and baldwin motion cars?

grande jim · Guru

tin indian wrote:

educate me please, the cheetah: and conroy: is this the same idea as the u.s. yenko, copo, and baldwin motion cars?

Here is an explanation ,That was on the car

65sssd · Poncho Master!

grande jim wrote:

Try this guy...I saw his car at the Qualicum car show this year ...being a cheeta owner he may have some helpful info for you

I have been for a ride in that car. What a beauty. The fellow that owns that will be over soon. He already offered to help. A super nice guy and he's local.

65sssd · Poncho Master!

grande jim wrote:

tin indian wrote:

educate me please, the cheetah: and conroy: is this the same idea as the u.s. yenko, copo, and baldwin motion cars?

Here is an explanation ,That was on the car

I am told that the Cheetahs were converted at Conroy's dealerships as a showroom to the dragstrip type car. Conroy sponsored drag racing in late 66 and 67 back then and tapered off from there. This is where most of the bigger motor conversions were done in 67 on. It's not to say the earlier ones were not motor converted but there are early 66 Cheetahs that were just 283 cars and only a, ( looks only package). There was a dealership on the east coast that sold Cheetahs too. I wouldn't be suprised if my car was one because there is early 66 cars and they have to come from somewhere as a prototype. It's neat that it surfaced with the original mirror and fender intact because somebody must of known what it ment. The original doors are gone and the passenger side fender is nos but not the original to the car. That mirror has never been touched and thank god for that.

Beaumont4008 · Uber Guru

tin indian wrote:

educate me please, the cheetah: and conroy: is this the same idea as the u.s. yenko, copo, and baldwin motion cars?

Here is a link to past discusions about Conroy cheetah's . One mod was to swap in a 427 on some 67 cars.

http://www.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=118110&p=3&topicID=15129138&page=2&sort=oldestFirst

tin indian · Poncho Master!

thank you gentlemen, wow, thats an unbelievable rarity for sure. i,ll be following this post from here on. thnx again for the info guys

Pontiacanada · A Poncho Legend!

I really like all the questions that a lot of old cars can pose. Some will never be fully answered or answered at all. Nobody really thought about it back then to document a car's life-cycle. Be it "automobile archeology", lineage, or life history ... very cool stuff.
Good luck finding answers Paul.

ak 67sd · Poncho Master!

That car is such a fun find! The signs are there pointing it towards being a cheetah! That would be a great way to restore the car! Hope you can find out more, but either way you'll have a real head turner when its done!

ak

65sssd · Poncho Master!

It will be nice but you should see it now. OMG if rust was worth something I would be rich! I popped the lid on this car so it's getting closer to the CUT, CUT time. The good news I think I found the Cheetah emblem. It was in the trunk the whole time. I took a picture for you guys.

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

65sssd wrote:

Qualicum car show 2010 057.jpg

Qualicum car show 2010 070.jpg

427carl · A Poncho Legend!

65sssd wrote:
The good news I think I found the Cheetah emblem. It was in the trunk the whole time.

65sssd · Poncho Master!

427carl wrote:

65sssd wrote:
The good news I think I found the Cheetah emblem. It was in the trunk the whole time.

I think your posting skills are fading Carl. The picture didn't copy very well. With all the data saying the Cheetah cars are produced only from 66-69 how can we explain my car?

-- Edited by 65sssd on Saturday 27th of November 2010 05:15:54 PM

-- Edited by 65sssd on Saturday 27th of November 2010 09:05:06 PM

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

65sssd wrote:

It will be nice but you should see it now. OMG if rust was worth something I would be rich! I popped the lid on this car so it's getting closer to the CUT, CUT time. The good news I think I found the Cheetah emblem. It was in the trunk the whole time. I took a picture for you guys.

I don't think the animal lovers will want you fastening that embem to the car...

65sssd · Poncho Master!

That's my little shop buddy, "Rusty". He's the forman on the job.