By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, eBay

A raw Cheetah body on steelies and bias-ply rubber, count me in! In fact it took me more than a minute or two to take off my rose-colored glasses and realize that this ad is in fact for the fiberglass parts alone, but staring at this project-car eye candy has me seeing the possibilities. You’ll have to look elsewhere for all the mechanical bits, but this eBay listing for a BTMLLC fiberglass Cheetah body sure looks like the perfect start to scratch your throwback sports car itch.

Of course if you’re reading this you’re more than familiar with Bill Thomas’ iconic bowtie wearing Cobra challenger. And while the Cheetah was never given a proper opportunity to unseat the Shelby, its sensational shape and performance mystique has endeared it with fans of vintage sports car racing for nearly 60 years now. Clearly there’s no shortage of hype surrounding the Cheetah, and considering the small handful of cars built (roughly 19 chassis and 33 bodies), Cheetah replicas have been popular with enthusiasts for decades as well. Some of the best reborn Cheetah’s are built by BTMLLC in Glendale, Arizona, likely thanks in part to the five original Cheetahs they’ve worked on over the years.

The BTM fiberglass body panel kit listed on eBay consists of the front and rear body sections, doors, trunk panel, hood, dash and seats — all done in fiberglass. Looking at the example photos in the listing, the BTM body appears pretty indistinguishable from the genuine article, especially in the A-pillar. Some Cheetah replicas, along with the early Fiberglass Trends cars, can be quickly identified by their thick fiberglass A-pillar, while original Cheetahs had a sort of pillarless look up front.

As rad as the Cheetah body is, it’s definitely only a starting point, and you’ll have a long list of other parts to source to get the project on four wheels. I’m sure BTMLLC would build you a chassis if you threw them some extra coin, or you could fabricate your own if you have the skills and resources. Then it’s on to suspension, a four (or five-speed) transmission and a hot little small-block Chevrolet and you’re in business.

Personally, I’m strangely attracted to the raw blacked-out look of the car in the photos — steelies get me every time… I know it’s not exactly doing that racy body any justice, but something’s pushing me to do something different with this one, it must be the Allan Greene-esque Cheetah with small mag wheels in the seller’s other photos

It’s tough to say what they need to get out of this body without a Buy-it-Now price listed, but it’s probably more than the $12,500 starting bid. For reference, Shell Valley gets about $20,000 for their Cheetah roadster starter kit, but that does include a chassis, suspension and other items. That being said, the BTM car will likely be worth a small premium given their position in the industry. I'm also fairly certain BTMLLC doesn't normally offer bodies for sale like this, and that could affect the price some as well.

If you’re also wearing your rose-colored glasses, feel free to check out the BTMLLC body for yourself here on eBay.