ESSEX SHED REVEALS A RARE WATFORD CHEETAH
After WW2, many enthusiasts wanted to own a sports car but couldn’t afford it, which led to the Specials boom of the 1950s with a number of businesses supplying kits of parts including bodies, initially for the Austin Seven and subsequently for the Ford 10. One such kit was made by Watford Sports Cars in 1959 under the name of Cheetah. The firm’s directors had cut their teeth at Tornado Cars of Rickmansworth before going out on their own. The Cheetah chassis cost £70 and the glassfibre body with fittings was £130.
In September last year, an enthusiast saw an advertisement in a local paper for some old oil cans and went to Stanford-le-hope, Essex, to see them. He found a collection of sheds crammed with old car parts, and buried in one of them was a Watford Cheetah kit. It was complete, including chassis, inner wings and doors. He bought the car from the family, just out of curiosity.
Not knowing exactly what he had bought, he contacted the Ford Sidevalve Owners’ Club for advice. He was put in touch with member Jon Norman, who already owned a Cheetah. “As soon as I spoke to him, I knew I had to buy it,” says Jon. “There were only 26 kits ever made and the chances of another unused one ever being available were very slim.”
Jon is delighted with his purchase and has already had the chassis blasted and powder-coated. There is one mystery: the unused body has the registration 1474 TW affixed to it, an Essex number from either 1959 or 1960, which is right for the age of the kit. Jon would be interested to hear from anyone who knows any history of the kit or the number. Email wyehistoricracing@gmail.com.