I don't know anything at all about this car.If you have any information,please feel free to offer it up.It is in the Chicago area and the guys are going to get her going again.I don't know what shape it is going to take. I've prodded the owner to post his progress here on the HAMB. Gottagobye BanjeauX Bob
It belonged to Tim Huey from Arenzville, Il. I been staring at that car thru various windows most of my childhood. It held some ahra records ifn I remember correctly. Pops sees this He'll have more info, as Tim was one of his high skewl buds.
Thanks for the comments boys! I just posted some more photos as well. Will post more as time permits and progress warrants. My brother-in-law Sam Surratt of Beardstown IL just purchased this vehicle from Tim Huey's lovely widow. I went in on it with him to make it a family affair, and to allow us to share the joy and the burden of getting Cheater up-and-running again! Regardless of what shape she's in, we plan to take her to next year's Whitehall Reunion. If she's not running yet, we'll throw her on a trailer. Sam's been getting lots of info and ephemera from old timers that knew Cheater well back in the day. We have some old photos, a race shirt, one of Tim's old business cards, etc. But any more info and pics would be appreciated!
SOOO glad to see this on here! I've talked to Sam a few times since you guys got it, looks like it fell into the right hands. We've all pined(sp.?) for the Cheater for years, I always feared it would end up a gold chain street rod! We're thrilled to have it a the WHDOW Reunion next year, it will be the featured car! My Dad knew Tim and ran against the Cheater back then. If you guys need any help, let me know. We're all one big ole automotive family! Did you guys get one of the t-shirts or pics of one of them? PLEEEASE post 'em if you did! To find those after this many years is a miracle! 'pete
Sweet!!! If it were me I'd get her running again but wouldn't touch the paint at all save for a cleanup. It's only original once!!!
Fanspete and other, thanks for your interest and comments. I posted a bunch of photo albums already: just search for ChicagoMrH or Cheater on this forum and you should find 'em. Sam has one of the old crew shirts: white button front Cheater emblazoned shirt that belonged to Tim Huey or perhaps his wife Jeanette. It's great to have that along with the car! Still dying to get some photos of the Cheater in action though! Any help would be appreciated.
I went to school with Tim Huey as DaTinman says. Sam called me and I'm afraid my memory of the Cheater is fading somewhat, so I referred him to another local rod-builder that took over his Dad's trucking company. I do remember a ride in it one night. The original 'street"version used tractor lights that reached out all of twenty feet or so; fortunately, there was a full moon to see by. Tim steered with the throttle and the steering wheel due to the Lincoln Locker. We went out South and up the old Bealy hill with the pipes singing a rorty tune and the tires howling a bit as we were sliding it around the curve going uphill! I'm not sure now, but I think it had a school bus seat at the time and seat belts hadn't been invented yet as far as we knew. The later "drag" version was jacked up in the front and to a lesser degree in the rear for weight transfer; the race seat, roll bar, and seatbelts (maybe harness) were installed. It had a three speed, I think, but a fresh Corvette four speed was installed after it became a strip car. The 283 Chevy let go somewhere along the line and was replaced with a "truck block" Chev. I really didn't get to mess around with the "town kids" that much- Dad thought they were trouble. BTW, anybody remember the "BuFord"? Another totally irresponsible hair brained ride that made little old ladies dampen their bloomers. Maybe Dad was right...
That is WAY COOL, I am patiently waiting to see some more pictures of the chassis and steering. The car is Awesome... but so is tfeverfred's avatar !!!
I just posted a few more photos here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=28753 with more to come as soon as I can get my hands on my wife's camera.
The Jalopy Journal
