Posted on January 3rd, 2023.

Of the obscure and fascinating vehicles to cross the block at Mecum's upcoming auctions, this one has us all sorts of excitedly running for our childhood Army figurines. It's a 1981 Teledyne Continental Cheetah, undoubtedly eliciting awkward smiles and nods from curious bystanders. Realistically, this thing would be such a chore to own and drive. It's wider than many parking spots, slow by today's standards, takes an instruction manual to start, and may or may not be legal to register in your state. The list goes on. But still, we'd snag it in a heartbeat and love it like the Lamborghini or AM General that it's not.

It Was Meant For The Army

This 1981 Teledyne Continental Cheetah is part of The Michael and Dianne Morey Collection that's heading to Mecum Auctions' Kissimmee event early January 2023. This olive green four-wheel drive military SUV is powered by an International Harvester 6.9-liter diesel V-8 and backed by a GM model 475 3-speed automatic transmission. It has soft doors and a soft top, tube step running boards, tube bumpers, a brush bar, and polished wheels mounted on Goodyear Wrangler GS-A tires.

Covered in the same olive green drab as the exterior, the interior is as utilitarian as it gets. It has four bucket seats with no headrests and lap belts only, separated by a chunky full-length center tunnel. There are about 37,000 miles on the odometer, a decent amount if accurate. The dash looks more like the cockpit of an airplane than a vehicle; it has toggle switches for the windshield wipers and air conditioning. Starting the mil-spec Cheetah requires instructions on the dashboard, which means it won't get stolen, at least. Indeed, it was meant for military use.

Is It A Humvee?

No, the Teledyne Continental Cheetah is not a Humvee. It looks like a Humvee because like AM General and many other companies, Teledyne was fighting for the Army's High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) contract in the early 1980s, and there were specific requirements (maximum dimensions, for example) that made all the entrants similar in nature. The AM General's M998 (the Humvee) won the Army HMMVW contract, and the Cheetah did not—although the Army did test the Teledyne Continental Cheetah.

According to Tank Encyclopedia, of the 61 firms solicited, five submitted designs and only three were selected, one of which was Teledyne; eleven prototypes were built. Had Teledyne won the contract, the Cheetah likely would have a household name instead of the Humvee. Instead, the Teledyne Continental Cheetah licked its wounds after the loss and essentially went into permanent hiding.

It It A Lamborghini?

Short answer: no. But wasn't there a Lamborghini Cheetah? Yes, and it shared DNA with the Teledyne Continental Cheetah; the Lamborghini Cheetah came before the Teledyne Continental Cheetah. It comes down to a custody issue. One upon a time in the 1970s, Mobility Technology International (MTI), allegedly a subsidiary of Chrysler at the time, and Lamborghini entered a partnership where MTI would build the Cheetah for Lamborghini. MTI was based in San Jose, California, and built the Cheetah. The Lamborghini Cheetah made its debut at the 1977 Geneva Motor Show. It was always intended for military use, although the military never tested the finished Cheetah prototype.

Soon, MTI ditched Lamborghini for Teledyne Continental Motors (by selling the Cheetah's design rights to Teledyne) and began working on Cheetahs for Teledyne. (This is the Cheetah that competed for the Army HMMWV contract.) Meanwhile, Lamborghini started working on new projects like the LM001, LM002, LM003, and so on. Unlike the Lamborghini Cheetah, the LM002 got some orders (but not from the military). So, the Lamborghini Humvee-like SUV you're thinking of—likely the LM002—came after the Cheetah, with the Cheetah paving the way for the future of Lamborghini's SUVs.

Source: Motor Trend