Monday, December 17, 2007

Cheetah riding toy picture

Below is a picture a Cheetah riding toy. Way faster than a Big Wheel or a Green Machine...



This is not me and not a picture of anyone I know. I found it on the W3 somewhere.)

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

This toy was the best. i had this bad boy when i was a kid and i ruled the neighborhood. NOBODY could beat me on this street machine. They even tried to steal it from me.

Anonymous said...

My baby brother had one, I am 7 years older than he. When I played 'tricycle' with him, that "Cheetah" was a great equalizer. No toy I had or could find, except a real bike, could compete, and I had em all. Skateboard, Unicycle, and a 6 wheel pedal gadget that I cannot remember the name of. Cheetah's rule.
My search for the Cheetah for my great nephews ended with the closest thing I could find, the re-release of the "Green Machine's" for this upcoming X-mas. They seem way cool too. If there was a cool adult one that could handle my 230lbs, I would buy it so I could play with the grands....er relive my childhood. Peace, Ron, aka Detroit's Big Daddy still never gonna grow up. Belleisleracquetball.com

DJ919 said...

I remember my Cheetah like it was yesterday. Like others here, I remember beating every Big Wheel, and Green Machine in town with my Cheetah. I was the only kid in town that owned one. Yep, the commercial hooked me and I HAD to have it! This thing would actually help me keep up with my older brother, who's 4 years older than I, who then owned a 3 speed bike. I think it was the actual leg pushing motion and thin chopper style front tire that made it much faster than its competition. A true hybrid between that of a big wheel and an actual bike. I remember asking my father, God rest his soul, to have Santa bring me a Cheetah for Christmas, and I remember jumping up and down like crazy when I saw it under the tree on Christmas day. One of the best Christmas gifts I ever received during my childhood. Thanks Pop :) ...I don't know any of you personally but it's funny to say that we're the eliete that actually owned one of these as children. Didn't we have a great childhood?! For children, the world is just so d*mn technical and complicated these days.

Anonymous said...

I had one as a kid and everybody in the neighborhood wanted to ride it. I remember there was a weight limit, I remember this because we went through 3 seats because it kept cracking from the bigger kids riding! I also recal a hand-break on the back tire you could pull up and turn the front wheel and skid 180 degrees. They don't make quality like this anymore!

Derek Matthews said...

Wow! I can't believe there is a site dedicated to the Cheetah. I remember my Cheetah, it must have been 1975ish. There were the Big wheels and the Green machines, but yes, the Cheetah left them for dead. I too remember the brake. We'd post a lookout at the end of the street, who would call the all clear, I'd ride down the sidewalk, launch off the curb at the end, and then pull the brake. I could slide all the way across the cross street to the sidewalk on the other side. I'd kill my son if I ever caught him doing something like this, but man was it fun! I wish I could find one now for them to enjoy!

Thanks for the memories.
Derek

Anonymous said...

Oh how I loved my Cheetah! It's true that they were faster than any of those other ride ons by far. I got it for Christmas one year and had a blast in it. My favorite part was finding some sand on the street and spinning out in it with the brake, then "flooring" it to throw some more sand. I want my son to have one and if they ever reproduced these again, they would make money hand over fist from the people who rode them.

Anonymous said...

I won an Independence Day parade with my Cheetah when I was 4 (1974). Even back then I knew it put me above the rest :-p. Nobody had one, and everyone wanted mine.

Anonymous said...

This blog made my day.. I was just telling my business partner and great friend about my "Cheetah". It was so long ago that I wondered if I had imagined it, or.. Thanks to this site, I proved it to them.. it was real.. I smoked every one of my friends with the Cheetah while they were on their Big Wheels and Green Machines..

Thanks for the blog, gotta love the internet

brian said...

this is too funny. i had "my cheetah" too. prob back in 74-76. i was about 5 yrs old. the primary feature with this thing was it was fast. and the pedals were so dang fun to push, and acquire that speed.

recently, i have been asking my dad to tell my fiance about this thing, and he would tell her how fast this thing was, and that i was the fastest kid in the neighborhood.

i loved this thing. i cant quite remember the brake on it. but i decided to do a search on it and found this site. cool blog. was even more touching to see a year and a half gap, then to see the post on jan 19th, just a week or two before mine about somebody else that was looking for this thing.

so what else can i say about this. my brother (9 yrs older at the time, god rest his soul) was jealous and wish he could ride it. i still remember that sound of the wheels blazing across the sidewalk that i would ride down, then into the neighbors huge concrete driveway, a couple donuts probably, and back for a high speed flyby past the house, down a few houses, then back again. i would do this track over and over.

cheers to all of you!

Anonymous said...

posted a brief clip of me riding mine in the 70's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa44NxhdnaA

Anonymous said...

My Cheetah was my favorite toy of all time. I had them all. The big wheel green machine. Nothing was faster than my Cheetah. I never lost a race on my Cheetah. Big wheels never stood a chance. Just thinking about my Cheetah brings a smile on my face. Thanks for the memories love the pics.

Unknown said...

I have been trying to find anything about my three wheeler. Then I came across this blog. I found these cheetah three wheelers. I had mine in the 80's but it wasn't a cheetah. My brother andbI had mattel hot wheels ones very very similar to these I could even say identicak in the mechanics. Mine was blue and his was red. My parents took a picture of us in them front wheel to wheel. I will try to findbit and upload it. I wish I could find these things for my boys. They were great.

Anonymous said...

I remember my cheetah with great fondness. I got it for Christmas and rode the heck out of it doing powerslides 360's and racing all takers. No one had ever seen one before and I had the only one for I knew of. If you find ANYone still making this toy I will get it for my kid so he will have the same fond memories of it. This was definitely the coolest trike EVER!!!

Unknown said...

it was the coolest toy i ever had nothing could out run it! i drove it till the rubber came off the front tire! then i still rode it on the rim!

jesterjaimi said...

I had one for many years, until some big fat dork bullied me into letting him try it and he broke it! Pooey! ;-{

I think I would like to make an adult sized version someday. Who's with me?!!! ;-D

jesterjaimi said...

I had one for many years, until some big fat dork bullied me into letting him try it and he broke it! Pooey! ;-{

I think I would like to make an adult sized version someday. Who's with me?!!! ;-D

Anonymous said...

I search ebay and craigslist every month for the past several years with no joy to find a Cheetah for sale. I too had one as a kid and it was also stolen. I have decided by or on my 50th to make my own. I have been trying to figure out the pulley system which I will likely use 2 Lawnmower pull rope clutch's to link to the rear axel.

Anonymous said...

I put that photo on the W3 and it is a picture of my best friend Randy and his little brother Gary who were my neighbors growing up in Encino California!

I remember getting my Cheetah for Christmas and I had no idea what it really was (kind of thought it was a type of big wheel) but once I got on and rode, there was nothing else like it! Super fast and super awesome and I remember spending hours and hours riding all over the neighborhood on that thing!

Randy was the only other person on the block who had one and we would ride around together all the time. They beat every single Green Machine and Big Wheel out there and made that cool sound as you pumped the pedals!

Does anyone know the company that made these? Why do you think they don't make them anymore when they still make the Big Wheel and Green Machine? Is it too fast and too dangerous for today's kids? I wonder.

I feel close to everyone on this page as we were the ones who truly know what it was like to be King of the Cul de Sac! Love it!

Unknown said...

Had one too. Beat everyone on the block. Left it in front yard one day woke up to the wires being cut. No longer the fastest bike on the block.lol

Anonymous said...

My parents gave me one of these for my Birthday. This was the coolest present ever until it got stolen :(

Unknown said...

I had one in about 74 in san pedro ca land of hills and was racing a big wheel down one and was winning so he grabbed the back roll bar and spun me out and I rolled down the hill amongst glass.

Unknown said...

I had one in about 74 in san pedro ca land of hills and was racing a big wheel down one and was winning so he grabbed the back roll bar and spun me out and I rolled down the hill amongst glass.

Unknown said...

We are a blessed group. My cheetah was never broken by someone else it was never stolen. Their were two things in my Yard growing up as a kid that you did not touch . one was his 1966 fastback mustang it was and still to this day shiny red and polished aluminum mags.that was and still is a destroyer on the streets. Two was my cheetah bike.my older sister was the only person that Sat behind those bars.I out grew it ,but I kept it,I'm 44 years old .I've built and sold many bike's drag cars rock crawlers but I miss my cheetah the most.why my Dad threw it out I'll never know.

Unknown said...

I had one damn near as fast as a 10 speed! everyone wanted to ride it man it was fast. Only my class 2 race buggy was as much fun! Glad you all had one too there wasn't many of us don't remember the brake just speed......

Patrice said...

This was the best bike out there. Does anyone have one or can someone make an adult version?

Patrice said...

Best Bike ever! does anyone have one or can someone make one - an adult one would be awesome - seriously. Let me know.

Patrice said...

Can anyone make one of these? Adult or kid size. This was the best! Seriously, let me know.

Mark said...

I found a 1970 ad for one on eBay. It says it retailed for $39.95 back in the day. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-AD-3-Pg-Bike-Bicycle-Lakeside-Cheetah-Huffy-Murray-Thunder-Road-Banana-Seat-/310874828007?hash=item4861956ce7:g:GCUAAOxyYSdS~4zI

Randall Beren said...

Had one of these too and loved it. But it broke early on and my Dad was always trying to fix the steering column with various washers. He must have thron out the manual not realizing replacement parts were going to be necessary. Here is a pic from a catalogue page I just found on ebay. Don’t think this one is on your blog yet.https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/8L4AAOSwNSxU7z8l/s-l300.jpg

Anonymous said...

I have a Cheetah in working order.
It is currently hanging in my garage for safe keeping.
I will sell it, but shipping can be costly with the size of the trike.
Contact me if anyone has interest in this trike. Thanks, John


jmoronic@juno.com

Safe Streets North Seattle said...

I am so glad to see that I did not imagine the Cheetah', nd that there is a page dedicated to the memory of its badassery.

I had a 'Big Wheel', and it was fun, and probably well suited to the neighborhood we lived in, which had no sidewalks. I once was invited over to the home of an acquaintance for his birthday party; this was one of the really cool kids (the coolest kid, actually). He lived on a side-walked street filled with kids our age, and he had a Cheetah. I had never ridden on anything so fast...it was unbelievable. I remember even at that tender age I could see it was well engineered. It was a memorable party. The Cheetah!

We all wanted to ride on it, but alas, there was only one, so we took turns. My mother didn't drive, and parents back in those days didn't schlep their kids around by car. So my experience with the Cheetah was like a dram - like being with a really pretty girl you met at a party - a girl that was maybe out of your league. I never saw another one, and growing up pre-internet, a search was not an option. Was it a dream? Did I really ride that thing? Was the Cheetah even real? Thank you for this site, I know the Cheetah was not a hallucination, and I can re-live that wonderful day.

Unknown said...

I work at a school and I was talking to a 5th grader who doesn't like to go outside and instead talks about how fun video games are. I was telling him that he needs to get outside and ride a bike and smell the fresh air and have a real adventure. I told him about my Cheetah when I was a little guy in the mid 70's and I looked up some picks and here I am writing a post. These pictures take me right back to those days. It's amazing how accurately I remember my Cheetah. And I too was the fastest kid in my neighborhood. For some reason no one else had one besides me. I may have been small....but I was FAST!! Those were great days spent outside on my Cheetah!

80s kid at heart said...

I got mine at thrifty's and wore out the plastic tires from doing 360's went through 3 cheetahs I remember the metal bar brake and i was the absolute fastest on the block. The only change i would do is put rubber wheels in the back even tjough you couldn't do 360's anymore, lets start a go fund me and see uf patent is available to start making these again. Find an old one take it apart and reproduce all the parts.

Anonymous said...

Hello,

I have been asked several times about my CHEETAH ride on trike.
I have decided to sell the trike. I will list it on E-bay in the coming week 01/20/2020.
I will most likely need to remove the front forks for shipping, but they can be re-installed without any damage to the trike. I hope it goes to a good home and gets the love it deserves.

John
jmoronic@juno.com

Anonymous said...

OMG im so glad I found this blog ,,,over the years I have looked back and thought about the my CHEETAH,,MAN how I loved that ride,,i must have begged for it from seeing commercial but I kno I got it and like every one else I can clearly remember being the fastest kid in the neighborhood as in those days kids did a lot of racing ,,I was dusting all big wheels and green machines(even a few bikes) ,,I lived in a big apartment complex with a nice hill ,,I felt like speed racer ,,I can remember my peers and even the older kids being amazed at the speed and agility of the CHEETAH,,and I was the ONLY one with one ,,never saw another kid wit one,,sadly I can remember having to stare at it after it broke(probly from letting an older kid ride it) ,,wishing so bad that it could be fixed or somebody would buy me another one ,,that never happened but I never forgot that feeling of being the fastest,baddest kid in the neighborhood ,,,unbelievable they stopped making them back then ,,,BEST TOY EVER!!!