The cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world, able to rocket across plains at 50 to 60 or even 70 miles per hour. Long and slender, they’re supremely nimble and deadly to their prey. Similarly, Beretta’s 80 series Cheetah pistols were sleek and nimble, first released in the ’70s. Models 81 and 84 featured double-stack magazines and were chambered in .32 ACP and .380 ACP, respectively. Single-stack models included the Model 82, 83, and 85, with the 82 coming in .32 ACP and the others in .380 ACP. All of these pistols had 3.8-inch barrels, except for the Model 83 with a 4-inch barrel. The unique Model 86 was revised with a tip-up barrel so you could load it without racking the slide. And the Model 87 and 89 were rimfire pistols with sexy variants for target and competitive shooting.
While these classic and elegant little Berettas served many a European law enforcement officer, they never really took off in America. When it comes to caliber, the “bigger is better” mantra rings loudly in the U.S., and .380 ACP guns, much less .32 ACP, were swimming upstream here. Hollywood loved the Cheetah though, and featured them in TV shows and movies, to .
