Briggs' Le Mans Racer on Hiway 1
1951 Cunningham C2R (race), one of three that Briggs built to compete in that year's LeMans.
Very few privateers have been as successful in sportscar racing than Briggs Swift Cunnigham. Born as a rich banker's son in 1907, Cunningham got actively involved in motor racing rather late at the age of 41. He had previously backed others, but he did not drive himself until after his mother died, who very opposed to him racing. His first race was at Watkins Glen and the car was a Buick / Mercedes-Benz hybrid, known as the 'Bumerc', the construction of which Cunningham had backed in 1939. This race really spiked his interest in road racing, in which he actively participated for two decades.
More than anything, Cunnigham was interested in long distance racing and he set his sights on the most legendary of all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He did not just want to win the event, but he wanted to be the first to do so with an all-American team. After the Duesenbergs and Millers of the 1920s, very few American successes were scored in Europe. Prepared by Phil Walters and Frick and with the help of 1949 winner Luigi Chinetti, two Cadillacs were entered in the 1950 Le Mans race. One of these was fitted with a stock body, but the second was fitted with a custom built, supremely ugly body, which for obvious reasons was nick-named 'Le Monstre' by the French.
Although the cars were not on the pace, the 10th and 11th place finishes ensured that Cunningham's entries for the 1951 race would be accepted by the picky Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which organized the legendary race. To take on the strong competition Cunnigham bought Walters' and Frick's shop to form B.S. Cunningham Co, which was based out of West Palm Beach, Florida. Over the winter of 1950/51 a prototype racer was constructed, the C-1, powered by a Cadillac engine. Cunningham quickly abandoned the Cadillac engine, because of a complete lack of support from the company. He turned to Chrysler, who were willing to support the development and offer their HEMI engines at a 40% discount.
Dubbed the C-2R, the HEMI powered Cunningham was a sophisticated and well constructed affair. A simple, but effective steel tubular frame chassis formed the basis of the C-2. It was suspended at the front by unequal A-arms and at the rear by an exotic DeDion rear axle. The only gearbox available strong enough to cope with the Chrysler Firepower's enormous torque was a Cadillac three speed 'box. The package was clothed in a simple aluminium barchetta style body. Being very well built and very large, the Cunningham was rather overweight, which made the car very hard on the brakes. This was made even worse by the lack of engine braking by going down the gears compared to other cars fitted with four or five speed 'boxes.
Chrysler modified the Firepower engine to produce around 250 bhp, from the 180 bhp available in stock form. Despite the enormous weight of the car, the C-2Rs proved surprisingly competitive. Three cars were entered livered in white with two blue stripes, the first use of racing stripes ever. Two crashed out, including this car, but the third car held 2nd position when a bearing and valve failure threw it back considerably. It eventually finished in 18th position. Back in North America, Cunningham started to rack up victories with his racers. At the West Palm Beach factory work was started on a new racer for 1952 and a road car, of which the ACO required 25 to be produced to make Cunningham eligible to run as a separate manufacturer.
(thanks to help from Ultimatecarpage)
AS ALWAYS....COMMENTS & INVITATIONS with AWARD BANNERS will be respectfully DELETED!
Briggs' Le Mans Racer on Hiway 1
1951 Cunningham C2R (race), one of three that Briggs built to compete in that year's LeMans.
Very few privateers have been as successful in sportscar racing than Briggs Swift Cunnigham. Born as a rich banker's son in 1907, Cunningham got actively involved in motor racing rather late at the age of 41. He had previously backed others, but he did not drive himself until after his mother died, who very opposed to him racing. His first race was at Watkins Glen and the car was a Buick / Mercedes-Benz hybrid, known as the 'Bumerc', the construction of which Cunningham had backed in 1939. This race really spiked his interest in road racing, in which he actively participated for two decades.
More than anything, Cunnigham was interested in long distance racing and he set his sights on the most legendary of all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He did not just want to win the event, but he wanted to be the first to do so with an all-American team. After the Duesenbergs and Millers of the 1920s, very few American successes were scored in Europe. Prepared by Phil Walters and Frick and with the help of 1949 winner Luigi Chinetti, two Cadillacs were entered in the 1950 Le Mans race. One of these was fitted with a stock body, but the second was fitted with a custom built, supremely ugly body, which for obvious reasons was nick-named 'Le Monstre' by the French.
Although the cars were not on the pace, the 10th and 11th place finishes ensured that Cunningham's entries for the 1951 race would be accepted by the picky Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which organized the legendary race. To take on the strong competition Cunnigham bought Walters' and Frick's shop to form B.S. Cunningham Co, which was based out of West Palm Beach, Florida. Over the winter of 1950/51 a prototype racer was constructed, the C-1, powered by a Cadillac engine. Cunningham quickly abandoned the Cadillac engine, because of a complete lack of support from the company. He turned to Chrysler, who were willing to support the development and offer their HEMI engines at a 40% discount.
Dubbed the C-2R, the HEMI powered Cunningham was a sophisticated and well constructed affair. A simple, but effective steel tubular frame chassis formed the basis of the C-2. It was suspended at the front by unequal A-arms and at the rear by an exotic DeDion rear axle. The only gearbox available strong enough to cope with the Chrysler Firepower's enormous torque was a Cadillac three speed 'box. The package was clothed in a simple aluminium barchetta style body. Being very well built and very large, the Cunningham was rather overweight, which made the car very hard on the brakes. This was made even worse by the lack of engine braking by going down the gears compared to other cars fitted with four or five speed 'boxes.
Chrysler modified the Firepower engine to produce around 250 bhp, from the 180 bhp available in stock form. Despite the enormous weight of the car, the C-2Rs proved surprisingly competitive. Three cars were entered livered in white with two blue stripes, the first use of racing stripes ever. Two crashed out, including this car, but the third car held 2nd position when a bearing and valve failure threw it back considerably. It eventually finished in 18th position. Back in North America, Cunningham started to rack up victories with his racers. At the West Palm Beach factory work was started on a new racer for 1952 and a road car, of which the ACO required 25 to be produced to make Cunningham eligible to run as a separate manufacturer.
(thanks to help from Ultimatecarpage)
AS ALWAYS....COMMENTS & INVITATIONS with AWARD BANNERS will be respectfully DELETED!