Briggs Cunningham


Briggs Swift Cunningham II was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht Columbia to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race, and for his many appearances at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Early years

Cunningham was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on 19 January 1907. The family were prominent, long-time residents of the Cincinnati area. Cunningham's grandfather had amassed considerable wealth operating river boats and in shipping, then had gone into the meat packing business with son Briggs Swift Cunningham Senior. The meat packing business was eventually known as Evans, Lippencott & Cunningham. Cunningham Sr. later became founder and president of the Citizen's National Bank, as well as director of the Pennsylvania Railroad, among several others. Cunningham Sr. was also the chief financier of soap company Procter and Gamble. William Cooper Procter would be Cunningham's godfather.
Cunningham Sr. died when Briggs was five years old. The estate was structured such that the Cunningham heirs did not receive full control of the estate until age forty.
Cunningham's maternal uncle was Dr. Ashton Heyl, a former Rough Rider. Heyl had installed a Hispano-Suiza aircraft engine in a Dodge touring car. As a boy Cunningham was a passenger during some impromptu street races in the car with Heyl.
Cunningham's early schooling took place at Groton and the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. His university days were spent at Yale. He was also a brakeman on the Olympic bobsled team.
On 2 October 1929 he married Lucie Bedford, the granddaughter of E.T. Bedford, a co-founder and director of Standard Oil. The couple spent an extended honeymoon in Europe, where Cunningham won a concours with a Mercedes Benz SS delivered to him personally by Rudolph Caracciola. It was also during this trip that he attended his first major automobile race, the 1930 Monaco Grand Prix. When the couple returned to the US they settled on the Long Island Sound.
During World War II he tried to enlist in the US Navy but was deemed ineligible due to a combination of age and a pre-existing condition. He instead joined the Civil Air Patrol, flying submarine patrols off the east coast, first in a Fairchild and later a Sikorski S39B amphibious airplane, both paid for by himself.

Sailing

Owing to his mother's concerns about the dangers of automobile racing, Cunningham did not pursue a driving career until after her death, but did race sail boats competitively.
At seventeen he joined the Pequot Yacht Club and began to race Star Class boats. He said that it was his wife who taught him to sail.
Cunningham partnered with his father-in-law Frederick T. Bedford to purchase the eight meter Loke in 1928.
In 1929 he bought the six meter Akaba, and renamed her Lucie — the first of two of his boats with that name. In 1930 Cunningham commissioned Clinton H. Crane to design a new 6 meter, also to be named Lucie. She was built at the Henry B. Nevins Boatyard in New York in 1931. He spent part of his honeymoon sailing the new Lucie. Cunningham won 6 world titles in 6 meter yachts.
F.T. Bedford commissioned the 12 meter Nyala as a gift for Cunningham and his daughter Lucie when they married.
In 1931 Cunningham was a crew member aboard the Dorade when it won the race around the Fastnet Rock.
In 1937 he was a member of the crew for Harold Stirling Vanderbilt on his yacht Vim.
Cunningham bought the schooner Brilliant from the Coast Guard after WWII, and modified it in an attempt to increase its speed. In 1953 he donated the Brilliant to the Mystic Seaport to be used as an off-shore classroom.
The Brilliant was the first vessel to receive an improved downhaul invented by Cunningham that has come to bear his name.
Cunningham was part of the syndicate that commissioned construction of the 12 meter sloop Columbia to contest the first post-war America's Cup race in 1958. The original choice to skipper Columbia in the America's Cup was Cornelius "Corny" Shields, but when he was sidelined by heart troubles Cunningham stepped in and led the boat and crew to victory.

Racing driver and team owner

Cunningham began racing internationally in 1930 with brothers Cowles "Miles" Collier and Sam Collier. These college friends of Cunningham's established the Automobile Racing Club of America in 1933, which became the Sports Car Club of America in 1944. Cunningham took part in the first ever SCCA race. He was described as one of the most successful drivers in SCCA sports car racing at the time.
Cunningham became an early member of the Road Racing Drivers Club, an invitation-only group that honors drivers, officials, and journalists that have made significant contributions to the sport.
Cunningham's racing team arrived at the track accompanied by a large transporter that was both extensively and lavishly equipped, along with the drivers, a retinue of professionals and mechanics, and the cars. The team's chief mechanic was Alfredo Momo.
On 31 December 1950 Cunningham raced an Aston Martin DB2 in the 6-hour Sam Collier Memorial Race, the first automobile race held at the Sebring Airport race track. Cunningham finished third in class and seventeenth overall. His car, serial number LML/50/21, was one of the first, if not the first, DB2 Vantage built.
1955 was the last year that Cunningham built his own cars, the company having run out the five-year grace period that the Internal Revenue Service allowed low-volume manufacturers to become profitable.
Cunningham continued in international competition from 1930 until 1963, when he dissolved his Le Mans team. His final race was in a Porsche Carrera GTS at Sebring in 1966 with John Fitch and Davey Jordan.

Cunningham cars

Number 5 Special

One of Cunningham's first racing cars and his only sprint car was the Number 5 Special. Built by R.T. Jackson of Dayton, Ohio, the car was driven by "Ed" Coffey.
The car had a custom frame and was powered by a Ford Model T inline four-cylinder engine with a 16 valve, double-overhead camshaft Frontenac "Fronty" cylinder head.
Cunningham owned the car in 1933, and the next year sold it to Gil Pirrung of Missouri.

Bu-Merc

This special was based on the chassis, drivetrain and running gear of a 1939 Buick Century. Cunningham had Phil Shafer modify the car by lowering the Buick Straight-8 engine and moving it back in the chassis. The engine's compression ratio was raised. The body and radiator came from a wrecked Mercedes Benz SSK, and were adapted to the Buick chassis by Byron Jersey.
In 1940 the Bu-Merc appeared at the Worlds Fair Grand Prix at the New York Fairgrounds. Driven by "Miles" Collier, it did not finish due to an accident.
Cunningham drove the Bu-Merc at the first Grand Prix held at Watkins Glen in 1948, where he finished second. After receiving a 1949 version of the Straight-8 and chassis modifications suggested by Buick's Vice President of Engineering Charles Chayne, the car appeared at Watkins Glen the next year with Cunningham driving to a third place finish.

Cadillac-Healey

In 1950 Cunningham campaigned a Healey Silverstone cycle-fendered racer into which he had installed one of Cadillac's new V8 engines.
The car appeared at Palm Beach on 3 January 1950. Driven by Cunningham, it finished second.
On 23 September that year the car was driven by Cunningham again at Watkins Glen, and finished second. At this race "Miles" Collier was killed while driving Cunningham's Ferrari.
The Cadillac-Healey also appeared at the 6 Hours of Sebring on 31 December 1950. Co-driven by Phil Walters and Bill Frick, it finished twelfth overall and third in class.

"Petit Pataud" and "Le Monstre"

When his plan to enter a Fordillac hybrid in the 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans was rejected by the organizers, Cunningham entered two Cadillacs instead.
The first was a stock-appearing Cadillac Series 61 that the French dubbed "Petit Pataud"; possibly a reference to a puppy in a French children's book from the 1930s. Changes to the car were minimal, and included a dual-carburetor intake manifold, brake cooling ducts, a second fuel tank, and extra lights.
While engine swaps were illegal, body modifications were permitted, so for the second car Cunningham took another Cadillac Series 61, removed the stock body and had an entirely new body in aluminum fabricated over a metal tube framework. The new body, lower and narrower than the original, was designed and built with the help of engineer Howard Weinmann from Grumman. Another feature was the use of five carburetors. This car was nicknamed "Le Monstre".
The Collier brothers partnered to drive "Petit Pataud", and finished in tenth place. Cunningham and co-driver Phil Walters were in "Le Monstre", and finished eleventh.

C-1 and C-2R

To prepare for his next attempt at Le Mans, Cunningham bought the Frick-Tappet Motors company. The principals of the company were Bill Frick and Phil Walters, the latter of whom had raced under the name "Ted Tappet". Frick-Tappet Motors were the originators of the Fordillac hybrid, and had prepared the two Cadillacs for Cunningham's 1950 Le Mans run. Cunningham relocated the operation from Long Island, New York to West Palm Beach, Florida, and renamed it the "B.S. Cunningham Company".
The first product of the new company was the Cunningham C-1 roadster. The chassis was made of steel tubing with a central X-brace. Rear suspension was by a custom De Dion tube. Powering the car was a Cadillac V8. Only one C-1 was built. The car was used in practice at Le Mans.
The C-1 was followed by construction of three C-2s, all to racing specifications and so called C-2R. The C-2R's front suspension used Ford parts, while the rear suspension had Oldsmobile springs and the brake system used Cadillac components. Unable to secure a supply of the Cadillac engine, Cunningham substituted a version of the V8.
The C-2R first appeared at Le Mans in 1951. All three cars were entered, driven by teams John Fitch and Phil Walters, George Rand and Fred Wacker Jr., and Cunningham and George Huntoon. The best finish was eighteenth, for the Fitch/Walters car.

C-3

To have his namesake cars homologated to complete as a manufacturer in the Le Mans classes, Cunningham undertook to build 25 examples of the road-going C-3.
The C-3's engine was the same Chrysler FirePower V8 used by the C-2Rs, but with a new intake manifold that mounted four Zenith 1-bbl carburetors, and a dual exhaust system. Power was raised to from the factory version's.
The car could be ordered with one of two different transmissions; a three-speed manual from Cadillac, or Chrysler's Presto-Matic semi-automatic fluid-coupled two-speed with electric overdrive, for an effective selection of four forward ratios.
The C-3's large-diameter tube chassis was very similar to that of the earlier C-2, but the C-2's De Dion tube gave way to a coil-spring live axle located by upper and lower trailing arms on each side.
Two pre-production cars similar in appearance to the C-2Rs were completed in West Palm Beach; a roadster with chassis number 5205, and a coupe with chassis number 5206X. A third chassis, number 5206, was sent to the workshops of carrozzeria Vignale in Turin, Italy, where it received a new coupe body styled by designer Giovanni Michelotti, then working at Vignale. The factory considered chassis 5026 the official prototype, and subsequent cars received the Michelotti body style.
Production of the C-3 is variously reported to have been twenty-five or twenty-seven. Prices ranged from US$8,000 to $12,000.
The New York Museum of Modern Art named the C-3 Continental Coupé one of the "10 Best Contemporary Automobiles".

C-4R and C-4RK

By the time development of the C-4R started, Bill Frick had left the B.S. Cunningham Company, so the new car was designed by G. Briggs Weaver. The C-4R was smaller than the C-2R, being shorter, narrower, and lighter. The C-2R's De Dion tube rear suspension was also gone. Although a new independent rear suspension of Cunningham's own design was touted early in the car's development, it seems that later a live axle on coil springs was substituted. Also new was a Cunningham-designed 5-speed manual transmission. Brakes were Chrysler Al-Fin units twenty percent larger than those on the C-2Rs, and the earlier car's wire wheels had been replaced with knock-off Halibrand "Kidney-bean" magnesium wheels.
To provide Cunningham's cars with more power from their FirePower engine, Chrysler engineers John Platner and Don Moore began an engine development project called A311. In its ultimate form the A311 engine used a gear-driven, high-lift long-duration camshaft, special pistons, roller tappets, dual valve springs, special pushrods, Hilborn fuel injection with tuned intake stacks, and a compression ratio of 12:1. Output was estimated to have been, high enough to flex the block and require a stiffening plate between the bottom of the block and the sump. Cunningham used a carbureted version of the engine, and had to reduce the compression ratio to 7.5:1 to accommodate the fuel available to the teams at Le Mans.
Two roadsters were built, as well as a single coupe with truncated rear bodywork designed in collaboration with German aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm that was designated the C-4RK.
During practice at the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans the new transmissions caused problems, and were replaced with 3-speeds. The C-4R driven by Cunningham and Bill Spear finished fourth overall. At the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans a C-4R roadster finished seventh, and the C-4RK coupe tenth. The C-4Rs returned to La Sarthe in 1954 to take third and fifth.
A C-4R won the 1953 12 Hours of Sebring.
In 1954, a C-4R driven by Cunningham and Sherwood Johnston finished sixth in the 12 Hours of Reims.

C-5R

For the 1953 Le Mans attempt a single all-new C-5R was prepared. In the front, the independent suspension was replaced by a solid beam axle sprung by torsion bars. This reduced weight by and allowed the use of diameter Al-Fin drum brakes mounted inboard of the wheels. At the rear was a live axle on coil springs as on the later C-4Rs.
The Chrysler V8 engine remained, but power had been increased by. A 4-speed transmission from a Fiat truck replaced the earlier 3-speed units.
When the car arrived at Le Mans for the race the French observers named it "Le Requin Souriant" — the smiling shark.
At the end of the 24 Hours Walters and Fitch finished first in class and third overall.

C-6R

Early options for an engine to power the C-6R included an inverted V-12 two-stroke engine designed by Mercury Marine's Carl Keikhaefer, or the Ferrari V-12 from the Italian marque's 375 MM.
The engine chosen was the 3.0 L four-cylinder Offenhauser from Meyer & Drake. With input from Leo Goossen, the engine's designer, Cunningham's team managed to get power output up to. Problems remained keeping the Offy, designed to run on methanol, sufficiently cool on pump gas.
The transmission in the C-6R was a four-speed manual by ZF.
At the 1955 Le Mans C-6R retired on lap 202. Second and third gears failed, and the engine burned a piston, ending the car's run.
The car appeared at Elkhart Lake a few months later, where the engine failed again. The Offy was then replaced by a Jaguar inline six.

Other marques

Among the earliest cars that Cunningham raced or lent to race was a series of MGs. In 1934 he owned an MG J2 that he personally drove in select ARCA events. Two years later he loaned his MG K3 Magnette to "Miles" Collier and George Rand, who campaigned it in Europe. Cunningham's supercharged MG TC appeared alongside the Bu-Merc at the inaugural Watkins Glen Grand Prix in 1948. Driven by Haig Ksayian, the TC finished first in class and third overall.
Cunningham had originally planned to enter a team of "Fordillacs" at Le Mans. The cars were 1949 Fords with Cadillac OHV V8s installed. The conversion had been designed by Bill Frick and was built by Frick-Tappet Motors.
In 1949 Cunningham partnered with Alfredo Momo, and bought Ferrari 166 Spider Corsa 016-I from Luigi Chinetti. This was the second Ferrari in the US, the first being a Tipo 166 MM Touring Barchetta, chassis 0002 M, sold to Tommy Lee in Los Angeles in the first quarter of 1949. 016-I was the first Ferrari raced in the US.
In 1954 Cunningham's 1.5-liter O.S.C.A. MT4 driven by Stirling Moss and Bill Lloyd was the outright winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring. The team won at Sebring again the following year, this time with a Jaguar D-Type.
Cunningham entered a Stanguellini of just 750 cc for the 1954 race at Watkins Glen, with driver Marshall Lewis. The car won its H Modified class, while John Gordon Bennett was second in a Cunningham O.S.C.A. MT4 1450.
At the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans Cunningham fielded a Ferrari 375 MM with experimental water-cooled drum brakes. The car retired.
Cunningham owned three Maserati 300S cars. Chassis 3053 finished third overall on its debut race at the 1955 12 Hours of Sebring, driven by Bill Spear and Sherwood Johnston.
In 1958 Cunningham fielded two Lister-Jaguar "Knobbly"s. Prepared by Alfredo Momo, the pair delivered an SCCA C Modified championship in 1958.
In 1959 Cunningham upgraded to the Lister-Costin, still Jaguar-powered but with revised bodywork by aerodynamicist Frank Costin. The result was another SCCA C Modified championship.
For 1960 the displacement rules for Le Mans were changed to permit cars with engines larger than 3.0 L. With GM's tacit support and with assistance from Zora Arkus-Duntov, Cunningham began preparing a trio of Corvettes for the race. As a trial before Le Mans, two Momo-prepared Cunningham Corvettes were entered in the 1960 12 Hours of Sebring, but neither car finished. At Le Mans Cunningham entered three Corvettes and one Jaguar E-Type. Drivers for the cars were Cunningham and Bill Kimberley in the #1 Corvette, Dick Thompson and Fred Windridge in the #2 Corvette, John Fitch and Bob Grossman in the #3 Corvette, and Dan Gurney and Walt Hansgen in the Jaguar. The #1 Corvette driven by Kimberly went off the course and caught fire on lap 32, and the #2 car went out with engine trouble on lap 89, as did the Jaguar. The #3 car began to overheat, and the pit crew packed ice around the engine to cool it. It finished in eighth place overall, with a fifth place in the GT category and first in the GT up to 5.0 class.
In August 1960 Cunningham bought a Maserati Tipo 60 "Birdcage", that he drove in the 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans with co-driver Jim Kimberly. The pair finished eighth overall in the car, and third in class.
Cunningham also owned two different Stanguellini Formula Junior cars; a front-engined 750 cc car and a rear-engined 1100 "Delfino".
In October 1961 a Cooper T53 owned by Cunningham appeared in the US Grand Prix. The entrant of record is the Momo Corporation, and the car was driven by Walt Hansgen, who crashed on lap 14 of his F1 debut. The chassis was later sold to Roger Penske and became the Zerex Special, then was resold to Bruce McLaren and became the first car raced by the McLaren team.
A Fiat-Abarth 1000 Bialbero Competition coupe owned by Cunningham, prepared by Alfredo Momo's Momo Corporation, and driven by Bruce McLaren won the 1961 3 Hours of Sebring for Grand Touring cars up to 1 L.
Cunningham entered two Maserati Tipo 151 coupes in the 1962 Le Mans, along with a Jaguar E-Type. Both Maseratis failed to finish.
For the 1963 Le Mans Cunningham entered a Jaguar E-Type Lightweight that he drove to a ninth place finish.
In 1964 Cunningham was co-owner and co-driver with Lake Underwood in a class-winning Porsche 904 at Sebring. The next year they won the 2-liter class and finished ninth overall with a 904.

Racing stripes

It is claimed that Cunningham's cars were the first to be painted with what have come to be called racing stripes.
The International colors for American entries of the time were white bodies with blue frame rails. With their enveloping bodywork the Cunningham racers' frame rails were covered, so the obscured blue frame rails were represented by two blue stripes running the length of the cars' bodies. These were originally called Cunningham stripes.
As an example of prior art, some point to a 1930s Delahaye 145. After winning the Grand Prix du Million prize in 1939, this car had a red and white stripe painted diagonally across the forward part of the blue colored body, completing the French Tricoleur. This configuration does not follow the typical longitudinal layout associated with racing stripes today.

Museum

Over the course of his life Cunningham amassed a large and varied collection of automobiles, including many of his own former racing cars. After relocating to the West Coast, he purchased a property at 250 E. Baker Street, Costa Mesa, California and established the Briggs Cunningham Museum to house his collection. A building became the museum gallery, which opened officially on 5 February 1966.
The museum was in operation for twenty-one years. Expected changes to capital gains tax laws prompted Cunningham to consider closing the museum in late 1986. Instead, the 71 cars in the museum collection were sold to Miles Collier, the son of long-time friend Cowles "Miles" Collier, and relocated to Naples, Florida as the Collier Automotive Museum Collection. The Collier Collection later became part of the Revs Institute display.

Personal life

Cunningham was featured on the 26 April 1954 cover of Time magazine, along with three Cunningham racing cars.
Cunningham died in Las Vegas at the age of 96 from complications of Alzheimer's Disease.
He was survived by former wife Lucie Bedford Warren and their three children, Briggs Swift Cunningham III, Lucie, and Cythlen. He was also survived by wife Laura Cramer Elmer and two step-sons.

Legacy

Le Mans results

12 Hours of Sebring results

World Sportscar Championship results