“Le Monstre” as it was called by the French Press was Briggs Cunningham’s effort to build a more aerodynamic open cockpit Cadillac V8 power race car for the long Mulsanne Straight.  In fact it was 13mph faster than “Petit Pataud” but misfortune during the race relegated it to an 11th overall finish behind its sister car in 10th.  This was a most amazing result for what must have been stunned spectators watching these massive American cars being competitive against Europe’s best.  The Cadillac Coupe averaged just 8mph less than the race leader and “Le Monstre” finished 5 miles behind the “Petit Pataud”.

This was America’s First Modern Post World Monster War II Sports Car.  The C-1 was a Cadillac 331 cu. in. V8 powered the Grand Tourer with 220 Hp and had ambitions of taking on the best of Europe.  It had styling that was ten years ahead of its time and offered performance only available from the top spec Jaguars of the day.  Sadly, only the one was ever built as General Motors wasn’t able to supply the V8 motors to Cunningham for the production run.   The C-1’s chassis served as the basis for the C-2R and C-3 sports cars that followed it.

Essentially, this was a reengineered C1 modified to support a new powertrain.

The C-2R was the first Cunningham to make use of Chrysler’s brand new Hemi V8 and was designed to race at Le Mans.  After a short development window they were taken to France where they placed 18th overall.  On the surface it looked like a less than stellar introduction but in fact the C-2R had  held second place for 6 hours which was outstanding for a new car with an unproven race motor running using the poor quality race fuels that teams were required to use.  Despite the poor fuel, the C-2R achieved an officially timed 152 mph on the Mulsanne straight.

Later the C-2Rs dominated the Watkins Glen Grand Prix taking 1st, 2nd and 4th place and 1st and 6th place at Elkhart Lake. 

Most notably, this was also the first race car to have what we have come to know as “Racing Stripes”.  The Blue Stripes represent the required blue frame rails of the American Racing Colors of a White Body with a Blue Frame.  As the frame rails on cars in 1950 were no longer visible, Briggs brought the left and right frame color to the center of the car creating two Blue stripes down the center of the car.

The C-4R was the product of rapid evolutionary development from the C-1 prototype to the C-2R culminating with the C-4R/C4RK race cars.  It was a much lighter, smaller car designed to harness the full power of the Chrysler Hemi V8 now tuned to deliver 300 HP.  Cunningham put up a formidable arsenal in 1952.  This car, along with its sister Coupe the C-4RK, was ready to take on Le Mans and win.  However, issues with their brakes hampered Briggs’ efforts leaving him to nurse his C-4R to finish in 4th place overall.  This was an impressive race, and one in which Briggs Cunningham drove 20 of the 24 hours himself – which made him a Le Mans legend.

The C-4RK was an early effort to improve aerodynamic performance by chopping the tail of the vehicle to what was referred to as a Kamm-back.  It was named for German Aeronautical Engineer Dr. Wunibald Kamm who personally oversaw the modifications of the C-4RK at Briggs West Palm Beach Factory to maximize its aero performance.  This effort proved worthwhile as the C-4RK was the early race leader and set the fastest lap during the race even topping Mercedes’ best time.  This was a full 13 years before Shelby introduced his Daytona Coupe in 1964/65.

It is hard to describe a car like the Cunningham C-3 as it was a paradigm shift for American enthusiasts.  It wasn’t just a great American car – it was the equal of any sports car available in Europe at the time.  Capable of sub 7.0 second sprints to 60 mph and with a top speed of near 150 mph, its impact was seismic as was its price at USD$10,000.  For comparison, in 1953 the median New Home Price in the United States was $18,080 and Chevrolet’s then newly introduced Corvette’s price started at a modest $3,513.  The Cunningham C-3’s pricing limited it to only the wealthiest of buyers but its pedigree was solid.  The Chrysler Hemi V8 power offered 220Hp.  The Cunningham race proven chassis was styled by Giovanni Michelotti and the bodies were produced by Vignale in Turin, Italy.

Arguably, it was one of Briggs Cunningham’s most successful cars at Le Mans with a 3rd place overall finish splitting Jaguar’s chance for a clean sweep in 1953.  The Jaguars finished 1st, 2nd and 4th place that year and the Cunninghams placed 3rd, 7th and 10th overall.  The Ferrari finished 5th and all of the Alfas failed to finish.  This was an amazing finish for a vehicle that was viewed as less than a technical masterpiece for its solid axle front suspension.  The combination proved successful as its clean shape and  tremendously powerful Hemi V8 barreled the C-5R down the Mulsanne Straight at 154.81 mph, averaging 104.14 mph over the 24 hours.  If not for Jaguar’s superior Dunlop disc brakes over the C-5R massive 17-inch drums, the C-5R would have dominated the race.

The C-6R was designed to take advantage of the famed Indy 500 Offenhauser 3.0L Double OverHead Valve, 16 Valve, 4-cylinder engine.  Having been designed to run on alcohol, the motor was overheating on  pump gas and ultimately proved unreliable.  Later, Briggs removed the 4- cylinder in favor of the Jaguar 3.8 inline 6 cylinder.  At this point Briggs was winding down his efforts to build bespoke sports cars to compete at Le Mans and began to transition to campaigning with the Jaguar D-Types.  The transition away from producing bespoke cars was also impacted by the IRS requirement that after 5 years of losses a company could no longer right off these expenditures.  Shutting down the production company was as much a financial decision as an acknowledgement of the technical challenges of building competitive race cars.

In 1955 Briggs campaigned a Jaguar D-Type alongside the C-6R at Le Mans.  This marked his official departure from building his own cars to racing the best cars that were available.  Briggs successfully drove Jaguars, Corvettes, Lister Jaguars, Porsches, Maseratis and OSCAs.

In 1958 Briggs ordered two Lister “Knobbly” Jaguar’s to be campaigned during the SCCA C Modified Championship.  The vehicles were delivered to Alfred Momo’s shop in Queens, New York to be prepared for the coming race season.  The Cunningham Listers dominated the field that year winning 11 of 16 races securing the SCCA C Modified Championship for 1958.

The E2A was the original prototype for the E-Type.  Briggs Cunningham was given permission by Jaguar to use the E2A for his 1960 Le Mans effort.  This Jaguar joined the Three Cunningham Corvette’s that were also campaigned that year.  Having set the fastest lap during practice at Le Mans, there were high hopes for the E2A achieving an overall win; but the car suffered mechanical issues that brought about its early retirement from the race.

Feather light and powerful come to mind when thinking about the legend that is the Maserati Birdcage.  Briggs and co-driver Jim Kimberly campaigned a Birdcage to an 8th place finish at Le Mans in 1961.  The car was reliable and fast.  It finished 3rd in class to two Porsches.

It is the stuff of Legend when people speak of Zora Duntov asking Briggs Cunningham to take three Corvette’s to Le Mans in 1960. This was the first time that Corvettes were campaigned at Le Mans and it was that marque’s first class win at Le Mans.  The three cars battled throughout the 24 hours. One succumbed to an accident, one retired due to mechanical issues and the remaining #3 car struggled to keep from overheating by famously having its engine covered with ice to keep it cool.  The drama and  excitement around the Corvette pits and  the Cunningham Crew’s “never say quit” attitude earned much admiration from the spectators and competitors alike.  In the end, the Number 3 car crossed the finish line 8th overall and 1st in class.  This was a feat Corvette would not repeat until 2001 when it again was 8th overall at Le Mans and 1st in class.

“The most beautiful car in the world” remarked Enzo Ferrari when asked about the Jaguar E-Type.  High praise indeed but it was never the all-out race car that its forebears were – the legendary D-Type and C-Types. 

Jaguar with the help of Cunningham had campaigned the prototype E-Type at Le Mans in 1960 but after a good showing setting fastest lap in practice, it had to be retired early.  In 1962 Briggs Cunningham and co-driver Roy Salvadori campaigned an E-Type at Le Mans but couldn’t match the power of the Ferraris and finished a respectable 4th overall.

In 1963, Briggs Cunningham brought three Lightweight Jaguar E-Types to Le Mans with hopes for a successful overall win.  The cars were numbers #14, #15 and #16 and they ran well during the race, with Briggs and co-driver Bob Grossman in #15 finishing 9^th overall.  Unfortunately, #14 and #16 did not finish the race, retiring early.  In a reflection of the historic importance of these Cunningham Lightweight E-Types, #14 sold in 2017 for a record USD$8,000,000, setting the high-water mark for all 12 existing Jaguar Lightweight E-Types.

After retiring from the Le Mans competition in 1963, Briggs Swift Cunningham went on to focus primarily on domestic motorsports racing in the U.S. until he formally retired from racing in 1966.  One of his weapons of choice during these years was a small mid-engine sports car from Porsche – the legendary 904.  Porsche’s featherlight 485kg (1,069 lbs.) 904 came equipped with a four cam 2.0L flat four-cylinder engine that offered a reliable 180 horsepower.  This equates to 336.76hp/ton.  For reference, a modern 2018 Porsche mid-engine 918 Cayman GTS weighs 1,355kg (2,988lbs) and is equipped with a  2.5L 4cyl Turbo engine producing  365hp, offering 244.31hp/ton – nearly 1/3 less power per pound than its 904 forebearer.  This vehicle was simple designed to dominate its class.

The $250,000 C-7 was brought to the world through the collaboration of Briggs Swift Cunningham’s son Briggs Swift Cunningham III and Bob Lutz.  They envisioned a Grand Turismo that harkened back to the legendary Cunningham C-3 of the 1950’s; yet was capable of thoroughly outperforming even the best modern European GT.  The vehicle was to have been built around a bespoke American made DOHC V12 with 600 horsepower, rear bias “All Wheel Drive” system, with interior space for 4 full size adults over the height of 6.3”.  A requirement that Bob Lutz put on the designer, Stewart Reed, was that he (Bob Lutz) had to be able to sit comfortably in the back seat.  What is most remarkable about this vehicle is that it is actually only 6 inches longer than a 2001 Corvette, but seated 4 adults, with its V12 engine set behind the front axle line making it a front mid-engine coupe.  Sadly, only the concept car was ever produced and plans to manufacture the C-7 were put on hold.