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 efforts as a driver, team owner, and constructor in sports car racing, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Early years
Cunningham was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on January 19, 1907. The family were long-time residents of the Cincinnati area. Cunningham's grandfather had been involved in 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 it 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 October 2, 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 a Cunningham downhaul, 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 December 31, 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 professional race was in a Porsche Carrera GTS at Sebring in 1966 with John Fitch and Davey Jordan. His last amateur race was in the same Porsche 904 at Riverside Raceway in September 1966.
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 raced a cycle-fendered Healey Silverstone that he had one of Cadillac's new V8 engines installed in.The car appeared at Palm Beach on January 3, 1950. Driven by Cunningham, it finished second.
On September 23 that year the car was driven by Cunningham again at Watkins Glen, and finished second. At this race Samuel "Sam" Carnes Collier was killed while driving Cunningham's Ferrari.
The Cadillac-Healey also appeared at the 6 Hours of Sebring on December 31, 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 a second Cadillac had its stock body removed and an entirely new body that was lower and narrower than the original fabricated in aluminum over a metal tube framework. The new body 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.
B. S. Cunningham Company cars
To prepare for his next attempt at Le Mans, Cunningham bought the Frick-Tappet Motors company and relocated the operation from Long Island, New York to West Palm Beach, Florida, renaming it the "B.S. Cunningham Company".The first product of the new company was the Cunningham C-1, powered by a Cadillac V8. Only one was built. Very similar to the C-1 were the three subsequent C-2Rs, all built to racing specifications. Cunningham substituted a Chrysler FirePower V8 for the Cadillac in the C-1. The C-2R first appeared at Le Mans in 1951.
To be homologated as a manufacturer for Le Mans, Cunningham undertook to build 25 examples of the C-3 road car. The C-3s used an upgraded version of the Chrysler FirePower V8. Production of the C-3 is variously reported to have been twenty-five or twenty-seven.
The next racing car for the B.S. Cunningham Company was designed by G. Briggs Weaver. Two C-4R roadsters were built, as well as a single C-4RK coupe with truncated rear bodywork. The cars debuted at the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans.
For 1953 a single all-new C-5R was prepared for Le Mans. The Chrysler V8 engine remained, with power increased by. When the car arrived for the 1953 Le Mans, French observers named it "Le Requin Souriant" — the smiling shark.
The final B. S. Cunningham company car model abandoned the Chrysler V8 for a 3.0 L four-cylinder Offenhauser from Meyer & Drake. At the 1955 Le Mans the C-6R retired on lap 202.