1953 Cunningham C-3 Coupe

Millionaire American sportsman Briggs Swift Cunningham II was determined to win the Le Mans 24-hour race in an American car. In 1950 he entered two Cadillacs, one of which finished tenth. This motivated Cunningham to develop the C-2R sports car with a Chrysler V8 engine, tubular frame, De Dion axle and full independent suspension. The cars ran at Le Mans in 1951, with one finishing eighteenth, and he continued to campaign the cars in road races throughout the United States.

Cunningham determined that the C-2R was better suited as a road car, and therefore a more competitive race car, the C-3, was developed. Offered as a coupe as well as a roadster, they were intended to have base prices of $9,000 and $8,000, respectively. Cunningham quickly realized that his cost per finished car would be over $15,000, an approach to business that may work for Amazon.com but not for Cunningham. As a cost-cutting measure, he contracted with Carrozzeria Vignale...