Cunningham

US, 1907 – 1936

James Cunningham Son & Co Inc, Rochester, N.Y.

The first Cunningham cars were made in 1907 by an old-established manufacturer of carriages. At first Cunningham cars were assembled vehicles. Before World War 1, Cunningham’s were powered by 4- and 6-cylinder engines made by Buffalo and Continental, and by a 40hp four of Cunningham’s own manufacture. The first completely Cunningham-built car appeared in 1910. Until 1915 carriages continued to be made alongside the Cunningham cars, but from that year cars only were offered, in a single model. This V8 Cunningham was one of the handsomest cars to come out of America in its period and in 1916, the first production year of the Cunningham car, it was of extraordinarily modern lines. Mechanically, it was generally conventional, although the V8 engine was one of the early examples of its type. This 6-litre power unit gave around 100bhp at 2400rpm. The Cunningham was a finely-made luxury car, built a few at a time, and selling at up to $9.000 in open touring form. Owners of Cunningham cars included Marshal Field (the store Tycoon), William Randolph hearst, Mary Pickford and Harold Lloyd. It was still being offered as late as 1933. From then until 1935 only bodies were made (for other manufacturers’ cars) and also ambulances and hearses on the original chassis. Like Brewster, Cunningham offered a town car version of the Ford V8.

US, 1951 – 1955

B.S. Cunningham Co, West Palm Beach, Fla.

The racing and sports car driver Briggs Cunningham set out to produce an American sports car that would surpass European machines of the same class, but though the Cunningham cars scored some successes in American events he was never able to achieve his goal of victory at Le Mans. Six different Cunningham models were made beginning with the Cunningham C1, containing stock Cadillac and Chrysler engines in a tubular chassis. The Cunningham C2 was nearly identical in appearance but was powered by a 180hp Chrysler unit. It came in 18th at Le Mans and 1st at Watkins Glen in 1951. The Cunningham C3 was a Vignale-bodied coupé of Michelotti design with an automatic transmission and a 220hp Chrysler engine. The Cunningham C4 was available as a coupé or roadster with 200bhp. Cunningham C5s with a 310bhp engine and a SIATA gearbox finished 3rd, 5th and 10th at the 1954 Le Mans. The final model, the Cunningham C6, was driven by a 16-valve, 4-cylinder Offenhauser engine of 260hp but lacked the speed of previous machines.
The Cunningham cars sold in small numbers and were costly to produce but they represented a valliant attempt in the field of sophisticated motor-car design.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; TRN, BE
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