Cunningham Sports Cars: American Racing Legends 1951-1955 (Paperback)

by Karl Ludvigsen (Author) "In retrospect it's no easy task to communicate what the Cunningham sports cars meant to car enthusiasts in America in the mid-20th Century..." (more)
Key Phrases: drum brakes, front suspension, Phil Walters, Briggs Cunningham, John Fitch (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Time magazine cover hero and America's Cup yachtsman Briggs Cunningham cut a swathe through the post-war sports-racing scene with his magnificent Cunningham sports cars. He burst into view in 1951 with his Chrysler-powered C-2 sports-racers and in 1952 launched the production C-3, a Vignale-bodied car built as both a coupe and cabriolet. Some two dozen were made. The C-4R was his 1952 racer, still Chrysler-powered, which performed well at Le Mans and with Phil Walters and John Fitch was all but unbeatable in American racing. Radical with its solid-axle front end and colossal drum brakes, the C-5R of 1953 was a challenger to the Jaguars at Le Mans. In 1954 Cunningham raced a much-modified Ferrari with water-cooled brakes and in 1955 introduced his C-6R, beautifully engineered by Briggs Weaver and Offenhauser powered. Fabulous unpublished pictures from the Ludvigsen Library show these great cars on the track and at rest. panache. They carried the American flag ! at home and abroad with style and

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Iconografix (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583881093
• ISBN-13: 978-1583881095
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #962,749 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The First American Sports Car, February 21, 2009

By	William D. Srack (Upland, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The only time I was ever privileged to see the mighty Cunninghams race was on November 8, 1853 when Briggs brought two C4Rs and the C5 to March Field in Riverside, CA where General Curtis Le May enthusiastically allowed the SAC runways to be transformed briefly into a sports car raceway. I can't remember what other cars ran that day, apart from the oh-so-pretty Corvettes, with the potato mashers over the headlights. On the long straight the Cunninghams simply accelerated like rockets, running away from everything else on the track (while on the corners everybody was easily passing the poor Corvettes on the inside and outside--anything to get by.)
"Cunningham Sports Cars" in 3 pages of text and 122 pages of great photographs, from C1 to C6, brings back cherished memories of a time when one man dreamed of and spent a fortune building a team of sports cars with the intent of trying to win one particular race for America: The 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Briggs was the ultimate sportsman and a very fine gentleman. I was lucky enough to meet him twice and may be the better for it. Cunninghams were never to win at Le Mans but it was not for lack of giving it everything there was to give. This is one good book to have in your library.