Briggs Cunningham

The Cunningham straightener

A Cunningham C4-R

Briggs Swift Cunningham (born January 19, 1907 in Cincinnati , Ohio , † July 2, 2003 ) was an American racing car driver , designer and sailor . He was the founder and owner of the BS Cunningham Company, a car manufacturer .

Sailor, racing driver and designer

Briggs Cunningham was a great sportsman from a young age. In 1928 he was part of the 100-meter hurdles -Mannschaft the US track and field team and would as a substitute almost to the 1928 Olympic Games to Amsterdam come. Cunningham was a keen sailor all his life and was also world class in this sport. In 1958 he won the Americas Cup with the racing yacht Colombia . He constructed the Cunningham straightener (luff straightener) named after him , a trim device for sails.

But his greatest passion was motorsport. Cunningham was a racing driver and designer. At the beginning of his career in 1930, he raced with college friends Miles and Samuel Collier . The Collier brothers founded the Automobile Racing Club of America in 1933 , from which the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) emerged in 1944 .

1940 Cunningham built his first racing cars. The first car was a peculiar construction consisting of a Mercedes-Benz SSK chassis, a Buick body and a Buick engine. The Bumerec was born. Similar constructions followed, which were assembled from a wide variety of cars. During World War II , he volunteered with the Civil Air Patrol , which tracked down submarines on the US east coast. After the war he started racing again with the Bumerec. In Watkins Glen he met Phil Walters and the Collier brothers and it was decided in 1950 to take part in the Le Mans 24-hour race .

Le Mans 24 hour race

First wanted Cunningham two 1939er- Ford with a Cadillac -Motor arm him and participate in the race, but the organizer, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the application refused. Cunningham turned to Luigi Chinetti , the 1932 , 1934 and 1949 Le Mans winner , who had excellent relations with the ACO officials. Chinetti managed to provide two starting places for the Americans. Cunningham called on Ed Cole , the then head of Cadillac, who promised to help out with real Cadillacs. The ACO now accepted the nomination. But Cunningham only came to Le Mans with a Cadillac, a Coupé de Ville . The second car was a futuristic self-made car based on the chassis of the de Ville, but had an extremely flat body for the time. This racing car went down in motorsport history as Cunningham Le Monstre . The Collier brothers shared the coupe, dubbed the Clumsy Pup by French journalists , and came in tenth overall. One place behind the Spider, with Cunningham and Walters at the wheel, crossed the finish line.

A year later, Cunningham returned to Le Mans, now with a real Cunningham, the C2-R . In the 1950s, the Cunninghams became a fixture at Le Mans. As a driver, Cunningham has competed ten times on the Sarthe. His best placements were fourth in 1952 with Bill Spear in the Cunningham C4-R and in 1963 as a partner of Roy Salvadori in the Jaguar E-Type . As a designer, he celebrated two podium finishes at Le Mans. In 1953 Phil Walters and John Fitch came third overall in the C5-R, a success that William Spear and Sherwood Johnston could repeat a year later in the C4-R.

The Cunningham team won the Sebring 12-hour race three times . In 1966, Briggs Cunningham said goodbye to international racing as a driver when he competed in Sebring with John Fitch and Dave Jordan in a Porsche 904 GTS .

At the Sebring International Raceway a curve was named after the great racing driver and designer.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1950	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham Spider Le Monstre	Phil Walters	Rank 11
1951	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham C2-R	George Huntoon	failure	accident
1952	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham C4-R	Bill Spear	4th place and class win
1953	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham C4-R	Bill Spear	Rank 7
1954	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham C4-R	John Gordon Bennett	Rank 5
1955	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham C6-R	Sherwood Johnston	failure	Cylinder damage
1960	Briggs S. Cunningham	Chevrolet Corvette	William Kimberly	failure	accident
1961	Briggs Cunningham	Maserati Tipo 60	William Kimberly	Rank 8
1962	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar E-Type FHC	Roy Salvadori	4th place and class win
1963	Briggs S. Cunningham	Jaguar E-Type Lightweight	Bob Grossman	Rank 9

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1952	William Spear	Ferrari 340 America	Bill Spear		failure	suspension
1953	Briggs Cunningham	OSCA MT4 1350	Bill Lloyd		5th place and class win
1954	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham C4-R	Sherwood Johnston		failure	Engine failure
1955	BS Cunningham	Cunningham C6-R	John Gordon Bennett		failure	Gearbox damage
1956	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar D-Type	John Gordon Bennett		Rank 12
1957	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar D-Type	Bill Lloyd		failure	Valve damage
1958	Alfred Momo	Jaguar D-Type	Walt Hansgen		failure	Cylinder damage
1959	Briggs Cunningham	Lister	Lake Underwood	Russ Boss	Rank 15
1960	Jaguar Distributors of New York	Chevrolet Corvette	John Fitch		failure	accident
1961	Momo Corporation	Maserati Tipo 60	William Kimberly		Rank 19
1962	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar E-Type	John Fitch		14th place and class win
1963	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar E-Type	John Fitch		failure	Clutch damage
1964	Briggs Cunningham	Porsche 904 GTS	Lake Underwood		9th place and class win
1965	Briggs Cunningham	Porsche 904 GTS	John Fitch	Bill Bencker	Rank 20
1966	Briggs Cunningham	Porsche 904 GTS	John Fitch	Dave Jordan	failure	Valve damage

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1953	Briggs Cunningham	Osca MT4 Cunningham C4-R	SEB	MIM	LEM	SPA	ONLY	RTT	CAP
			5		7th
1954	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham C4-R	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	CAP
				DNF		5
1955	Briggs Cunningham	Cunningham C6-R	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	TAR
				DNF		DNF
1956	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar D-Type	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	KRI
				12
1957	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar D-Type	BUA	SEB	MIM	ONLY	LEM	KRI	CAR
				DNF
1958	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar D-Type	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
				DNF
1959	Briggs Cunningham	Lister	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
			15th
1960	Jaguar Distributors of New York Briggs Cunningham	Chevrolet Corvette	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
				DNF			DNF
1961	Momo Corporation	Maserati Tipo 60	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
			19th			8th
1962	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar E-Type	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
					14th					4th
1963	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar E-Type	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
					DNF							9												12
1964	Briggs Cunningham	Porsche 904	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
				9
1965	Briggs Cunningham	Porsche 904	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
				20th
1966	Briggs Cunningham	Porsche 904	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
				DNF

Web links

Commons : Briggs Cunningham  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Briggs Cunningham at Racing Sports Cars