1952 Cunningham C4R

A Cunningham C4R at the Le Mans Classic in 2018.

For more photos from the 2018 Le Mans Classic Plateau 2 - click here.

B.S.Cunningham Company, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.   Briggs Cunningham first entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans Race in 1950 and was determined to win it.   He never actually did but came relatively close on at least one occasion, especially with the C4R which was powered by a 5.4 litre (later 5.5 litre) Chrysler V8 engine.  The first Cunningham C4Rs were built in 1952 with George Briggs Weaver in charge of the body and chassis design.  The car was a typical front engined rear wheel drive roadster with a big engined American V8 under the bonnet.  The roadholding was reputed to be very good but brakes and steering were a weak pont compared to the Jaguars of the era.   Top speed was around 155mph.

In 1952 two of these cars came to Le Mans and came away with fourth place in the hands of Briggs Cunningham himself and Bill Spear.  Later in the year John Fitch took the car to its first win in a 200 mile race at Elkhart Lake,  1953 saw the first ever World Sportscar Championship and a Cunningham C4R won the first ever round of the Championship in March at the 12 Hours of Sebring with John Fitch and Phil Walters at the wheel.   However, at Le Mans the sole C4R could only finish seventh.  Some consolation was gained a few weeks later with a 3rd place in the Reims 12 Hours.  It also appeared in a support race at the British GP.  In 1954 two C4Rs appeared at Le Mans and one of them came third driven by Bill Spear and Sherwood Johnston.   It was a brave effort but it was becoming very difficult to take on Jaguar, Ferrari and Mercedes at Le Mans.  The car did take a few more small victories in US races.   Only two cars (plus a C4RK coupé) were built in period, but 4 authorised continuation cars were built in the 1990s and another replica was built on a C3 chassis.