 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
The Cunningham C7 Grand Touring car was an American limited production high performance luxury sports coupe. It was first introduced to the public at the 2001 North American International Auto Show. [1]
In 1950 Briggs Cunningham (race car driver and car designer), Phil Walters (race car driver), and John (Jack) Donaldson started designing race cars in Florida. Their first sports car, the C-1, was an aluminum-bodied, front-engine, V-8 powerhouse, a design that became the template for subsequent American manufacturers. Their first Grand Touring car was the C-3.
In 1952, the Cunningham C-4R [2] was released in both coupe and roadster configurations. Powered by the original Chrysler 331 Hemi V-8, the 400 horsepower car weighed 2400 pounds. The C-4R attracted media attention in America. At one point Briggs and his cars appeared on the front cover of Time magazine (April 26, 1954).
In 1955, Briggs closed the factory due to financial troubles.
In 1993, Briggs Cunningham III and former racer Lawrence (Larry) Black recognized that America lacked a Grand Touring car and decided to attach the Cunningham identity to a modern Grand Touring car. Black approached Stephen Norman, owner of the BMW dealership in downtown Seattle. Norman provided the initial capital for Black's efforts to resurrect Cunningham as an American auto manufacturer.
Larry Black came up with an idea for organizing and reducing the costs of operating a new car company. V.I.M. or virtually integrated manufacturing, was the reverse of Henry Ford's vertically integrated manufacturing, which sought to own and control the entire process of manufacturing, from raw materials to distribution of finished product. Because of unused manufacturing capacity, it would be possible to create a "virtual" car company, where Cunningham Motor Cars would be a design, engineering and marketing firm, while other firms would manufacture and build the major components as subcontractors.
Black sought advice from automotive journalist David E. Davis, the founder of Automobile . Davis advised him about contacting Bob Lutz, who was then President of Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler had been the second engine supplier to Cunningham (after Cadillac) in the 1950s. Chrysler engineers developed and produced a prototype engine—a V-12 331 c.i.
Cunningham began manufacturing 1952 Cunningham C-4Rs in Lime Rock, Connecticut to build credibility. Creation of C-4Rs drew attention from the press with many publications sending correspondents to test the C4-Rs being built in Lime Rock, including Car and Driver , Automobile , Road & Track , Forbes, London's Sunday Times , the New York Times and a number of European car publications. The coverage sparked interest in the upcoming modern Cunningham, now being called the C7.
In May of 1998 Daimler merged with Chrysler. The Germans saw the C7 Cunningham as a threat to their Maybach, and support within the new company vanished. Lutz left Chrysler in 1998 and became the CEO of Exide Batteries. Cunningham having lost its Big Three sponsor began searching for a replacement. David E Davis suggested that they approach General Motors because of historical ties to the original 1952 cars. Black convinced GM to sponsor Cunningham. However, none of the designs proposed appealed to Black so he turned to an independent designer named Stewart Reed. The Stewart Reed submission was approved by Black and Lutz. Michigan based company Special Projects finished building the car days before the show.
The debut at the 2001 Detroit show was a success for the concept of the modern Cunningham, but internal politics halted any further progress. Larry Black was forced out of the firm by Lutz, leading to a lawsuit.
Stewart Reed Design also proposed a convertible C7 which was well received by media and design professionals, and while plans exist, both the coupe and convertible designs remain unrealized. [3]
Both the original Cunningham cars and the continuation cars are highly valued as limited edition collectors items.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953.
The Chrysler 300 "letter series" are high-performance personal luxury cars that were built by Chrysler in the U.S. from 1955 to 1965 and were a sub-model from the Chrysler New Yorker. After the initial year, which was named C-300 for its standard 300 hp (220 kW) 331 cu in (5.4 L) FirePower V8, the 1956 cars were designated 300B. Successive model years were given the next letter of the alphabet as a suffix, reaching the 300L by 1965, after which the model sequence was discontinued while the "300" remained. At its introduction it was advertised as "America's Most Powerful Car".
The Chrysler New Yorker is an automobile model produced by Chrysler from 1940 until 1996, serving for several decades as either the brand's flagship model or as a junior sedan to the Chrysler Imperial, the latter during the years in which the Imperial name was used within the Chrysler lineup rather than as a standalone brand.
The Chrysler Crossfire is a rear-wheel drive, two-seat sports car, marketed by Chrysler and manufactured by Karmann of Germany for the 2004 through 2008 model years.
Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, commonly known as Karmann, was a German automobile manufacturer and contract manufacturer based in Osnabrück, Germany. Founded by Wilhelm Karmann in 1901, the company specialised in various automotive roles, including design, production and assembly of components for a wide variety of automobile manufacturers, including Chrysler, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group.
The Chrysler TC by Maserati is a jointly developed car by Chrysler and Maserati. It was positioned as a grand tourer and introduced at the 1986 Los Angeles Auto Show. It is a "Q" body built on a modified second-generation Chrysler K platform. After two years of development delays, the TC became available in late-1988 and a total of 7,300 units were manufactured in Milan, Italy, through 1990. All cars sold as 1991 models were manufactured in 1990.
The Chrysler LeBaron, also known as the Imperial LeBaron, is a line of automobiles built by Chrysler from 1931 to 1941 and from 1955 to 1995. The model was introduced in 1931, with a body manufactured by LeBaron, and competed with other luxury cars of the era, such as Lincoln and Packard. After purchasing LeBaron with its parent Briggs Manufacturing Company, Chrysler introduced the luxury make Imperial in 1955, and sold automobiles under the name Imperial LeBaron until 1975. Chrysler discontinued the Imperial brand in 1975 and reintroduced the Chrysler LeBaron in 1977 to what was then Chrysler's lowest-priced model.
The Chrysler Sebring is a line of mid-size automobiles that was sold from 1995 through 2010 by Chrysler. Three generations of convertibles, two generations of sedans, and two generations of coupes were produced. Although the coupe shared the same name and some styling cues, it was mechanically unrelated to the other Sebring models.
The Chrysler Imperial, introduced in 1926, was Chrysler's top-of-the-line vehicle for much of its history. Models were produced under the Chrysler name until 1954, after which Imperial became a standalone make; and again from 1990–93. The company positioned the cars as a prestige marque to rival Cadillac, Continental, Lincoln, Duesenberg, Pierce Arrow, Cord, and Packard. According to Antique Automobile, "The adjective 'imperial' according to Webster's Dictionary means sovereign, supreme, superior or of unusual size or excellence. The word imperial thus justly befits Chrysler's highest priced model."
The Chrysler PT Cruiser is a compact car that was built by the American company Chrysler from 2001 until 2010. Introduced as a five-door hatchback wagon, a two-door convertible variant was also made from 2005 until 2008.
The Chrysler Saratoga is an automobile built by Chrysler. The nameplate was used from 1939 to 1952 and from 1957 to 1960 in the U.S. market, in Canada through 1965, and in Europe from 1989 to 1995. In the beginning, it was introduced as a sport luxury model, using the Straight Eight engine from the Chrysler New Yorker which was more formal, and the Imperial which had graduated to special order limousine.
Renntech Inc. is an American high-performance automotive aftermarket tuning company founded in 1989, with their headquarters located in Stuart, Florida. RENNtech specializes in engineering, designing and manufacturing parts for Mercedes-Benz, AMG, Maybach and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vehicles as well as other European luxury and performance vehicles. RENNtech also operates a full motorsport division named RENNtech Motorsports fielding a Mercedes-AMG GT4 racecar in SRO's North American GT -series. RENNtech Classics was founded to offer a wider range of services for owners of early RENNtech, Pre-Merger AMG, and collectible Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
The 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 21st Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 13 and 14 June 1953, at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans (France). It was also the third round of the F.I.A. World Sports Car Championship.
The 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 20th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 14–15 June 1952 at Circuit de la Sarthe.
The Chevrolet Corvette (C7) is the seventh generation of the Corvette sports car manufactured by American automobile manufacturer Chevrolet from 2014 until 2019. The first C7 Corvettes were delivered in the third quarter of 2013. The racing variants include the C7.R, which won the GTLM 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Briggs Swift Cunningham II was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht Columbia to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race, and for his efforts as a driver, team owner, and constructor in sports car racing, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The B. S. Cunningham Company was an American automobile company established by Briggs Cunningham. It produced six different models in very small numbers, primarily to be raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Cunningham C-5R was a sports car developed in 1953 for the Briggs Cunningham racing team.
The Cunningham C-4R was a sports car developed in 1952 for the Briggs Cunningham racing team. It won 10 races between 1952 and 1956, including 8 race wins in its class, and scored an impressive 16 podium finishes.
The Cunningham C-3 is a Grand tourer, designed and built by the B. S. Cunningham Company beginning in 1952. Intended primarily as a road car, enough C3 were meant to be built to homologate Briggs Cunningham's racing cars, making them eligible to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
