Cunningham C7

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.

Background

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 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.

Modern Cunningham

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.

Development of 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.

Both the original Cunningham cars and the continuation cars are highly valued as limited edition collectors items.