1954 Cunningham C3 Resto/Build

Here are some photos of a 1954 Cunningham C3 that we are working on in the shop. I have a bit of an ulterior motive in posting these resto/build pics. We have a position opening up in our metal shop and thought that it would help if we posted some pics of cars that we are working on. I will put more up as the job progresses.

For those of you who do not know about the C3s here is a link to get more info.

This car is a bit of a departure for us, as we normally do body off restorations, but we always have cool stuff in shop!

The first pic is of the car as it came to the shop. The bodies were made by Vignale in Italy, but the chassis and drive-train were all American. These originally had 331 hemis with a 3 speed "fluid drive". The suspension was Ford/Mercury and it had Chrysler steering parts. They were kind of a crazy mish mash of whatever Cunningham liked best.

At the customer's request we are making this car into a little bit more of a hot rod. From just looking at the car you won't know there is anything different about it from the other C3s that is until you see the dual exhaust and the black stripes it will leave on the grass at shows. I have included a shot of the new engine mocked up in the engine bay. We are putting a 426 in it.

Right now the car is in bare metal. There are some pics of it in our metal shop in its current state.


http://www.briggscunningham.com/home/sportscars/

Hope you all enjoy the shots. Here is the link to more info about the metal shop position we have open. http://www.paulrussell.com/join-our-team.html

Thanks and stay tuned for more pics...

fairlanegirl

 

Thanks for sharing those pics and that history lesson on the Cunningham. I for one was not familiar with that ride at all. Best of Luck with finding the new employee. BDM

 

I love stuff like this! Thanks for posting. Very cool car!

 

WOW! Thanks for posting.

Looks like Ansen 5 spoke wheels, do the knock offs have an A or an A/E lettering on them?

 

You should post it on the Dogfight site too, that's some cool stuff you're doing.

 

Sick!!

 

Last week the engine for the Cunningham C3 got shaken down on the dyno!

It sounds great!!! I will see if I can find a video small enough to post.

Now we have one more piece of the puzzle.

Stay tuned...

 

I grew up in West Palm Beach, lived just a mile or two from the Cunningham operation, which was in an old hangar on the west end of the WPB airport.
We used to ride our bikes over there and stare through the fence at their shop. It was years later before I knew that it was Cunningham's place.

 

Thanks for sharing that is a thing of beauty .

 

Come on now, quit teasing....what did the dyno have to say???

.

 

Right now it is running 520 at 6200 RPM, but it is not completely dialed in. I will let you know what the final numbers are as soon as we get them!

 

A few more photos of the C3 build for your enjoyment. We have the engine and tranny in now and are working on the floors and mocking up the interior pieces etc.

http://www.paulrussell.com/join-our-team.html

 

Your shop does some of the finest restos in the country. Familiar with your Ferrari work. Thanks for posting.

 

Thank you for the compliment. We all certainly enjoy what we do!

 

Going to look great! Quick question, why did you choose a second generation hemi over the early hemi they originaly came with? I have an original broucher from the Cunningham car Co. that was remaking in 1998 an exact replica of the C4R with an original 331 hemi with webers and it states it could be registered as a 1954. The (new) 331 was rated at 400 hp and the car was being sold at $159,000

 

Never seen a Cunningham coupe before. Looks kinda like an Alfa married a big Healey, and 9mos later that's what was born...

NEAT!

I know this is O/T, but can you tell me anything about the Flaming River steering assist(?) under the dash?

 

Hmm...not sure who was actually making them in the 90's. Perhaps someone who purchased the rights to the name. We have the original drive-train for the C3 that we are working on and will save it in case the next owner would like to return it to original condition. We had originally thought that we would just hot rod the 331, but instead decided that it would be better to keep it original and not mess with it. The engine that we have put in it is basically a custom build per the customer's desire.

 

I was given the opportunity to help restore a Cunningham back in the late 90's brook stevens body, the chance to work on getting the skin restored on that car was a once in a life time. I remember that at the time there was a good deal of hype about the new Cunningham.

 

No doubt! The bodies were made by Vignale in Italy, so they definitely have that feel. There are a bunch of Ferrari's that Vignale made in that same era that look a lot like the C3s...or vice versa I suppose.

The Flaming River electronic power steering set-up is killer. The model we used is FR40105. I believe we ended up with the standard ECU. http://www.flamingriver.com/index.php/products/c0018/s0001/FR40105-1

 

Found some information online about the "modern Cunninghams". Looks like nothing came of it after they showed the concept at Detroit in 2001.

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/110/Cunningham-C7-.html

 

A few more pics for you all... soon the car will be in the body shop. I will make sure and post a finished bare metal shot when all of the metal work is done...

 

Very cool and interesting car.

 

Cool build * Cool album

 

Nice....BIG Hemi...I like!

Love the grills on C3's

 

For more information on the four Cunningham C4R Continuation cars that were built 1997-2001, go to http://www.briggscunningham.com/. I own the first of those four cars (that is, first built, last sold) and would enjoy talking with anyone who has a special interest in these cars.

 

Nice project! How many coupes did Cunningham build? There are two of them locally, a barn find and a nicely restored one. Bob ..........P.S. if anyone has a CUNNINGHAM intake for a 354 HEMI let me know.

 

A guy on the east coast had an iron 4X1 Cunningham for sale some yrs ago @ an outragious price. You might find it digging around the threads @ thehemi.com Good chance he still has it.

 

Check out the Bonhams Auction web site. A surprising amount of Cunningham stuff is being offered at auction on October 8th at the Simeone Foundation in Philadelphia. As you probably know, Fred Simeone owns one of the two original C4R roadsters.

 

^^^^^^^^Thanks my money is going to Hershey. Bob

 

Yeah, I actually consulted with Roush (who had contracted the engineering) on the packaging of the "New" Cunningham just before I retired from GM. The new Cunningham was led by Bob Lutz ( who owns several old Cunninghams and is a Cunningham enthusiast) as a retirement project after he left Ford. There were some issues with the naming rights - as usual - and Lutz lost interest when he was hired by GM - stopping the project.