American really never cared much for sports car racing until after WWII. GIs that had been in Europe and got to witness and sometimes play around in lithe little cars designed to bend corners really fast got hooked on the idea and lots of them brought “sporty cars” home with them in one form or another. The resulting explosion in popularity started to put America on the racing stage. At the upper end of that spectrum were the rich guys who instead of buying something someone else made, decided to built cars themselves. Briggs Cunningham was among the first of the names that many people would come to know for building sports car and racing cars in the USA. This 1952 Cunningham C-3 Vignale is a fine example of his company’s handiwork and in its unrestored state, the car is freaking magnificent and one of the most interesting hunks of iron at SEMA 2017. Let’s delve into its history and learn why.

Cunningham built the C-3 from 1952-1954 and during that time it was the most expensive car you could buy in the USA. In today’s money that computes to $91,000 which is a ton of dough but the money that you can now spend on a freaking luxury pickup truck. 25 of the cars were built in two years, only a handful survive. This one was found in a barn where it had been sitting for years. Its restoration was purely mechanical. The haggard outer appearance of the car was left exactly as it was found. Neat, right?

International rules being what they were and Cunningham’s desires being what they were, he needed to build 25 cars to be allowed to race at LeMans which was his ultimate goal. Cunningham was an unwilling car manufacturer, but it was a necessary evil to get his own stuff on the track.

The chassis of the car was built in Florida. It got the 331ci hemi engine there, the Cadillac three speed manual transmission, and the Chrysler rear axle. The whole works was then shipped straight to Italy to Vignale for the body to be constructed and added to the chassis. Then the whole thing was shipped home and sent to the buyer. Now do you see why they were so expensive?

The cool thing about this particular car is the fact that it was a “press car” used for various reviews and stories back in 1952. It then went on to win a concours show that same year against cool cars from all over the world. In fact it pulled that stunt twice!

The owner of the car is Tom Cotter and chances are you may have read a book or two by him. He’s written some good stuff like the popular barn find series of books and other material. He’s also cool because this car will be raced starting next year, something that we think Briggs Cunningham would surely approve of.

Check out the photos below of this rare, still driven, and cool 1952 Cunningham –