1953 Cunningham C3 Cabriolet

Briggs S. Cunningham, 'The Great American Sportsman,' won races on land and sea. A key goal was to win Le Mans with a car with his name on it. To qualify, he had to build 25 running chassis for road cars at his facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. Each chassis carried an enhanced version of the most powerful American production engine, the Chrysler Hemi V8. Completed chassis were shipped to Italy for custom alloy bodies and interiors by noted Ferrari supplier Vignale of Turin. Of the 25 cars, most were fast-back coupes and the rest were four cabriolets which were expensive at more than $14,000, which was double the price of the next most costly American car and about the same as an exclusive Ferrari or three times the cost of a sporty Jaguar. One of the four cabriolet buyers was nelson Rockefeller, former New York Governor and Vice President of the United States. He loaned his cabriolet to the New York Museum of Modern Art, which labeled it one of the world's most beautiful automobiles.

This Cabriolet was the last to be built and was shipped to Vignale on February 3rd, 1953. The original owner of this car was Irving Robbins of Palo Alto, CA. He showed it at Pebble Beach. It was later featured in Road & Track magazine and the Encyclopedia of American Cars. The next owner was Stu Barnett of Clearwater, Florida, followed by Charles Cawly of Maine. It was also owned for a short time by Briggs's daughter, Lucie Cunningham McKinney until her passing in 2014.