1953 Cunningham C3 Coupe

Briggs Cunningham was the son of a wealthy financier and heir to the Swift meatpacking fortune. He was an individual that was constantly striving to best his competition, which began with yacht racing at Yale in the 1920s, which eventually led to international fame by captaining the Columbia to victory in the 1958 America's Cup. In the 1930s, he engaged in international racing with his college friends Miles and Samuel Collier, who founded the Automobile Racing Club of America (later renamed the Sports Car Club of America, SCCA, in 1944).

In 1950, Briggs entered two Cadillac Coupe DeVilles in the 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans. One was basically stock, and the other was heavily modified; one finished 10th and the other 11th. This loss helped fuel Briggs' desire for victory, which culminated with his C-3 Cunningham automobile. At the time, Le Mans homologation rules specified that competitors could race production vehicles, with at least 25 produced, to be eligible to race. Briggs's solution was to build his own brand of car, thus, the Cunningham C-3 was born.

The Cunningham C-3 was paired with a Chrysler Hemi V-8 engine. It had a race car chassis and Italian bodywork designed by Vignale of Turin, Italy. Pricing ranged from $8,000 to $12,000 new, a significant figure at the time. By 1954, Briggs Cunningham was featured on the cover of Time magazine with three of his Cunningham racing cars.

This Cunningham C-3 was Briggs Cunningham's personal C-3 Coupe and the one he never sold. It was built with a heater, radio, 20-gallon fuel tank, Bendix Hydrovac power booster, and a Chrysler PowerFlite gearbox. It was built as a demonstrator model and was retained by the Cunningham family for over six decades. Most of the 25 Vignale-bodied cars produced wore two-tone color combinations. However, Briggs had 5223 painted black and fitted with a beautiful red leather interior.

In 2003, Briggs passed away and left the car to his daughter, Lucie. Lucie passed in 2014 and the estate sold the car to its current owner. It has been in the Briggs' nuclear family for 61 years.

This Cunningham is the only C-3 with power windows and the only one with an automatic transmission. Another unique feature is the Lady Bug on the tire valves. It has 10,097 miles from new and wears a body by Vignale. It is also one of just 25 C-3 models built.

It was shown at the Cunningham Gathering at the 2011 Cavallino Classic in Palm Beach, Florida, and later the 2013 Cunningham Gathering at the Lime Rock Park 31st Historic Festival in Connecticut.