Forwarded from The Racing History message board:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Storck" <bstorck@sprynet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2003 5:27 PM
Subject: [RH] Briggs Swift Cunningham
> From Nick England via Dick Carlson
>
> Briggs Swift Cunningham, 96, a renowned competitor in sports car racing
> and competitive sailing, died July 2, 2003 at his home in Las Vegas from
> complications of Alzheimer's disease.
> From the 1940s to his last race in 1965, Cunningham was a fierce sports
> car racing competitor who also skippered the Columbia to win the 1958
> America's Cup. After winning many road races in the United States, he
> was the first American to challenge the Europeans in the 24 Hours of Le
> Mans in 1950.
> In 1950 he established an automobile manufacturing and development
> company to build his own cars to compete with the Europeans. The first
> Cunningham C-1 was designed around a Cadillac engine. His most
> successful sports car was the C-4R, which won multiple races in the 1953
> and 1954 U.S. racing seasons. Cunningham's winning designs helped
> establish American automobiles as credible Le Mans competitors and won
> the respect of European and American racing enthusiasts. He also
> established the American racing colors: white body with blue strips down
> the middle.
> In addition to his status as the first American to race in Le Mans,
> Cunningham also set the course for American leadership in the America's
> Cup yacht racing challenge. In 1958, after a 21-year hiatus of the
> event, he won the race in the syndicate's 12 meter yacht, "Columbia "
> which established a winning tradition for American yachts that would
> last until 1983, He also played a part in the development of the
> Chrysler Hemi "300" high-speed engine and all fin- and water-cooled
> brakes in the 1950s.
> After retiring from racing, Cunningham and his wife Laura opened the
> Cunningham Automotive Museum in Costa Mesa, California, to display his
> personal collection of automobiles. The museum closed in 1985; the
> collection of cars was sold to Cunningham's lifelong friend, Miles
> Collier Jr., who keeps the collection in a private museum in Florida.
> With Miles Collier Sr. , he formed the Automobile Racing Club of
> American (ARCA) in 1934. Cunningham was also a founding member of the
> Sports Car Club of America, and he was member number one ( the oldest
> member ) of the New York Yacht Club.
> Cunningham also received accolades and numerous awards in automotive car
> racing and sailing circles
> He was noted for his philanthropic work including, Hills school for Boys
> Pottsdown, PA, Mystic Seaport, CT among many. Cunningham was born Jan.
> 19, 1907 to wealthy Cincinnati financier Briggs Swift Cunningham and his
> wife Elizabeth Kilgour in Cincinnati, Ohio. The senior Cunningham was
> the principal financier and part-owner in the ventures of two young
> partners who developed a bath soap that floats: William Cooper Proctor
> and James Norris Gamble. Proctor was the Godfather of Briggs Cunningham
> II.
> He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Laura (nee Cramer) of Las Vegas,
> son
> Briggs S. Cunningham III of Danville, Ky., daughters Lucie McKinney of
> Green
> farms, Conn., and Cythlen Maddock of Palm Beach, Fla., and step-sons
> Bill
> Elmer and Joe Elmer, and 19 grandchildren. 31 Great grandchildren
> Services will be Aug 8th 2:30 pm @ Pacific View Cemetery, 3500 Pacific
> View Dr, Corona Del Mar, CA In lieu of flower's send to donations to
> Alzheimer's Association.
>
>
>
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