One-Owner Hemi.(Escape Roads)

Byline: LEIGH DORRINGTON

Briggs Swift Cunningham was an American sportsman who from 1950 to 1955 committed himself to winning Le Mans with American drivers in an American car. He nearly did so, placing his cars in the top-five each year from 1952 to 1954.

Cunningham defended the America's Cup with the yacht Columbia in 1958. He became a Jaguar and Maserati distributor, and raced until he was 58 years old, while his team traveled in well-equipped transporters that set a new standard for race support.

Cunningham entered two Cadillacs at Le Mans in 1950, one a nearly stock Coupe de Ville, the other extensively modified by Grumman, with an aerodynamic body. French fans nicknamed it Le Monstre. In 1951 Cunningham returned to France with a team of three C2Rs powered by Chrysler's new Hemi.

Cunningham had gone to school with the son of Chrysler president K.T. Keller and so was able to buy the new engine before its public introduction. The 331-cid Hemi made 180 hp. The Cunningham-modified Hemi was rated at 220 hp, with four Zenith carburetors mounted on a Cunningham-built log manifold. It would need every bit.

The C2R, based on a massive tubular frame with a de Dion rear axle, was bulky and overweight against its European rivals. It had drum brakes, with the rear brakes mounted inboard on the differential. Front brakes featured novel copper cooling fins, but those brakes were perpetually weak.

Two C2Rs were eliminated by accidents in 1951 while the third-driven by John Fitch and Phil Walters-ran second until the 18th hour, at which point engine problems slowed the car. After Le Mans the three C2Rs were modified at Cunningham's West Palm Beach shop then sold through International Motors in Los Angeles. One car was destroyed in 1954; the other two have passed through several owners.