Briggs Cunningham

[George Roffe]

Briggs Cunningham
(Filed: 05/07/2003)

Briggs Cunningham, who died on Wednesday aged 95,
epitomised the millionaire American sportsman: he was
a victorious America's Cup skipper and a respected
motor racing personality, having competed as a driver,
owner and manufacturer between 1939 and 1965.

The first American manufacturer after the war to
compete seriously in the classic Le Mans 24-Hours
endurance race, Cunningham always arrived lavishly
equipped and accompanied by a team made up of
similarly gentlemanly East Coast drivers as well as
experienced professionals; they had cars built around
Cadillac or Chrysler V8 engines, plus an enormous team
transporter, fitted out with every luxury.

Cunningham's passion for quality cars and engineering
was matched by his interest in sailing and yacht
racing. In 1958 he skippered the American 12-metre
yacht Columbia to demolish the British challenger,
Sceptre, in the America's Cup. His first wife Lucie
recalled how, during practice, the Vanderbilt launch
drew alongside Columbia. On board the launch were the
New York Yacht Club's former president Harold
Vanderbilt and his formidable wife Gertrude: "She
picked up a megaphone and called, 'Mrs Cunningham,
will you please see that your crew is properly
attired!' " Shorts, in 1958, were not acceptable.

As an experienced and capable endurance racing driver,
Briggs Cunningham competed internationally from 1950,
finally retiring in 1965, at the age of 58. As late as
1964 he had won his class in the Sebring 12-hour race,
driving a Porsche 904; but his personal best as a
driver was fourth overall at Le Mans in 1952, when his
co-driver Bill Spear was unwell and Cunningham drove
20 of the 24 hours without relief. His Cunningham team
cars won the Sebring classic in 1953, and his Italian
OSCA won there again in 1954, co-driven by Stirling
Moss. His team later campaigned Jaguar, Lister-Jaguar,
and Maserati GT and sports-racing cars.

Of Scottish extraction, Briggs Swift Cunningham Jr was
born at Cincinnati, Ohio, on October 9 1907. His
father was founder and president of the Citizens'
National Bank, and a director of the Pennsylvania
Railroad. When young Briggs was only five, his father
died aged 73, leaving his son and daughter half of his
estate, although they did not inherit the principal
until they reached 40.

Cunningham was educated at Groton, the Hill School,
Pottstown, and then Yale, where he studied Engineering
and Technical Drawing and captained the football team.
In 1930 he married Lucie Bedford, the grand-daughter
of a co-founder of Standard Oil. On honeymoon in
Europe they attended regattas and Cunningham saw his
first motor race, the 1930 Monaco Grand Prix. For the
next 32 years the couple lived on Long Island Sound.

Cunningham sailed competitively at Cowes Week, but in
1941 he was rejected by the US Navy due to an
asthmatic condition and because of his age. He
therefore joined the Civil Air Patrol, flying aircraft
he bought himself. "I was lucky," he said, "because I
could stay at our home in Palm Beach when we patrolled
the coastline down there."

After marrying his second wife, Laura Cramer Elmer,
Cunningham moved to Rancho Santa Fe, California. Laura
survives him, with a son and two daughters from his
first marriage, and by two step-sons.
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