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C-3 Vignale Continental Cabriolet
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  Cunningham C-3 Vignale Continental Cabriolet      

  Article Image gallery (13) Chassis (2) Specifications  
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Country of origin:United States
Produced from:1953 - 1954
Numbers built:5
Introduced at:1952 Geneva Motor Show
Price new:$14,000
Designed by:Vignale
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:October 13, 2015
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Click here to download printer friendly versionCompleted late in 1951, the first C-3 was fitted with a body built in-house in the Palm Beach factory. This was effectively a coupe version of the competition cars and Cunningham realised, the potential customers would demand something altogether more sophisticated. His small staff did not have the skills or the time to create 'haute couture', so Cunningham looked elsewhere. He eventually settled on Vignale of Turin, Italy.

Run by Alfredo Vignale, the popular carrozzeria also supplied bodies to the likes of Ferrari at the time. Responsible for most of the designs was Giovanni Michelotti, who worked for Vignale as an independent consultant. For the Cunningham C-3, the 1952 Coupe style was chosen, which had relatively understated lines with a prominent oval grille and an abundance of chrome trim. Quite a few of the C-3s were finished with elaborate three-tone paintwork.

Although cheaper to produce than locally built bodies, shipping the chassis to and from Italy for the coachwork to be fitted was still an expensive and time consuming process. As a result, the C-3 had a sticker price of around $10,000, while a properly equipped example cost in excess of $13,000. That was three to four times as much as a Jaguar XK120 and made it the day's most expensive road car built in America but, with a top speed of 140 mph, also the fastest.

Strictly created to ensure Cunningham qualified as a manufacturer, the C-3 never had the full attention and as a result far fewer were ever sold than the car deserved. Although each C-3 paid for itself, the racing team lost so much money on a yearly basis that the tax-man eventually stepped in declared the whole enterprise as a hobby. This meant Cunningham could no longer deduct his expenses, which prompted him to shut the factory down.

It is believed that ultimately only 27 or as little as 20 were produced between 1952 and 1955. Four of these were fitted by Vignale with Cabriolet bodies. Almost all of these are still accounted for today and they are welcome guests at prestigious events the world over. Although created purely as a necessity to go racing, the Cunningham C-3 was the first of an impressive line of Italo-American sports cars.

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  Article Image gallery (13) Chassis (2) Specifications