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Chassis:
Shortly after taking delivery, Briggs Cunningham entered this Corvette in the 1960 Sebring 12 Hours. It was driven by Dick Thompson and Fred Windridge but failed to reach the finish due to an engine failure. Having benefited from the full competition upgrades, it was then entered at Le Mans as the #1 car for Cunningham himself and Bill Kimberley. The latter crashed out after just two hours in a heavy rainstorm. The Le Mans specification engine was removed and the car was fully repaired before it was sold on to Bill Frick together with the other two cars. It then passed to SCCA racer Marshall 'Perry' Bosswell Jr., still without an engine. He extensively modified the car, fitting single headlights and a Zagato-style grille. Bosswell sold the car in 1966 and it then changed hands several times before it was acquired by Dan Mathis in 1974. It was then placed in storage and it would not be seen for nearly four decades.
In 2011, a 'pre-production, Zagato-bodied, Pontiac Prototype' was offered for sale by Rick Carr from his father's estate in Tampa, Florida. Judging by the low price he asked for the car, Carr was obviously not aware of the true origins of the now maroon-coloured machine he was offering. Additional research led him to Cunningham historian Larry Berman, who discovered several components unique to the Cunningham cars. These included the 37-gallon fuel tank, additional mounting points for the oil cooler and the hole in the scuttle for the single windscreen wiper. Underneath several layers of paint, the Le Mans colours were also discovered. Crucially, the chassis number was also a match for the missing #1 car.
As the same time as the car's true identity was discovered, there also was a debate over the actual ownership of the car. The son of Dan Mathis claimed the car had been stolen from his father back in 1974. After nearly a decade, the dispute was finally settled and the car was consigned as found to the 2021 RM Sotheby's Amelia Island sale. In lieu of the Le Mans engine, the ex-Cunningham Corvette is currently fitted with a 1970-specification Chevrolet 350 V8.
| Chassis details |
| Manufactured in |
1960 |
| First owner |
Briggs S. Cunningham |
| Most recent auction(s) |
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