Brooklin Cunningham C-3 - a Code 3 model based on BRK 128

Way back in March, at the Countryside Show, Dale Dannefer told me of his plan to issue the BRK 128 Cunningham C-3 in various authentic configurations, beginning with Briggs's own C-3 coupe. I told him "I'm in!"  Two months later I had the model, but it took until late last week for the accompanying info card to arrive. Mine is No. 10 of 25. It represents the black car used by two generations of the Cunningham family over 61 years.

Hemmings says there were 20 coupes and 5 cabrios, other sources say 27 in all (including Dale's card), and I also read somewhere that there was only one cabrio. My Cunningham book by Dean Batchelor and Albert Bochroch isn't clear either, at one spot saying there were "less than 30" and in another a quote from Briggs saying "about 30 passenger cars, of which four were convertibles." In the book price info varies too, stating first that it was $9,000 for the coupe and $10,000 for the convertible, then on a facing page saying it was $10K for the coupe and $12K for the convertible. Either way, quite pricey in the early 1950s. Chassis were built in Cunningham's West Palm Beach facility, then shipped to Vignale in Italy where the body, designed by Giovanni Michelotti, was fitted. Finished cars were shipped out of Genoa back to West Palm.

In 2017 Hemmings reported on the Sotheby's auction of real car No. 5223. There was trouble with the semi-auto Cadillac transmission, so it was replaced with a PowerFlite tranny. It also differs from other C-3s in that it has a single 4-barrel carb to enhance driveabilty for daily use. It's the only C-3 with power windows, and there is a Bendix power booster for the brakes. Briggs's daughter Lucie had the car repainted in the same black it bore originally, and had the interior reupholstered. The Sotheby's auction resulted in a $1M sale.

Dale's next car may be this one, that I saw in a historic race in Chattanooga in 2021. It will be a challenge:

I have one other C-3, refinished as the Bob Lutz car by John Roberts. I hope Dale doesn't do this one anytime soon!

Quite a coincidence that Rich posted pics of the Automodello C-3 cabrio (issued in 2014) just as I was preparing this post. It must be Cunningham day at the Forum!