1953 Cunningham C3 Vignale

VIN: 5211

$610,000

Sold

1953 Cunningham C3 Vignale

Seller details

Vehicle specs

  • Chassis/VIN

    5211

  • Body style

    Coupe

  • Odometer

    80 m

  • Engine Type

    V8

  • Horsepower

    310

  • Induction

    4x2bbl

  • Interior Color

    Red

  • Exterior Color

    Light Yellow

Vehicle details

Notes and observations recorded by Hagerty staff.

Equipment

331/310hp, column shift 3-speed manual, wire wheels, BFG Silvertown tires, woodrim steering wheel, original radio.

Condition

#2 Excellent

Could win a regional car show. Drives like new.

About Hagerty’s condition ratingsClose

From the Gateway Automobile Museum Collection. Several large paint cracks on the right front but the finish looks good aside from that. Good chrome. Very good, very lightly worn interior. An important, rare American sports car restored a while ago and lightly used.

Market commentary

The catalog credits Bill Burden for specifying this car from inception with high compression heads, polished connecting rods and the 4-carb log manifold, but Bill Burden’s history of specifying and commissioning highly specialized, unique, fast road cars stretches back to the Thirties. Seeing Bill Burden as an original owner is a guarantee that the car he bought is not just expensive, it also is blindingly fast for its day. Having put that on the record, this Cunningham sold for $374,000 at RM Monterey in 2006, then $341,000 at Gooding Pebble Beach in 2012. Its odometer showed 65 miles in 2012 and only 80 miles today but it still remains in nearly spectacularly great condition even two decades after it was restored for Jerry Sauls. It is hard to separate the history from the price it brought today, but this is a whopping great increment for a car that got the attention it deserved both in the Gateway Automobile Museum collection and in Broad Arrow’s catalog. As expensive as it is, the new owner can honor its history and specifications while being comfortable with the price.

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