1960 Chevrolet Corvette C1

Asking | $1, 750, 000 USD Proudly offered from the Cunningham family One of three Corvettes entered in the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Corvette model’s debut at the world’s most legendary race Driven by Briggs Cunningham and Bill Kimberly in the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans, campaigned under race livery #1 Competed at the 1960 12 Hours of Sebring and used in testing prior to Le Mans Meticulously restored to its 1960 configuration at the 24 Hours of Le Mans by noted marque expert Kevin Mackay, completed in 2023 Unveiled at the 2023 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance alongside Le Mans Cunningham Corvettes #2 and #3 Three-time cover car, twice with feature story in the NCRS Corvette Restorer magazine America’s Sports Car, linking two legends of motorsport: Zora Arkus-Duntov and Briggs Cunningham Briggs Swift Cunningham II, an American sportsman, inherited a significant fortune from his father, a successful businessman noted for having founded and run Citizens National Bank in addition to financing Procter & Gamble. While unable to access full control of his inheritance until age 40, Cunningham wasted no time making a name for himself in racing behind the wheel, with success in early SCCA events. In 1950 Cunningham privately entered a pair of Cadillacs in the 24 Hours of Le Mans: A Series 61 Coupe nicknamed “Petit Pataud” and a custom-bodied Series 61 Spyder nicknamed “Le Monstre.” The cars would finish 10th and 11th overall. Despite finishing the race, the effort proved the need for a purpose-built racecar to be truly competitive with the best that Europe had to offer. In September 1950, Briggs formed B. S. Cunningham in Palm Beach, Florida. The company would produce hand-built cars to compete directly with the likes of Ferrari on the world’s biggest stage, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Cunningham would field his own cars with American drivers at Le Mans in 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, and 1955. While 1951 saw each Cunningham entry DNF, the team would finish 4th overall and win their class in 1952 with Briggs Cunningham and William “Bill” Spear behind the wheel of a C-4R. The success would continue for Cunningham’s upstart marque with 3rd overall finishes and class wins in both 1953 and 1954. The marque’s final entry at Le Mans came in 1955, with a C6-R raced by Cunningham himself as well as Sherwood Johnston. They completed 196 laps when, in hour 19, a piston failure ended their race. Despite the successes in racing, Cunningham road car production never reached a point to cover expenses, leading Briggs Cunningham to fold his namesake car company at the end of 1955. This would not be the end, however, of Cunningham’s quest to win Le Mans. AN ALL-AMERICAN EFFORT AT LE MANS By the mid-1950s Zora Arkus-Duntov, with the help of Corvette designer and creator Harley Earl, had managed to convince the powers at General Motors to develop a purpose-built factory racecar. With eyes set on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Arkus-Duntov and a small team developed the 1957 Chevrolet Corvette SS. Sadly, the SS would only compete in that year’s 12 Hours of Sebring; the project was shelved in June of 1957 following the Automobile Manufacturers Association (AMA) racing ban. Despite the ban, Arkus-Duntov continued to support teams racing the Corvette behind the scenes. Having witnessed the progression and successes of Cummingham and his team at Le Mans in the 1950s, Arkus-Duntov approached Briggs Cunningham in the fall of 1959 with a pitch: Cunningham would return to Le Mans and manage a team of Corvettes, which would be supported by the factory on strictly unofficial terms. An agreement was made with Cunningham on 7 January 1960, and later that same month Arkus-Duntov’s team began building racing engines for the Cunningham effort. It was important that Chevrolet’s involvement was not made public, as the company was still overtly adhering to the AMA ban. The project thus began with the Corvettes for Le Mans being acquired via a dealer, rather than direct from the factory. On 16 March 1960, three Corvettes were purchased by Cunningham’s New York-based Jaguar distributor on Long Island from Don Allen Midtown Chevrolet in New York City—proudly advertised in period as “The Largest Corvette Dealer.” To the untrained eye each appeared to be a normal Corvette; however, these special-order examples each featured a temperature-controlled radiator ***, quick-ratio steering, a close-ratio four-speed manual transmission, a Posi-Traction limited-slip differential, heavy-duty suspension, heavy-duty sintered-metallic brake linings, and heavy-duty brakes. The three cars were further modified by Cunningham’s friend and race team manager, Alfred Momo. It was at The Momo Corporation in Woodside, New York, a neighborhood of Queens, that Momo’s crew installed a set of Halibrand magnesium wheels with Firestone racing tires, added an additional front sway bar, Koni competition shock absorbers, a high-capacity fuel tank with a center-mounted Halibrand quick release fuel cap...