Briggs S. Cunningham and the 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Briggs S. Cunningham and the 24 Hours of Le Mans

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Created on May 17, 2013

Text:

Martin Schröder

Photos:

The Collier Collection

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Dunlop

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Bruno von Rotz

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Martin Schröder

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Daimler AG

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Archiv

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' in the pit lane of Le Mans 1950 - on the right with number 3 the Cadillac Coupe de Ville 'Clumsy Pup' driven by the brothers Miles and Sam Collier (Clumsy Pup was called 'Petit Pataud' in France)

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - Briggs Cunningham makes his way to the Le Mans race track in the Le Monstre. A typical photo of France in the 1950s

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' on the start/finish straight

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' on the Dunlop approach

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' on the Dunlop approach (detail)

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - This picture of 'Le Monstre' was taken before the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1950

Bild von Partner Porsche AMAG Mai Foto-Galerie 2026

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - Rare documents are the hand-drawn sketches for the Cadillac Le Mans Roadster by Harold Weinmann, whose main job was as an aircraft designer at Grumman Aerospace Corporation.

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - Hand sketch of 'Le Monstre'

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - The Cadillac 5.4-liter V8 engine with two Holley twin carburetors per cylinder bank and a centrally located Carter carburetor. Only the central carburetor was actuated via a mechanical linkage in the partial load range, and all five in the full throttle range.

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' in the pit lane of Le Mans 1950 - on the left with number 3 the Cadillac Coupe de Ville 'Clumsy Pup' driven by Miles and Sam Collier

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Cadillac Coupe de Ville (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - The Cunningham team 1950 standing from left Sam and Miles Collier, Bill Spear, unknown mechanics, far right Smith Hempstone Oliver / kneeling Phil Walters, Briggs Cuinningham and Alec Ulmann.

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Cadillac Coupe de Ville (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - Miles Collier and Sam Collier drove this Cadillac with surprising success - the vehicle was wrongly nicknamed 'Clumsy Pup' ('Petit Pataud') before the race.

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - June 25, 1950, 16.15h Le Monstre crosses the finish line in 11th place, 24 laps or 324 km behind the overall winner Rosier/Rosier on Talbot Lago T26GS.

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) at Le Mans 1950 - Rendezvous with history: On July 7, 2012 at Le Mans Classic, Le Monstre crosses the same finish line, this time driven by Scott George, curator of the Collier Collection.

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Le Mans 1952 - In the foreground, the double winners with Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. Second place with starting number 20 (Theo Helfrich + Helmut Niedermayr), starting number 21 (winner Hermann Lang + Fritz Riess

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The start of Le Mans 1952 (still from the movie Le Mans 1952)

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Cunningham C4-RK Coupe (1952) at Le Mans 1952 - Phil Walters in the Cunningham C4-RK in the coupe designed by the German aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm (Kamm-Heck).

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Cunningham C5-R (1953) at Le Mans 1953 - The start of the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans - John Fitch and Phil Walters drove the number 2 Cunningham C5-R and finished third after the two Jaguar C-Types.

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Cunningham C5-R (1953) at Le Mans 1953 - Le Mans 1953, Phil Walters in the Cunningham C5-R

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Cunningham C5-R (1953) at Le Mans 1953 - Le Mans 1953, the race track led in part directly past fans who spent the night at the track in tents.

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Cunningham C5-R (1953) at Le Mans 1953 - Atmospheric picture of the Cunningham C5-R (right) in battle with Talbot-Lago T26 GS (#6, eliminated) and Gordini T24S (#35, 6th place)

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Cunningham C5-R (1953) at Le Mans 1953 - refueling at night - the pit lane was poorly lit at the time.

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Cunningham C5-R (1953) at Le Mans 1953 - Refueling at night - the pit lane was poorly lit at the time.

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Cunningham C5-R (1953) at Le Mans 1953 - test laps on an airfield

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Briggs Cunningham at Le Mans 1952 (still from the official film about Le Mans 1952)

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Le Mans Classic 2012 - Cunningham Cadillac Spider "Le Monstre" from 1950 won the Prix d'Excellence

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Still from the movie Le Mans 1952 - Cunningham

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Cunningham C4-RK Coupe (1952) - A photo of the C4-R comb at the defunct Cunningham Museum in Costa Mesa.

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Cunningham C4-RK Coupe (1952) - C4-RK in the Collier Museum

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Cunningham C4-RK Coupe (1952) - The quote next to the C4-RK in the Collier Museum

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Cover of the book 'Cunningham - The Life and Cars of Briggs Swift Cunningham'

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Cover of the book 'Wegbereiter der modernen Kraftfahrtechnik' by Wunibald I.E. Kamm

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Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Briggs Cunningham macht sich im Le Monstre auf den Weg zur Rennstrecke von Le Mans. Ein typisches Foto von Frankreich der 50er Jahre

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' auf der Start/Ziel-Geraden

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' bei der Anfahrt Dunlop

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' bei der Anfahrt Dunlop (Ausschnitt)

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Diese Aufnahme von 'Le Monstre' wurde vor dem 24 Stunden Rennen von Le Mans 1950 aufgenommen

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Seltene Dokumente sind die Handskizzen für den Cadillac Le Mans Roadster von Harold Weinmann, im Hauptberuf als Flugzeug-Designer bei Grumman Aerospace Corporation tätig.

Summary

When René Bonnet called his streamlined coupé the Bonnet 'Aerodjet' in 1962, he justified the unusual spelling 'Djet' with the fear that his compatriots would otherwise not be able to pronounce the spelling 'Jet' correctly. Briggs Cunningham may have felt the same way in 1950 when he brought his 'Le Mans Roadster', registered as a Cadillac, to France. However, it is more likely that the explanation for this nickname, which has since become a term, is that "Le Monstre" was a spontaneous reaction and an example of Gallic mockery to a body never before seen at Le Mans.

This article contains the following chapters

Briggs - not just a car designer, racing driver and team boss
Sam and Miles Collier
Two Cadillacs for Le Mans 1950
Cadillac 61 Coupé and Cadillac 'Le Mans Roadster'
Road & Track, October 1950 - Sam Collier's report
All good things come in threes - the three disasters
Les 24 Heures du Mans 1950 successfully completed
From "Operation Paperclip" to the Cunningham C4-RK
The long tail in vogue
From long tail to comb tail
Wunibald Kamm meets Briggs Cunningham
Tire pressure that can be changed during the race
Le Mans 1952 with Kamm rear end
Course of the 1952 Le Mans race
Le Mans 1952 - Conclusion
Chronicle of the streamlined coupés
Technical data C4-RK
The Collier Collection
References

Estimated reading time: 29min

Preview (beginning of the article)

When René Bonnet called his streamlined coupé the Bonnet 'Aerodjet' in 1962, he justified the unusual spelling 'Djet' with the fear that his compatriots would otherwise not be able to pronounce the spelling 'Jet' correctly. Briggs Cunningham may have felt the same way in 1950 when he brought his 'Le Mans Roadster', registered as a Cadillac, to France. However, it is more likely that the explanation for this nickname, which has since become a term, is that "Le Monstre" was a spontaneous reaction and an example of Gallic mockery to a body never before seen at Le Mans. Briggs Swift Cunningham, *1907 †2003, son of a wealthy family, university dropout like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs after him, loved speed, whether on water or on land. Cunningham was a successful ocean sailor before and alongside his automotive career. In 1958, he won the America's Cup with the racing yacht Colombia. He designed the Cunningham stretcher named after him, a trimming device for sails.

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Images of this article

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Briggs Cunningham macht sich im Le Monstre auf den Weg zur Rennstrecke von Le Mans. Ein typisches Foto von Frankreich der 50er Jahre

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' auf der Start/Ziel-Geraden

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' bei der Anfahrt Dunlop

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Le Mans 1950 - 'Le Monstre' bei der Anfahrt Dunlop (Ausschnitt)

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Diese Aufnahme von 'Le Monstre' wurde vor dem 24 Stunden Rennen von Le Mans 1950 aufgenommen

Cadillac Spider 'Le Monstre' (1950) in Le Mans 1950 – Seltene Dokumente sind die Handskizzen für den Cadillac Le Mans Roadster von Harold Weinmann, im Hauptberuf als Flugzeug-Designer bei Grumman Aerospace Corporation tätig.

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