The Cunningham C7 was a concept car first shown at the 2001

Detroit Motor Show The Detroit Auto Show, formerly known as the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan. Hosted at Huntington Place (formerly Cobo Center) since 1965, it is among the largest auto shows in ...

. The C7 was a

grand tourer A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving with performance and luxury. The most common format is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with ...

designed as a modern interpretation of the Cunningham C-4R from the 1950s.

Description

In 1999, a partnership was formed between former

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

chairman Bob Lutz and Briggs Cunningham III (son of Briggs Cunningham II), with the intention of reviving the B.S. Cunningham Company. Designed by Stewart Reed, the C7 was revealed at the 2001 Detroit Motor Show, with styling reminiscent of the 1952 Cunningham C4-R race car. The C7 was planned to use a 6.8 litre, 600 horsepower, V12 engine from

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

, also featuring

carbon fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

bodywork and all wheel drive. Production plans included manufacturing 500-600 cars per year, priced at $250,000, with production handled by Roush Industries. Internal conflict within the company, including a lawsuit filed by Cunningham against Lutz and General Motors bought the project to a halt and the C7 was not produced. The

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...

concept model is currently owned by

Jack Roush Jack Roush (born Jackson Earnest Roush on April 19, 1942) is the founder, CEO, and co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, a NASCAR team headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, and is chairman of Roush Enterprises. Roush Enterprises is the ...

as part of his private collection.

References

{{Reference list Cars of the United States Retro-style automobiles Concept cars 2000s cars