Born: 1838 Nationality: AmericanAlthough its first car wasn't built until 1908, the genesis of the Cunningham brand is set firmly seventy years before that when craftsman James Cunningham established his own coach and carriage company.
The products of his factory in Rochester, New York, were of exceptionally high quality, and were, in style, copies of carriages designed in Paris. Thus the types - Landau, Phaeton, Victoria, Caleche, Break - reflected Europe, and were to be used in the descriptions of many early automobiles.
The handcrafted skills nurtured by James Cunningham in his workforce were also to be key to the quality of the automobiles which his successors would build.
In 1896, the managing director of the company was Augustine Cunningham, a grandson of the founder, and he proposed the idea of building bodies for the young Duryea automobile manufacturer. That endeavour was stillborn, but in 1900 Cunningham developed a number of experimental electric-powered buggies.
Augustine Cunningham eventually plumped for gasoline engines, and in 1908 he had built a car which could take him reliably from Rochester to New York, a distance of 370 miles, that took four days to complete on the very poor roads of the time.
The company had an established wealthy customer base willing to pay premium prices and they were well targeted. So the Cunninghams at the end of the first decade of the 20th century were among the most expensive being sold.
Cunningham cars came in a variety of styles, often built to individual order. Typical of the early models was a 1911 roadster, with a four-cylinder engine and displaying the beginnings of good clean design that was to characterise Cunninghams. This was followed by a variety of roadsters and touring cars, and a touring car with victoria top of 1920 was typical of the upper-end Cunninghams.
Only the best of materials were used. Where other makers used wooden running boards, those in Cunninghams were aluminium and brass.
A V8 engine developed in 1916 became a mainstay power unit, and the Cunningham was widely considered to be at least the equal of a European Rolls Royce, with all production geared to the luxury market. In 1919, a new speed record set by racing driver Ralph de Palma in a Cunningham roadster led to a significant boost in sales for the brand, and later to the production of a special model, the de Palma Speedster of 1922.
The 'Roaring Twenties', with many people making fortunes in oil and movies, also stimulated sales, at top dollar. Every car was still produced by hand, and therefore in small numbers, which gave the brand a rarity value too.
During the Great Depression the requirements of Cunningham's customers changed rather suddenly.
Then unfashionable to display wealth ostentatiously, the old-fashioned manufacturing processes used by the company couldn't cope with mass production of 'ordinary' cars.
In 1931 it had ceased building its own cars, and after a spell of building custom bodies for other manufacturers, including Ford, it exited the automobile business entirely in 1936. Cunningham built aeroplanes between 1928 and 1938. After WW II it developed a number of telecommunications switching systems and concentrated on that new business.
Best Car: Any individual Cunningham could be, but the 1929 Roadster is a beautiful classic.
Worst Car: Nobody ever complained.
Weirdest Car: Never conceived.