1925 Cunningham Series V-6 Phaeton

1925 Cunningham Series V-6 Phaeton

The Cunningham automobile (not connected with the Cunningham Steam Wagon or Briggs Cunningham's cars) was a pioneering American production automobile, one of the earliest vehicles in the advent of the automotive age. It was produced from 1896 to 1931 in Rochester, New York by James Cunningham, Son and Company.

Foreseeing the necessity to switch to the production of horseless carriages, Cunningham started automobile production in 1908 with gasoline engine cars that sold at approximately $3,500, a very high price at the time. Initially the company made only the chassis. They assembled each car to individual customer requirements, using components from other manufacturers. Engines came from Buffalo or Continental. Cunningham also sold electric cars based on their experimental vehicle from the 1890s. By 1910, the company was producing all its parts and selling its cars in the range of $4,500 to $5,000.

The Series V-6 was offered in two models, the 132" wheelbase 91-A and the 142" wheelbase 82-A, a curious situation where the larger and more expensive model had a lower model designation but one that is in some ways typical of Cunningham's disregard for convention. Both were powered by Volney Lacey's 442 cubic inch side valve V-8 with cast iron blocks and aluminum 3-bearing crankcase. Still rated 45hp by the increasingly outmoded NACC formula, Cunningham in 1923 would announce the engine's power on the engine brake, 90 horsepower. With a 5" stroke and 442 cubic inches its torque was prodigious, and by 1925 it had been improved with an inherently balanced crankshaft.

Also new for 1922 was the change to a four-speed transmission, still supplied by Brown-Lipe as was the multi-disc dry clutch. Cunningham still relied on Timken-Detroit spiral bevel drive full floating rear axles, rugged and proven not only in Cunningham automobiles but also in its successful line of hearses and professional vehicles. Both centerlock wire and demountable rim wood spoke wheels were offered. "Theft locks" became standard equipment but braking was still only on the rear wheels.

Cunningham continued to build its own bodies but, by 1925, they had replaced their prior round shouldered radiator shell with one that was sharp-edged, as seen on this stunning example of the Cunningham Phaeton.

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