CHASSIS
Unique to the C4R, and central to its success, is its
chassis. Phil Walters and Briggs Weaver, who were most responsible for
the development of the C4Rs, devised a chassis element that would never
be improved upon. Probably the high point of non-space frame design, the
chassis frame rails of the C4R are distinctly superior to ladder frame
cars built decades later, but they would ultimately prove to be too expensive
to produce in volume.
Unlike their competitors (who used open or closed box
section, or large diameter round or oval mono-tube frame rails during this
period and for years to come) the Cunningham practice employed two tubes
set above one another with side plates welded between them. By varying
the distances between the tubes, load paths could be controlled, The resulting
assembly was, and is, far stronger than any other ladder frame. The torsional
rigidity of this approach would not be exceeded until the advent of space
frames a few years later. And even though ladder or frame rail chassis
are still being built today, no current rail design is as strong as the
C4R!.
The Cunningham Company 438 Lime Rock Road Lime Rock CT 06039 (888) 733-3687
(860) 435-6430 Fax - (860) 435-6429 e-mail edwardh@ct1.nai.net
Photographs of The Cunningham C4R, Denise McCluggage, Lawrence Black,
B.S. Levy, John Fitch & Phil Walters taken at Lime Rock Park &
on the streets of Watkins Glen ©1997 AUTOPHOTOS - Ed Hyman
©AutoPhotos 1997, Ed Hyman Consulting web
site or edwardh@ct1.nai.net
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