Briggs Cunningham Vehicles : Historic Car Collection Sold--Museum Closed

Moving quickly and with no fanfare, auto racing enthusiast Briggs Cunningham has sold his large collection of historic automobiles and permanently closed his automotive museum in Costa Mesa.

The purchase price of the 71-car collection was not announced, but its size is indicated by the collection’s most valuable car--a 1927 Bugatti Royale. Only six were built, and recently one was reported sold for more than $8 million.

The buyer of the Cunningham collection was identified as Miles C. Collier, a collector in Palm Beach, Fla., and a family friend. A joint press release issued after the sale Wednesday stated that the cars would be moved to an automotive museum that Collier is building in Naples, Fla.

A spokesman for Collier said he would not be available for comment.

“It was a very sad day for me,” Cunningham said, “but I like to see (the collection) in a good place and kept together. I like to see somebody I know get it who’s not going to sell it.”

Started Collection in 1929

Cunningham, who will be 80 this month, is an heir to the Swift meatpacking and Procter & Gamble Co. fortunes. He began his auto collection in 1929 and later moved it from his estate in Connecticut to a building at 250 E. Baker St.

The museum opened there in 1966 and continues to be the only place in Costa Mesa listed in the American Automobile Assn. tour books under “What to See.”

Since its opening, attendance has been small by tourist-attraction standards--between 15,000 and 18,000 a year, according to museum office manager Joyce Cox.

The reason, according to John Gunnell, editor of Old Cars Weekly, is the Cunningham museum appeals to the automotive aficionado, not the general public.

“It’s probably in the top five outstanding collections in the country,” Gunnell said. “It’s more of a purist car museum for the enthusiast than one that shows movie-star glamour cars. . . . This museum and the Hall of Fame Museum at the Indianapolis Speedway are the two top car-nut car museums in the country.”

‘Industry Pacesetters’

John Burgess, the museum’s only curator, retired in October. He said the collection concentrates on the “industry pacesetters,” cars that made breakthroughs or set trends aesthetically or technically.

He said a car such as the museum’s 1913 Peugeot Grand Prix, which placed second in the 1914 Indianapolis 500 powered by an engine smaller than a Model A Ford’s, is a delight for a car enthusiast.

He said it was so technically advanced that it used double overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, features being touted now as the latest in automotive design.

“Museums don’t make money, and Mr. Cunningham is now 80 years old,” Burgess said. “He can’t keep it forever. It was quite a large deficit he had to make up every year.

“We decided to sell this year because of the rise in the capital gains tax next year,” Cunningham said. “If anything happens to me, (the collection) goes to my wife, and she doesn’t want to be bothered by it.”