Briggs Swift Cunningham II was an American entrepreneur and sportsman (unrelated to the James Cunningham Son and Co which previously made cars with the Cunningham name). Mr. Cunningham began racing internationally in 1930 and took part in the first ever Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) race. He was described as one of the most successful drivers in SCCA sports car racing at the time. To prepare for an attempt at Le Mans, Cunningham bought the Frick-Tappet Motors company and renamed it the "B.S. Cunningham Company". The company would go on to make multiple race cars and some low-volume production models purely to meet homologation requirements.