1950 Cadillac Series 61 “Le Monstre”
Country of Origin: USA
Design Info: Starting in 1948, the Cadillac Series 61 was an attractive coupe or sedan built on the larger Series 62 platform. The body featured shapely flowing lines, fins inspired by the Lockheed P-38 fighter, massive chrome bumpers and a stylish egg crate grille. “Le Monstre” threw all of that away, however, the entire body replaced with an aerodynamically slippery and lighter weight open-topped aluminum body designed by Grumman Aircraft (creators of the American “Carrier Cats” fighter planes). “Le Monstre” also featured a Grumman-engineered tubular crash cage to support the body work’s shape and improve safety. Compared to a stock weight of over 4000 lbs, the rebodied car weighed in at a svelte 3705 lbs.
Engine Info: Both of the Cadillacs raced by Cunningham’s team at Le Mans in 1950 featured slightly modified Cadillac 331 series engines, 5.4 liter OHV V8s that were considered some of the most advanced in the world at the time. “Le Monstre”, specifically, featured an unusual five-carburetor setup that was good for about 160 hp.
Type: A two-seat racing car built from a hard top coupe, “Le Monstre” and its sister car raced against more traditional sports-racers of the time, including the Talbot-Lago T26, Aston Martin DB2, Allard J2, Jaguar XK120, and Ferrari 166MM. With their 5.4 liter engines, the Cadillac’s raced in the S8000 class, and their direct competitors were the Allard (running a similar Cadillac engine) and a massive supercharged diesel car built by M.A.P.
History: Fifty long years before Cadillac raced the Northstar V8 powered LMP at Le Mans in 2000 (and 73 since the most recent entry earlier this year), Cadillacs raced at the 24-hour endurance race at the hands of the legendary American builder and driver Briggs S. Cunningham and captured the imagination and admiration of the European audience.
Cunningham had developed an interest in fast cars as a child, in part from riding shotgun in his uncle’s custom Dodge, which had its original powerplant replaced with a Hispano-Suiza aircraft engine. Briggs first began racing in sailboats at age 17, as his mother feared the dangers of auto racing, but in 1930 he began racing cars with the Collier Brothers, Miles and Sam, who would establish the Automobile Racing Club of America in 1933. ARCA would in turn become the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) in 1944. Cunningham would take part in the first ever SCCA event in 1948 at Watkins Glen.
By 1950, Cunningham had become fairly well-established and sought a new challenge: Le Mans. Specifically, he believed a car powered with Cadillac’s new Series 331 V8 could have a significant advantage over the typically less powerful and smaller European powerplants. Cadillac was receptive to the idea, interested in evaluating their design versus international competitors, and agreed to supply the engines. Initially, Cunningham planned to enter a pair of custom cars, built with Ford chassis and the Cadillac engines, which he dubbed the Fordillac. Unfortunately, while at least one of these cars was completed, the officials of the ACO told Cunningham the car would not be legal for competition, as the rules apparently forbade swapping engines.
Instead, Cunningham acquired a pair of Cadillac Series 61 coupes. Unlike engine replacement, there was no rule against extensive modification or even replacement of the car’s body. While one car retained its factory body, the second received a completely new body designed by engineers at Grumman to emphasize focus on aerodynamics and weight reduction.
With obvious panel gaps, flat sides, exposed bolts and no roof, the car looked completely different than its sister car, and rather unattractive compared to most of the sports cars at the event. So different was it, in fact, that Le Mans officials spent hours inspecting the car, looking for any significant chassis modifications that would disqualify the car. They found none, and both cars would be allowed to race.
The cars captured a great deal of attention even before hitting the track. No American cars had raced at Le Mans since 1935 when a single Duesenberg was entered, and now the French people were confronted with a massive American factory coupe which would have been one of the strangest cars there by itself if not for its bizarre, rebodied sister. Fans jokingly named the coupe “Petit Pataud” (Clumsy Puppy) after a children’s story book from the ‘30s, and the custom bodied car became “Le Monstre” (The Monster) for both its ugly body and as a sort of pun on Le Mans. Cunningham caught wind of these nicknames and enjoyed them enough to, at the last minute, paint both on the cars near their American flag logos.
In qualifying, “Le Monstre’s” improvements proved successful, as the car was nearly 15 mph faster down the Mulsanne Straight then “Petit Pataud”, with a top speed of 130mph. Briggs would pilot “Le Monstre” on raceday with co-driver Phil Walters while “Petit Pataud” would be fielded by the Collier Brothers. Across a fairly grueling race which saw just over half the entrants retire from the race, both Cadillacs completed the race: “Petit Pataud” in 10th place, and “Le Monstre” in 11th, one lap behind.
Why had the faster car performed worse? Unfortunately, in only the second lap of the race, Cunningham spun out and landed in a sand bank, damaging the transmission (leaving only the highest gear functional), and beaching the car in the sand, taking an excruciating 15 minutes to dig out by hand. Adding insult to injury, Miles Collier had suggested bringing a shovel onboard for just such an occasion, noting the much lower bodywork as compared to the coupe. Briggs had declined, thinking it unnecessary.
In their small field of the S8000 class, the Cadillacs had achieved 2nd and 3rd place, but their placing at 10th and 11th overall was still very impressive for a pair of two-ton luxury cars, and both spectators and competing drivers lauded the American team on their performance and sportsmanship. Cunningham leveraged his success into buying the company which had helped build the cars, Frick-Tappett Motors, and renamed it to the B. S. Cunningham Company. He continued competing at Le Mans with his C cars through 1955, until the IRS began taxing his company as a hobby and effectively put him out of the car building business. Even so, he continued racing through the mid-60s, and Cunningham remained a significant name in racing well into the 21st century, in part thanks to his grandson.
Why it’s cool/unique/significant: As far as iconic race cars go, Cadillac doesn’t have a bunch that come to mind. This unique car remains poorly known despite making such a big splash when it was raced. With Cadillac once again becoming involved in endurance racing, perhaps now is the time when this unusual vehicle will get some of the attention and celebration it deserves.
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Grumman “Crash Cage”
Five Carb Engine setup
“Le Monstre” and “Petit Pataud” in the pits at Le Mans
“Petit Pataud”, “Le Monstre”, and the 2016 Cadillac Daytona Prototype
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Would be amazing to have Cadillac’s first LeMans car in the game given they have the most recent effort as the literal cover car! Not only that, but adding the stock '50 Series 61 beside it would be awesome too! They were such a cool duo! 
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That’s what I think too. I really hope Cadillac/Turn 10 thought about this, because it’s really the best opportunity right now, maybe ever, to celebrate these cars.
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