Before Carroll Shelby started building his famous Cobra race cars, and before Zora Arkus-Duntov began turning the Corvette into a true sports car, there was Briggs Swift Cunningham. Cunningham had a hand in creating some of the most memorable, and successful, race cars of the 1950s, including the famed Cunningham Corvettes.

But before the Corvette was even revealed to the world, Cunningham was building what he called his “C-3” race cars. In order to compete in international motorsports competitions, Cunningham had to build and sell at least 25 road-going models. Over at the Hemmings Auto Blog is a 1952 Cunningham C-3 that was one of just two fully-built in America, making it exceptionally rare, and valuable.

This is one of those first two prototype cars built at Cunningham’s shop in West Palm Beach, Florida. The rest of the road-going C-3s would be produced by Vignale in Italy. This car also happens to be the only American-built coupe, granting it something of unicorn status among car collectors. With a famous name like Cunningham attached to it, and the unique features of this sports car, a high price is pretty much mandatory.

Keep in mind, this is a car that reportedly cost $15,000 to build back in the early 1950s. The car was restored about a decade ago, and a detailed history of the previous owners and modifications has also been kept. So it is no surprise that the owner is asking a cool $750,000 for this Cunningham coupe. After all, it occupies a unique place in history, and it is the kind of car that only grows in value.

Is this classic Cunningham coupe cool enough to demand that kind of sticker price? Or are there other cars of greater historical importance to you?