1935 Miller Ford Indy Car Roadster

Harry Miller's Los Angeles-based company was founded in 1913 and initially specialized in carburetor production. As the company grew, it expanded to pistons, then the entire engines, and eventually race cars. Between 1921 to 1941, Harry Miller's racecars won the Indianapolis 500 fifteen times. The period between 1930 to 1937 was run under the two-man 'junk formula.'

Despite his tremendous success, the company was not immune to the effects of the Great Depression, and it entered receivership in 1933. Mr. Miller moved from Los Angeles to New York, where he met Preston Tucker, the individual who would eventually build the Tucker Automobile.

Miller and Tucker Inc. was founded in 1935 with the purpose of building a car powered by a stock-block engine. With Preston's connections to Edsel Ford and Miller's proven track record at Indianapolis, they pitched the idea of an Indianapolis racer powered by the Ford flathead V-8 engine to Mr. Henry Ford (Edsel's father). With funding from the Ford Motor Company and a short 111 days to complete the project, the skilled team put together by Miller was able to deliver the first car to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 12, 1935.

The Miller-Ford used a front-drive chassis with a double-wishbone suspension all round and Emil Diedt-crafted bodies. Power was from a reverse-mounted 21-stud Ford flathead engine installed in the low-slung chassis.

Ten Ford V8-powered cars were built by Miller for the 1935 Indianapolis 500, with nine arriving late and only four qualified. The vehicles that did compete all retired early due to the same issue - the steering box had been installed so close to the engine block that the gears would expand and 'lock up' as the engine heat increased. This made the steering wheel too heavy for the driver to operate.

Furious with the failure, Henry Ford ordered all ten cars be sent to Dearborn, Michigan, where they were initially locked away. Eventually, they were sold off to close contacts of the company over the ensuing years.

It is believed that this example was acquired from Ford by Lew Welch. Lockheed Martin executive and race-team owner Gilbert Pearson of Santa Monica, California, owned it by 1946.

In period, this car was upgraded with a 270 CID Offenhauser four-cylinder engine. Anthony 'Andy' Granatelli purchased this Miller-Ford from Mr. Pearson in 1948 with the intention of racing it in that year's Indianapolis 500. It was entered in the race as the no. 59 Grancor Special and driven by Mr. Granatelli. During practice, the car was turning impressive lap times, but a mechanical failure caused a spin and necessitated a hurried engine repair. The repaired car was not as fast, and desperately trying to qualify, Granatelli slid the car through every turn. His right front tire wore significantly, exploding on the last of his four qualifying laps, causing his car to scrap along the top of the concrete wall and injuring Granatellin in the process. The suspension of the car was significantly damaged.

In 1949, the car was rebuilt by Grancor employee Dick Frazer and sold (along with another Miller-Ford) to Byron Horn. Later that year, it was sold to Tony Hulman, the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and remained in his care for over four decades.

Buck Boudeman of Kalamazoo, Michigan, became the car's next custodian in 1993, who then sold it to the owner of Zakira's Garage, Dean Butler, in 1998. In 2013, it was purchased by the current caretaker.

Over a two-year period, the car was sympathetically overhauled by Zakira's Garage. Since completion, it has been shown on numerous occasions, driven at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 140 mph, and prominently displayed in the Speedway Hall of Fame Museum.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2022