1927 Miller Model 91 Racer

In 1928, the next to last year in which supercharging was to be permitted for almost a decade, Leon Duray (real name George Stewart) established Indianapolis qualifying track records which held up for eight years.

This front-wheel-drive Miller 91 was built for the American race-car driver Leon Duray from Cleveland, Ohio. He was known as 'The Flying Frenchman' after changing his name from George Stewart in tribute to fellow driver Arthur Duray. He took delivery of the Miller in 1927 and then qualified it on the front row for three consecutive Indianapolis 500s. Although sidelined each time by mechanical problems, Duray led the last two races and won the 1928 pole position with a four-lap qualifying record of 122.391 mph. Duray's single-lap mark of 124.018 mph was not broken until 1937. Shortly after the 1929 race, Duray took this car and another Miller for his teammate Wilbur Shaw to race in Europe, only to run short of funds. He managed to sell both cars to Ettore Bugatti to pay for their passage home, and the cars remained in the Bugatti factory for almost 30 years. They were acquired in 1959 by Griffith Borgeson, then editor of Car and Driver Magazine, who arranged for their return to the United States, where they joined the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1960.