1924 Miller 122 Racer

Harry Miller was a motorsport genius and a visionary. Sadly, he was not a great businessman, although that problem did not slow his cars down! The engines and cars that Miller built dominated American racing for almost a half-century. The Miller 122 single-seater was lithe and slim and, like all Millers, beautifully designed. After winning the 1923 Indianapolis 500, eight Millers were entered in 1924, all finishing in the top ten places. The cars used a gear-driven supercharger, which made the cars much faster - so fast, in fact, that the race organizers declared a new 1500cc formula for the following race.

This remarkable history began when 'Wild Bob' Burman stopped by Miller's carburetor factory in Los Angeles with the shattered remains of his Peugeot Grand Prix engine. The war in Europe precluded Burman's securing replacement parts from France, and he hoped Miller could build him a duplicate. Miller did. After the Armistice Miller studied the Duesenberg and the French Ballot designed by Ernest Henry, the man responsible for the Grand Prix Peugeot., and created his own masterpiece, the 183, engine which Jimmy Murphy drove to victory in the 1922 Indy 500. Scaling down this engine for the new formula in 1923, Miller provided the new 122 with a single-seater body that was lithe, slim and, like virtually all Millers, gorgeous. Drivers had to be slim too; cockpit width was a mere 18 inches. Approximately 15 cars were built, 'certainly enough,' as automotive historian Griff Borgeson observed, 'for the series to become perfected.' The proof was in the racing. In 1922 Murphy's '500' winner had been the only Miller in the top ten at Indy, a against Duesenberg's seven.

In 1923 the winning Miller was one of six to finish in the money. In 1924, while Duesenberg won, eight Millers were in the top ten.