1921 Miller Milton-Durant Special

The Miller Milton-Durant Special was the result of a collaboration between Harry Miller and Cliff Durant, the son of General Motors founder William Durant. Harry Miller quickly established himself as a pillar of the motorsports community, with a number of automotive firsts between 1900 and 1910. In 1908, he rode as a riding mechanic in 1908 in the Vanderbilt Cup races on Long Island, but this would be his only venture in the cockpit of a race car. Instead, his skills were best utilized at the drawing board and in the garage. In 1917, he designed a complete race car dubbed the Golden Submarine for Barney Oldfield. The enclosed, aerodynamic single-seater was powered by a high-revving engine that redlined at 4,000 RPM, bucking the norm of large-capacity, low-revving engines of the era.

When Edward Maier's racing concern, the TNT Auto Company, was in need of a new car, they commissioned Miller and his newly hired draftsman, Leo Goosen, to create a 289 cubic-inch T4 engine. The T4 was Miller's first dual-overhead-cam engine. Although it did not achieve the intended success, it inspired the Goosen-designed 183 CID engine that followed, a displacement size that conformed to the newly introduced Indy 500 rule changes in 1920. Miller cars were very successful at the Brickyard during the 1920s and 1930s, with Miller-powered cars winning eleven times between 1922 and 1938, with six of those cars utilizing Miller chassis as well.

The Miller Milton-Durant Special
The race car built for Cliff Durant was commissioned in the Spring of 1919. Durant envisioned a 'baby Chevrolet' endowed with the technical prowess of master builder, Miller. By Spring 1920, at the cost of $27,000, the new four-cylinder race car was ready for competition. After several disappointing outings, the original engine was replaced with a Dusenberg engine and, ultimately, a Miller straight eight. The 183 cubic-inch straight eight had four valves per cylinder and dual overhead camshafts with each cam having a two-piece cam. The engine was built using two separate cast iron blocks of four cylinders and was one of the few 183s with detachable heads. Carburetion was via four updraft Miller carburetors.

The car's racing career ended following an accident on Kansas City's boards in 1922. The only salvageable component was the engine.

Bill Castle was 90 years old in 2010 when he completed the accurate and faithful recreation of the Durant Miller around the original 183 cubic inch Miller straight eight.

By Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2023