Classic American – September 2019

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victoryinthe 1922 Indianapolis 500 at an all-

time record speed.

Miller then started building his own

single-seater racing cars fitted with jewel-like

supercharged 91cu in and 122cu in engines.

Just scratching the surface here, but Millers

largely dominated American racing throughout

the RoaringTwenties. They won the Indy 500

in ’23, ’26, ’28, and ’29 and finished second

to Duesenbergs in ‘24, ‘25 and ’27, although

that was hardly surprising asalarge percentage

of the field was Millers. They were the “must

have” racing cars of the era. They were not only

extremely fast, but they were state of the art and

beautifully made, even the parts that weren’ton

show.

Larrysays: “HarryMille rwas really well-known

for superbly finishing his stuff.Ilike to think that

in themotorcycle world I’m known for detail.

Harryleftschool with no qualifications,abit li ke

me. He wasaborn engineer.Hehad theability

to see things. From what I’ve read, Harrywas so

successful because he kept thinking of different

ways to do things to keep him ahead of the

opposition.With my car,Ididn’twant to copy

what he did, butIwante dtopay tribute to him.

Ididn’tjust want to replicate an old car.You

shouldn’tdisregard technology just because it

isn’toriginal.Ireally liked the styling of the Miller

91 in which Louis Meyer won the 1928 Indy 500,

and the storybehind it.”

Just one week before Indy,Meyer,23years

old at the time, didn’teven haveadrive. Alden

Sampson II hired him to drive the second-hand

Miller 91 he’d just bought from another entrant.

It was called the 91 due to its 91cu in straight-

eight supercharged engine which developed

approximately 250bp at 8000rpm. Meyer passed

his Indy ‘Rookie’ test and qualified the car in

thirteenth. He drove steadily through the race

making up places, took the lead on lap 181 of

200 and won by 25 seconds at an average speed

of 99.5mph. He went on to win the Indy 500

again in ’33 and ’36, both with Miller power,

making him the first three-time winner and he

lived, co-incidentally,tot he grand old age of 91.

Although Larry’scar foll ows the style of

the 91, he drew onalaterMiller foramore

affo rdable and available engine. In 1930, in an

effort to keep race costs down and entice major

passenger car manufacturers to enter the 500,

Indy introduced new rules which rather unfairly

Tony (left) and Larry.

Wooden steering wheel. Room for driver only. Brass ram’sheadhood ornament.

Stromberg 97 carbs sit atop

Fordflathead motor.