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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.