F.W.D. Miller
#1
Posted 17 March 2005 - 18:58
Mike
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#2
Posted 17 March 2005 - 23:05
i suspect you're referring to the V8 powered four wheel drive..however,didn't it have a 4 cyl offy by then? i know that one of the two 4-cam V8 engines was installed in bunny phillips gp bugatti [where it remains today]..the other car went to buck boudiman but i don't know where it is now..somebody should.
#3
Posted 18 March 2005 - 00:59
  Yes, I was referring to the 308ci V-8 engined four wheel drive machine. That car is the subject of Griff Borgeson's last book The Last Great Miller, mentioned above. The particular car that I am interested in is known as the FWD Miller after the Four Wheel Drive Co., a truck manufacturer that financed its construction and sponsored it at the Indy 500. The FWD Co. owned the car until 1984 when it sold it to Buck Boudeman. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, FWD loaned the car to Bill Milliken who used it for road racing and hillclimbs.
  I now know that the date of the Miller's appearance at Edenvale was May 25, 1952. Milliken used it to win the 5 lap novice race (I assume that was novices to Edenvale or Canadian racing as Milliken was an experienced driver) and finished second to an Allard in the 15 lap Grand Prix.
#4
Posted 18 March 2005 - 01:03
Cheers,
Kurt Oblinger
#5
Posted 18 March 2005 - 01:04
According to "The Last Great Miller: The Four Wheel Drive Indy Car", page 282, Milliken drove the car at Edenvale Airpoprt, Ontario, Canada, on May 25, 1952. He was first in the first event, second in the second, and took fastest lap.
The engine is not identified, but the book includes (page 286) a copy of letter dated July 9, 1949, in which it is stated that the car "...was originally powered by a V-8, but this was subsequently replaced by the present four cylinder 255-cubic inch engine." This would certainly have to be an Offy.
David Seibert
Edit: Kurt, we were posting answers at the same time. The correct date is May 25; I think you picked up the date of the Mt. Equinox Hill Climb.
#6
Posted 18 March 2005 - 02:20
You're right! May 25 is the correct date. Thats what I get for holding a book in one hand and typing with the other.
Cheers,
Kurt
#7
Posted 26 August 2008 - 08:19
Originally posted by TooTall
And yes, it did have a 255 c.i Offy by that time.
Found this by chance (doing some research on Miller 255 engines ;)), but the engine in the FWD Miller was not an Offy; it was actually built (in early 1934) when Offenhauser was not yet in the business of manufacturing engines. Since it was also after the time of the Miller bankruptcy (July of 1933), it is one of possibly no more than two "grey" Miller 255 engines. It was built by Frank Brisko, using castings made by Dick Loynes (who owned the original Miller patterns) and moving parts manufactured by Offenhauser, much like Louie Meyer built the other "grey" one. Both engines are generally (and properly) refered to as Miller engines, as are a few 220 engines produced during the same time through similar circumstances.Originally posted by Cynic
The engine is not identified, but the book includes (page 286) a copy of letter dated July 9, 1949, in which it is stated that the car "...was originally powered by a V-8, but this was subsequently replaced by the present four cylinder 255-cubic inch engine." This would certainly have to be an Offy.
Offenhauser engine production began in the fall of that year with the Midget engines, and continued with Big Car engines of the Miller type (220 & 255, respectively) in 1935.