16 replies to this topic

[rateus]

No, I don't mean Harry, Chet, Al, or even 'Al' ;)

The Miller I'm interested in here is Ralph Miller. I understand he invented a new variant of internal combustion engine in the 1940s, and (presumably) decided that one way to test it would be to run it in a Champ Car. His engine shows up infrequently in Champcar fields (and a lot less frequently in races!) throughout the late 40s and early 50s, including 2 failed shots at the Indy 500 in 1950 and 1952, in what appears to have been a home-built chassis. He now seems to be picking up some credit for pioneering the technology used in the Toyota Prius, so maybe a good idea 50 years too early.

Can anyone shed any more light on the man, his engine and its racing history?

[fines]

In short, Ralph S. Miller was from Dayton in Ohio, and started out at Harold Hosterman's shop, helping build the famous (?) Hal engines. Is he still alive? He must be pushing more than a hundred years, then!

I don't know much about the technology, only that his engine was a supercharged four-cylinder of 3 litres capacity. He also ran a Sprint Car in the forties, possibly with the same engine? There used to be a couple of pics on the net, poorly captioned, but I'll try to find them.

[fines]

Alright, here goes:

http://www.thevintag...king/vow5-1.htm

The Sprinter at Williams Grove, the year may be wrong though, I am guessing 1947?


http://www.indy500.c..._500/50017/p/10

The Champ Car at Indy in 1950, I believe the driver to be Cy Marshall...


http://www.indy500.c...s_500/50567/p/2

... and two years later. Note the different manifold!

Now, can you shed a little light on the technology?

[ReWind]

The Social Security Death Index has three men called Ralph S. Miller with last residence in Ohio:
1) b. 28 July 1904, d. 30 April 1992, residence: Dayton, Montgomery (a strong candidate, I suppose)
2) b. 03 June 1900, d. 08 May 1996, residence: Marion, Marion
3) b. 01 March 1929, d. 14 Oct 2005, residence: Killbuck, Holmes (way too young)
But of course there are numerous Ralph Millers (without a hint on a middle name) from Ohio.

[fines]

Well, I am guessing it must be "Ralph junior", then! I agree, #1 looks good!

[fines]

Ha! Made a little search on the web, and it does sound like it was a 5-stroke engine! I wonder what Phil (fil2.8) and his Schirtfinkle group have to say about it!!

As for Ralph Miller, I don't have much on his career as a driver, but he entered a car at the 1929 Indy 500, a "Miller Special", whatever it actually was (in many second-hand sources the car is called a "Hoefle Special", not much of a lead either). A driver was not named, initially, and I'm afraid it's still an item on my "to research" list!

His post-war "Ralph Miller Special", or "Vulcan Tool Special" is known a little better: as already mentioned, 4 cylinders, 3 7/8 * 3 55/64 (or 3.86), 2984 cc supercharged. Ran from 1948 to 1956, qualified for only three races in its first year, best finish 7th at Lakewood (GA), which appears to have been Indy winner Floyd Davis's last ever race. Van Johnson took his first ever Champ Car ride in it in 1956 at Du Quoin, qualifying 31st out of 32, but taking 4th in the consy - after that: nada, nichts, zilch. Not much of a success story! :

All (?) drivers of the Champ Car: Floyd Davis, Duke Dinsmore, Bill Mackey, Cy Marshall, Bob Harnar, Steve Truchan, Frank Armi, Walt Geiss, Cal Niday, Johnny Key and Van Johnson, possibly Colby Scroggin. Ran most often at Du Quoin (six times) and Indy (five times), else other Midwestern and East Coast tracks, never west of the Mississippi, twenty times in all.

[ray b]

looking at the picture of the black car
that looks like a turbo not a supercharger
so is that the new teck rather then the ''Toyota Prius'' claim
or was that something different

so who did use the turbo first at indy or in car races

[plannerpower]

The Miller cycle is well-explained here;

http://en.wikipedia....ki/Miller_cycle

Mazda used the principle in a modern V6 passenger-car engine;

[rateus]

Thanks guys! I did wonder why the engine was so unsuccessful - I guess the 15-20% power loss cited in the wiki article, coupled with a lack of development resources, would have been enough to doom it as a racer. Perhaps Ralph should have stuck it in a Miller or Kurtis chassis to at least eliminate that variable (or did he - I'm assuming the car pictured is another of those true Indy 'specials')

Originally posted by ray b
so who did use the turbo first at indy or in car races

For Indy, I don't think you have to look any further than the page of pictures you mentioned yourself. The red and yellow 'Cummins Diesel Spl.' was iirc the first turbo to show up at Indy (in 1952), and was plenty fast enough - Freddie Agabashian put it on the pole! Unfortunately the engine's weight (it was derived from a truck engine) meant the car ate its front tyres come the race and it was never a factor.

Amusing trivia: the Cummins Diesel car featured in Champion Spark Plugs' program advert that year - spot the deliberate mistake...

[fines]

Originally posted by ray b
looking at the picture of the black car
that looks like a turbo not a supercharger

I was entertaining that thought myself, but I don't think it is. The exhaust would've been on the other side, and what you see is only inlet manifolding imho. Does look strange, however!

Is that a Roots s/c on that Mazda?

[ColoradoKerry]

It's been a long time since you last posted.  Have you found any other information on the "other Miller", Frank?   A Frank Miller car ran on Pikes Peak between 1951 and 1959.

[ReWind]

FindAGrave supports the claim that the 1904 - 1992 one is the right one.
And ChampCarStats even has his middle name: Seddens.

[Vitesse2]

This picture turned up on Facebook. Location is very obviously Indianapolis and the car is equally obviously the Miller RE4 in its final iteration. But that's not George Barringer, because this appears to be 1948, when a Miller, numbered 83, appears in some Indy 500 entry lists, entered by Ralph S Miller. DNQ - and in fact may not even have made a qualifying attempt. I don't have a record of a driver for it. ChampCar Stats doesn't mention it at all!

 

That appears to be Wilbur Shaw standing behind the car in jacket and tie. So could the man at the wheel be Ralph S Miller? Difficult to match to the side-on photo on Find-a-Grave - and of course nearly twenty years on.

 

[Jahn1234567890]

This picture turned up on Facebook. Location is very obviously Indianapolis and the car is equally obviously the Miller RE4 in its final iteration. But that's not George Barringer, because this appears to be 1948, when a Miller, numbered 83, appears in some Indy 500 entry lists, entered by Ralph S Miller. DNQ - and in fact may not even have made a qualifying attempt. I don't have a record of a driver for it. ChampCar Stats doesn't mention it at all!

 

That appears to be Wilbur Shaw standing behind the car in jacket and tie. So could the man at the wheel be Ralph S Miller? Difficult to match to the side-on photo on Find-a-Grave - and of course nearly twenty years on.

 

 

Should be Al Miller who was entered in No. 83 at the 1950 Indianapolis 500. I think this was the second to last time the Miller RE4 was entered at Indanapolis. Kladis was entered in 1951 but also failed to qualify.

[Collombin]

That pic appears in the 1950 Clymer yearbook.

[Henk Vasmel]

Checking my database, I come to the same conclusion. Among the almost 2000 Millers, there is only one with starting number (83).

Driven by Al Miller, entered by Charles P. Kennedy and I have as "Sponsor" Trainor Auto Parts, which fits in nicely with the name on the side, Ed. V. Trainor.

[ReWind]

Edward Vincent Trainor (1899 - 1974)