43 replies to this topic

[Tim Murray]

I have just heard from fellow TNFer RobLotusFord that John Miles died this morning. I understand that he had a minor stroke a few days ago but reacted badly to the medication and went into a coma from which he never recovered.

Sincere condolences to all his family and friends.

[JanAlsemgeest]

Another ace passed away.... RIP John.

[cpbell]

This is awful - I hadn't spoken to him in a while and was thinking that I might have a chance at some point in the next few weeks.    My dad introduced me to him as John was modifying cars at a restorers we know locally.  He was in great form last time dad spoke with him, and he'd only just completed one of his projects.  Strangely, given that yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the passing of the incomparable Jim Clark, I spend a good hour at the VSCC meeting at Snetterton in 2015 with John getting his views on what made Clark great.  R.I.P. to a gentleman; I shall miss him greatly.

[Rocky2]

Really sad news... A day after the 50th anniversary of the tragic death of Jim Clark, we lost one more link to an era and the Lotus legacy... R.I.P.

[E1pix]

Wow, that's tragic.

 

RIP, John. 

[GMiranda]

RIP

[Vicuna]

What terrible news

[Bloggsworth]

A man with all the physical attributes of a public school geography master, one half expected leather patches on the elbows of a tweed jacket. To see him walk would never lead you to believe that he had an extraordinary ability when in a racing car. I last saw him, at the Delemare Road factory, during the unveiling of the 50th anniversary plaque dedicated to Jim Clark's victory in the 1965 Indy 500. I reminded him of the time that Don Sim and I worked all night to rebuild his crashed Diva only for Willment to be given the credit after he had won. A charming man and a great loss to the world of both motor-racing and engineering. Our heroes are passing one by one, as heroes are wont to do, but they live on in the memories they leave behind.

Edited by Bloggsworth, 08 April 2018 - 20:51.

[cpbell]

A charming man and a great loss to the world of both motor-racing and engineering. Our heroes are passing one by one, as heroes are wont to do, but they live on in the memories they leave behind.

Among his many legacies is the original Ford Focus whose suspension and chassis set-up he developed. 

[cedricselzer]

This is awful. I can't believe it. I have known John since the 60's. I first met him via a cousin who was involved with John's father and the Mermaid Theatre in London. He was desperate to drive in F1. I did explain it was very difficult to the point of being impossible. He did make it. John RIP.

[mariner]

Terribly sad news. I had the pleasure of meeting John three times, once when he came to talk at our 750MC centre on his career in racing and vehicle dynamics, once at the 50th Indy anniversary event mentioned above and finally at one of his " vehicle dynamics without math’s " courses..

As others have said to meet this tall, quiet spoken  and be spectacled guy you would never think he won many, many times in the dog eat dog world of 1 litre F3, then race in F1 as Rindt's teammate in the Lotus 72. He was much more interested in talking vehicle dynamics than racing drama but you had  to respect a man who had a Lotus 72 front end failure on one the then Osterrichring's awesome curves.

 

 

 

His explanations of vehicle dynamics were superb, clear, precise and analytical but never dull. When I wrote him up as the chassis engineer of the "world's best handling FWD car, the Lotus Élan" he insisted in me adding “one of" such was his modesty.

 

 

 

A nice side story, as the ex assistant technical editor of Motor he was invited on a group test in Wales and one of the younger scribes remarked how well this old guy could drive. Only then did he learn that he had been following a full Team Lotus F1 driver and world renowned dynamics expert! 

Edited by mariner, 08 April 2018 - 21:30.

[RobLotusFord]

I have many fond memories of John giving talks to Club Lotus Avon members, he was a very scholarly and thoughtful gent who was extremely modest about his achievements. I asked John if his father Sir Bernard Miles had wanted John to be an actor and John said yes and that his father was initially disappointed that he choose the engineering side of the family, however John stated that Sir Bernard took a quiet pride in John's motor racing end engineering once he had seen John at work. John even helped me set up our meeting room before his talks and John certainly did not need to assist in setting up the meeting room, such a real gentleman we will all miss him.

 

Rob Ford and all of John's friends at Club Lotus Avon.

[Michael Ferner]

Sad.

[Richard Jenkins]

Terrible news and a real surprise. I met John on a few occasions and his modesty struck me the most about him; here was an intelligent, engineering expert, very decent racing driver who always seemed surprised that people were impressed by his achievements; I warmed to him immensely.
A sad loss on so many levels. RIP.

[JacnGille]

Sad news

[Slurp1955]

Very sad news again. John's account of the Lotus team at the Italian Grand Prix in 1970 still stands out to me as one of the most honest, straightforward and poignant pieces I can recall. JP 

[cooper997]

The grids up there must be getting awfully overcrowded.

 

My condolences to John's family and friends.

 

Stephen

[cpbell]

 

I have many fond memories of John giving talks to Club Lotus Avon members, he was a very scholarly and thoughtful gent who was extremely modest about his achievements. I asked John if his father Sir Bernard Miles had wanted John to be an actor and John said yes and that his father was initially disappointed that he choose the engineering side of the family, however John stated that Sir Bernard took a quiet pride in John's motor racing end engineering once he had seen John at work. John even helped me set up our meeting room before his talks and John certainly did not need to assist in setting up the meeting room, such a real gentleman we will all miss him.

 

Rob Ford and all of John's friends at Club Lotus Avon.

 

Indeed, his modesty and thoughtfulness struck me when I first met him.  I can imagine him helping to set up the room you used and not thinking that some other ex-F1 drivers might not think it was their job to do so.

[pete53]

He was a very versatile driver and I recall, as a youngster, visiting Brands and the Palace and seeing John racing a Diva 1600 in 1965, and then the Elan in '66, in which he was pretty well unbeatable in his class (and outside of it sometimes), and later in F3 in 67 & 68, as well as piloting a Lotus 47. He was always a front runner, and often a winner, in those cars.

 

Sadly another well and fondly remembered racer from my early days of watching racing gone. RIP.

[Nanni Dietrich]

Sad news.

One of the few bespectacled F1 drivers (alongside Andrea de Adamich and Rolf Stommelen), remember him winning outright the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard in 1972. sharing a private Ford Capri RS with Brian Muir, ahead of the factory Capris of Cevert-Stewart and Soler Roig-Mass-Larrousse.

Edited by Nanni Dietrich, 09 April 2018 - 12:52.

[charles r]

Very sad and unexpected news. RIP John.

[Doug Nye]

John was a wonderfully capable, intense, cultured, knowledgeable, highly independent, really good bloke.  He was also a far better racing driver than his sporting record might really suggest to a modern statistics-focused internet audience. More ghastly news...  My most sincere condolences to his poor wife, family and many, many friends...

 

This from the BRDC:

 

It is our very sad duty to have to inform Members that John Miles passed away yesterday following complications from the effects of a stroke.  He was 74 years old.  For some 10 years from 1964, John was one of the leading British drivers, initially in small capacity GT cars before moving into Formula 3, Formula 2 and ultimately Formula 1, principally with Lotus.

The son of the distinguished actor Bernard Miles and his wife, the actress Josephine Wilson, who founded the celebrated Mermaid Theatre, at Puddle Dock, which was the first new theatre to be opened in the City of London since the 18th century, John’s interest in cars began at an early age although not as the result of any parental interest.  His first car was an Austin 7 Nippy with which he started racing in the early ‘60s.  After moving to the other end of the sports car spectrum by acquiring the Omega-Jaguar, with which he won at Debden, an airfield circuit in deepest Essex, John acquired a Diva GT10F which he assembled himself, initially with a 1-litre Ford Anglia engine, and used principally in British club racing with increasing success although he also contested the 1964 Nurburgring 1000 Ks World Sports Car Championship round, winning the 1-litre prototype class with Peter Jackson.  For the following year John persuaded the prominent Willment team to employ him as an engineer and to back his racing which resulted in the now 1650 cc Ford-engined, red and white Diva winning countless races and the Redex Special GT Championship, John also winning the third Grovewood Award.

Continuing with Willment support, John acquired a Lotus Elan 26R for 1966 and continued his winning ways.  Probably his most outstanding result, which will live long in the memories of all who saw it, was the narrowest of victories at Brands Hatch after chasing down Bernard Unett’s Sunbeam Tiger Le Mans Coupe following a pit stop to remove a loose bonnet.  By mid-season the mid-engined generation of GT cars, in particular the Chevron GTs, were spoiling John’s fun but he had done enough, including a run of nine successive race wins, to secure the Autosport Championship.  His exploits with the Elan had caught the eye of Colin Chapman and he was invited to drive one of the mid-engined Lotus 47s.  After winning at the then high profile Boxing Day Brands Hatch meeting in a Type 47, John was offered the chance to race a Lotus Components 47 and a Type 41 F3 car in 1967.  John enjoyed numerous wins with both cars including a class win, sharing with another Lotus coming man Jackie Oliver, in the BOAC 500 World Sports Car Championship race at Brands Hatch, the little Lotus finishing ninth overall in a field full of factory Ferraris and Porsches plus assorted Ford GT40s. 

For 1968 John continued in F3 with the wedge-shaped Type 41X, winning more races in the seriously competitive category, whilst also racing the 47.  The prospect of moving up to Formula 2 in 1969 was tarnished when Colin Chapman, having a high regard for John’s engineering abilities, gave him the unenviable task of developing the four wheel drive Lotus 63 F1 car.  John started five F1 Grands Prix in this unloved device but only finished once and that was 10th and last in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, nine laps behind after pit stops.  John had the chance to drive in three Formula 2 races in a Winkelmann Racing Lotus Type 59B with a fine performance at Vallelunga in the Gran Premio di Roma, being classified third on aggregate after finishing second in the first part.

After Graham Hill had sustained serious leg injuries in an accident in the US Grand Prix towards the end of 1969, raising doubts about his ability to continue in Formula 1, John was given the opportunity to drive alongside Jochen Rindt in 1970 in the revolutionary Lotus Type 72.  Before Colin Chapman’s new brainchild was ready, John raced a Type 49C in the South African Grand Prix, finishing fifth, one place ahead of Graham Hill who had returned to racing after all, now in Rob Walker’s Type 49C.  John never again finished in the points at World Championship level thanks to a string of retirements as he suffered the fate of so many number two drivers at Team Lotus.  Jochen meanwhile had won five GPs and scored enough points to be crowned as 1970 World Champion posthumously after his fatal accident at Monza. John never drove for Lotus again.  However, he was not quite finished with Formula 1.  After the customary ‘tea at the Dorchester’ with BRM ‘s Louis Stanley, in 1971 John drove a P153 in the Brands Hatch Race of Champions, where he qualified a strong fifth and finished seventh after a pit stop, and the non-championship Jochen Rindt Trophy at Hockenheim where he qualified sixth but his ‘hand me down’ P153 expired after six laps. 

Also in 1971 John enjoyed a very successful season in a Chevron B19 with Denys Dobbie’s DART team, winning the RAC Sports Car Championship.  There was little racing after 1971 and John’s last race came the following year at the invitation of his old Australian mate from the Team Lotus days, Brian ‘Yogi’ Muir to share the Wiggins Teape/Malcolm Gartlan Racing Capri RS2600 V6 in the Paul Ricard 6 Hours round of the European Touring Car Championship which they won ahead of the formidable pairing of Jackie Stewart and Francois Cevert in a similar car.

After retiring from racing, John became an engine builder and then joined the staff of Autocar as a member of the road test team.  He had a further involvement with Formula 1 and Team Lotus in the early ‘90s, the era of Mike Hakkinen, Johnny Herbert and Alex Zanardi, with responsibility for chassis set up.  In total John spent 18 years with Lotus Engineering before moving on to Aston Martin where he helped to develop the DB7 GT, the Vanquish and the Vanquish S and ultimately he was with Multimatic, the motor sport components and systems supply company.  In his spare time John returned to his roots, re-joined the 750 MC, and rebuilt an Austin 7.  A great jazz enthusiast, in 1985 John founded Miles Music, a jazz recording company which, in 1996 released the CD Tamburello by Pete King, inspired by the death of Ayrton Senna, which won the BT Jazz CD of the Year Award.  

The BRDC extends its most sincere condolences to John’s wife Diane and family. 

 

RIP John...  

 

DCN

[Gary C]

 I met John on three occasions, the first of which was to film an interview for my Lotus 72 documentary. He and his wife were most hospitable to me, Michael Oliver and my friend John. We had a great afternoon,   he gave us lots of info on the new 72 (not a good car) and also gave us a specific piece explaining anti-squat and anti-dive at the end of which it was for me, a light bulb moment-so that's how it works! But explained in layman's language, brilliant stuff. At the end of our shoot we had a cup of tea to finish off and I think he was pleased to learn that my interest in the theatre was really kick started by a childhood school visit to the Mermaid Theatre in London which had been started by his father, Sir Bernard Miles. I next met him at a Lotus weekend that Michael Oliver and I arranged a few years ago, again he was such interesting company. I'm very sad this evening.

Edited by Gary C, 09 April 2018 - 18:55.

[Peter Darley]

[/IMG]
[/IMG]


He was largely responsible for the development of the Lotus 72 into the car it eventually became, and paid peanuts for the privilege. An almost shy gentleman who was never bothered even to join the BRDC. RIP.

He was a Member of the BRDC.

[MCS]

Very sad news.

 

I have just re-read Simon Taylor’s excellent “Lunch With…” piece from Motor Sport magazine – surely one of the best in the series but, sadly, it only actually serves to remind us once again how wonderful it would have been had John written a book about his quite extraordinary life.  Of course he was far too modest to probably even consider doing such a thing, more’s the pity.

 

He was clearly honest in his views, so no surprise that the likes of Chapman and Warr don’t come out too well across the few too many interviews that saw the light of day.

 

Multi-talented, multi-faceted, ingenious.  He really was quite something.

[Nick Planas]

Yet another of my boyhood memories gone. RIP John Miles and condolences to his family

[elansprint72]

Sad news, RIP John.

[JonnyA]

Knowing that John developed the handling for the Focus, and drove a base-model version himself, was a key factor in buying one a couple of years ago for my long-distance commute. It never fails to put a smile on my face (once you give it time to get going).

[Giraffe]

He was a Member of the BRDC.

The letter was obviously lost in the post..........from Simon Taylor's "Lunch with..." , Motor Sport, October 2014.....

 

[/IMG]

Edited by Giraffe, 11 April 2018 - 02:21.

[Tim Murray]

He was elected a full member of the BRDC in 1996:

http://www.brdc.co.u...DC0B01B584A701D

[Myhinpaa]

Sad news indeed.

 

His tests of rally cars in Autosport's "Given The Works" from late '77 onward gave the series much more insight and depth.

This thanks to the unique combination of being a good driver AND engineer. Many drivers fancy themselves as good engineers, but very few are........

[Doug Nye]

A full member is one thing, but a life member is actually compulsory in that there is no annual fee involved. So you are a life member, like it or not! John possibly didn't like the idea.....?
There is a certain irony as the BRDC obituary provides a link to Simon's article where it says that John was not a member of the BRDC.....

I really don't think this is either the time or the place to start tasteless sniping in this manner.

The delete button works quite effectively.

DCN

[Giraffe]

I really don't think this is either the time or the place to start tasteless sniping in this manner.

The delete button works quite effectively.

DCN

Posts edited as instructed by DCN......

[SophieB]

Matt Bishop‏ @TheBishF1 2h2 hours ago

More

Sad to hear news that John Miles passed away on Sunday. He started only 12 GPs, all for Lotus (best result: 5th, South Africa '70), but was more successful in sports cars. Oddly (since he was as Brit), an image of him driving a Lotus 72 once adorned an $80 stamp in Guyana. #RIP

[MCS]

Well, that is odd - what a find.

 

John Miles didn't race a Lotus 72 with a number 2 as far as I can see, but Jochen of course won in number 2 at Hockenheim.

 

Wonder how much the stamp is worth now?

[RogerFrench]

What a shame, a real gentleman, and a clever one too.
A few years back he wrote a very complimentary appraisal of my father's "Simplicity", and retained or regained his interest in Austin Sevens. He was recently lecturing a number of owners on the best ways to stiffen an A7 chassis. He will be missed.




Y

[M100]

RIP

 

From a Lotus nut from the time I wore short pants

[David Birchall]

RIP--I think of him whenever I drive my 26R modified Elan - he made them work.

[Macca]

Coming late to this; but RIP to a fine driver and a well-rounded man who has left the world poorer for his passing.

 

In 1968 Motor published some (presumably John Player-sponsored) Michael Turner prints, and I take the liberty of posting them here.

 

Paul M

 

 

[charles r]

Coming late to this; but RIP to a fine driver and a well-rounded man who has left the world poorer for his passing.

In 1968 Motor published some (presumably John Player-sponsored) Michael Turner prints, and I take the liberty of posting them here.

Paul M

Gosh, that takes me back!

Tetsu Ikuzawa following John?

Edited by charles r, 23 April 2018 - 16:22.

[Giraffe]

John's funeral will be at 1.30pm on Friday 4 May at St Andrew's Church, Churchgate House, 5 Church Street, Hingham, Norwich NR9 4HL

[DogEarred]

Gosh, that takes me back!

Tetsu Ikuzawa following John?

 

Yes, certainly was.

 

I followed his races then too.

 

I am also priveleged to have been at a couple of his 'discourses' in the last 2-3 years.

[cpbell]

John's funeral will be at 1.30pm on Friday 4 May at St Andrew's Church, Churchgate House, 5 Church Street, Hingham, Norwich NR9 4HL

I kept wondering whether to post this or not - thanks for saving me the trouble! My understanding is that most of us will be standing outside the church.

[cpbell]

Did anyone else from TNF attend John's funeral?  Hingham church was impressively close to capacity given its size, though we were all able to find space inside, and the weather was glorious.