Scenes of Yesteryear- Miller, Harry, 06/08/08 “Harry Miller Was, Quite
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Scenes of Yesteryear- Miller, Harry, 06/08/08 “Harry Miller was, quite simply, the greatest creative figure in the history of the American racing car!” Mark Dees, in his book, The Miller Dynasty. \ Longtime readers of this column have read of Harry Miller’s contribution to not only development of the racing car, but also how his development of the overhead cam engine, rear drive engines, front-wheel drive, and his carburetors was quickly adapted for passengers cars as well as auto racing. Harold “Harry” Arminius Miller was born in Menomonie on December 9, 1875. He was the son of Jacob Mueller, a skilled artist, music teacher, and cartographer who changed the name to Miller when he was hired by the Knapp, Stout Lumber Company upon his arrival in this country from Germany in 1857. He was thirteen when he finished his schooling in Menomonie, some say he quit school before reaching 8th grade, but it became obvious that he was a bright young man at any age. His first job with in a machine’s or blacksmith’s shop, very likely the one operated by the giant lumber firm of Knapp, Stout & Co, Company headquartered in Menomonie. He lived in his parent’s large brick home still standing on the west side of Midway, and every day when he rode his bicycle to work he headed east on today’s Midway Road. In those early days that road crossed the present-day STH 29, and continued eastward until its name changed to Water Street and continued on to the mill. It was not bad going east on that road, but coming home demanded heavy peddling to ride the bike up the hill. That was when Harry figured out a way to mount a little motor to replace the pedals. There are those who believe that young twenty-year-old Harry had invented the first true motor-cycle. At least that is the claim by Allan Girdler in his article “The Miller Mystery” in the March, 1996 issue of Cycle World magazine, One of Miller’s biographers also claimed that “he had worked out a peculiar four- cylinder engine, clamped it on a rowboat” and cruised around the millpond (today’s Lake Menomin). Borgeson’s book tells us that Ole Evinrude was working in a Menomonie shop at about that time. A quick review of Evinrude’s biography does claim that Ole had worked in other shops around the state before he came up with his outboard motor. I have never been able to determine that Menomonie was those shops “around the state”. Miller built his first automobile in 1905, described as a family car with “a dog clutch and no transmission”! In 1909 he received a patent for his design of an improved carburetor. He sold that and the business in 1912, but went on to start a new company producing carburetors for racing cars and also for the passenger car, aeronautical and marine fields. This new firm was a spectacular success as the Harry A. Miller Manufacturing Co. At the age of forty, in 1915, he produced the first Miller engine, a very successful move that resulted in the production of the unique enclosed, aerodynamic race car, the Golden Submarine. Next week’s column will be devoted to this racer that created a sensation, as it will when it goes on display at the Dunn County Historical Society’s Russell Rassbach Heritage Museum in Menomonie. MAKE PLANS NOW TO SEE THIS UNIQUE RACE CAR! Call 232-8685 for more information, This new and different looking race car caught attention from race drivers, and Miller began to build more cars. In 1923 a Miller race car driven by a Benny Hill, made the first appearance at the Indianapolis 500 race. A broken crankshaft grounded the car after 41 laps. Here is a rundown of Miller cars in succeeding Indianapolis races: Please note that that during the 1920s no other competitor could equal the number of cars entered in each race. rd 1924 3 place- speed 97.27 Driven by Jimmy Murphy, there were 5 other Millers in that race. th 1925 Twelve Miller cars in a field of 22 cars, Driver Harry Hartz came in 4 st nd 1926 Frank Lockhart 1 place, Harry Hartz, 2 place. 14 Millers of the 28 cars in the race. nd rd 1927 earl Devore 2 , Tony Gulotta 3 ; 14 Millers in the field of 33 cars st nd 1928 Louis Meyer,1 , Lou Moore, 2 , 8 Millers in a field of 29 cars. nd 1929 Louis Meyer 2 , 11 Millers in a field of 33 cars. st nd 1930 Billy Arnold, 1 , Shorty Cantion,2 , 6 Millers in field of 38. rd 1931 Ralph Hepburn, 3 , 5 Millers in a field of 40 st 1932 Fred Frame, 1 , 6 Millers in the field of 40 th 1933 5 Millers, in field of 42-Highest placement-26 ! It crashed< 1934 3 Millers, field of 33 cars 1935 3 Millers, field of 3 1936 3 Millers in field of 21 rd 1937 Ted Horn, 3 , 4 Millers in field of 23 th 1938 Ted Horn, 4 , 3 Millers, 1 *Offenhauser (Miller), field=33 1939 2 Millers, 1 *Offenahuser,field of 33 cars 1940 No Millers/Offenhausers- 1941 One Miller, transmission out- 1942 No Indianapolis races during the war- Miller dies in 1943 *Fred Offenhauser It is amazing, that sixty-five years after his death at the age of 68 in 1943, to learn that Harry Miller is still regarded as the master as a designer of the racing car. Author Griffith Borgeson, in his book The Golden Age of the American Racing Car, wrote “Miller’s masterful touch showed in every piece of his machines. For example, he could have made his hand-brake and shift levers out of ordinary bar stock. Instead, he machine the stock to a rectangular cross- section with rounded edges which tapered and evolved into a circular section as it approached the flange that supported the thread for the knob. And the knob itself was a cored, thin-walled aluminum casting. Even in this trivial component Miller wasted not a gram of weight, while making it a thing of beauty and wonder. To be continued next week. Cutline: It has been an annual event in Monterey, California, to have a “reunion race” of Miller racing cars from the area and the nation. Here are eighteen Millers with one special one that will be on display at the Dunn County Historical Society’s Russell Rassbach Heritage Museum in Menomonie. \ Standing on the lower right, in the front row, is Miller’s 1917 Golden Submarine racing car, one of the few enclosed racers on the tracks in those early days. Next week we will take a closer look at this unique racing car and the colorful driver it was built for Barney Oldfield, Addendum: Fred Offenhauser, listed at the end of the Indianapolis 500 race column, was Miller’s chief mechanical expert who, when the master became ill, took over the Miller car and made a few small changes. So the cars listed in his name were still basically Millers .