When the rule change that limited engine displacement to 91 cubic inches was announced for the 1926 racing season, famed designer, engineer, and visionary Harry Miller could have merely shortened the stroke of his nearly unbeatable 122-cubic inch engine and continued producing and selling the rear-wheel-drive race car that he first introduced in 1923. In typical fashion, however, the extraordinarily talented Miller and his no less capable staff instead set to work on designing and building an entirely new car. To the untrained eye, the 122 and 91 rear-wheel-drive cars were virtually identical in appearance, aside from the 91’s three-piece radiator and grille assembly. Yet there was no commonality of parts between the two models, with the exception of externally sourced items such as the wheels, tires, instruments, and electrical components. All of the 91 engines were supercharged, and at introduction, they developed 155 horsepower at 7,000 rpm; extensive on-track development work resulted in refinements that eventually boosted output to well over 250 horsepower at 8,000 rpm.
The Miller 91 was so successful and its domination of 1920s speedways so complete that it was effectively responsible for its own demise. In 1930, the AACA changed to the “Junk Formula,” increasing the displacement of engines to 366 cubic inches and banning supercharging, largely in part to stop the Miller 91’s seemingly unending winning streak. A total of eight rear-wheel-drive Miller 91s had been built, and relatively few of them remain extant.
THE LOCOMOBILE JUNIOR 8 SPECIALS
The name Locomobile, in American automobile circles, brings to mind vast, beautifully built luxury automobiles. It also, however, brings to mind the pair of special Miller 91s built in 1926 to the order of Cliff Durant, son of General Motors founder William Crapo Durant, recent acquirer of the Locomobile Company of America. In order to promote the first Durant-built Locomobile model, the Junior 8, Cliff Durant set to racing with a team of Millers, including two purpose-built cars based on the “stock” Miller 91 but with assorted detail differences throughout, including slight modifications to their engines.
The car offered here, chassis number 8, was driven by Cliff Durant himself at the 1926 Indianapolis 500, its first event, with the racing number 9. After qualifying an impressive 11th, Durant – a man more interested in business than in training for races – called for relief by Eddie Hearne after only 41 laps; the car retired on the 61st lap after a fuel leak. Hearne continued to run in the car, now #19, at such renowned board tracks as Altoona, finishing 5th Overall on 12 June, and Charlotte, finishing 3rd Overall on 23 August.
At the end of the 1926 season, Durant dissolved his team, and his former team driver, Harry Hartz, took both Locomobile Junior 8 Specials to California to sell on his behalf. In this form, the car raced once more under its original name at Culver City, #25 driven by Harlan Fengler, who finished 5th. It was then acquired by Cliff Woodbury for the burgeoning Boyle Valve Special team of Millers, for whom it was driven by Fred Comer, Ralph Hepburn, Russ Snowberger, and Billy Arnold, through 1929, including three further competitions at Indianapolis.
After a race at the New York State Fairgrounds resulted in damaged engine bearings, the car was sold to veteran mechanic and team owner Clarence Tarbet of Culver City, California. The car then entered the 1930 season, still under its Boyle Valve Sponsorship, driven initially by Chet Gardner and subsequently by the renowned Fred Frame. It was under Frame’s talented hands that the car achieved its greatest successes, including multiple top five finishes and no fewer than eleven 1st Overalls during 1930.
The car raced in 1931 as the Dayton Thorobred Special of Francis Quinn, driven initially and with little success by Walt May, then as the Kingsley Special of “Speed” Hinckley, who finished 1st Overall at San Jose in June. By this point, however, the Miller was clearly outmoded against its competition and thus began what Miller historian Michael Ferner has referred to as the “dark years,” in which it was modified into sprint car form and raced extensively by Floyd Roberts as the Roberts Special. The car’s last known entry into competition was as Earl Mansell’s #55 car at Silvergate Speedway in 1955, ending a remarkable racing career that had extended longer than any other Miller – nearly 30 years.
Photos: RM Sotheby’s
1926 Miller Locomobile Junior 8 Special
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