Ken Miles

Lore & Background

Miles was born on 1 November 1918 in Sutton Coldfield, then in Warwickshire, now in the city of Birmingham. He was the son of Eric Miles and Clarice Jarvis. After a failed attempt to run away to the United States, Miles left school at the age of 15 to work as an apprentice at Wolseley Motors, who sent him to a technical school to broaden his knowledge of vehicle construction. He raced motorcycles before joining the British Army, during World War II.

Miles' first role in the military was driving instructor in the Territorial Army. On 1 October 1942, as an armament artificer, he was among the founding members of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), and transferred to the REME Training Establishment. The following year Miles was posted to Guards Armoured Division Workshops, followed by the 29th Armoured Brigade Workshop. He landed in Normandy on 15 June 1944, and later that year was posted to the Light Aid Detachment of the 15th/19th King’s Royal Hussars.

Miles served in North West Europe until the end of the war, by which time he had achieved the rank of staff sergeant. He served as a tank commander, and the experience is said to have fuelled a new love in Miles for high-performance engineering. He was discharged to the reserves on 1 April 1946. After the war, Miles raced Bugattis, Alfa Romeos, and Alvises with the Vintage Sports Car Club.

He then turned to a Ford V8 Frazer-Nash. In 1952, Miles moved from England to the U.S. and settled in Los Angeles, California, as a service manager for Gough Industries, the Southern California MG distributor. In 1953, he won 14 straight victories in SCCA racing in an MG-based special of his own design and construction. For the 1955 season, Miles designed, constructed, and campaigned a second special based on MG components that was known as the 'Flying Shingle'.

It was very successful in the SCCA F modified class on the West Coast. Miles raced the 'Flying Shingle' at Palm Springs in late March, finishing first overall against veteran driver Cy Yedor, also in an MG Special, and novice driver, actor James Dean in a Porsche 356 Speedster. Miles was later disqualified on a technical infraction because his fenders were too wide, thus allowing Yedor and Dean to get 'bumped up' to first and second. During 1956, Miles raced John von Neumann's Porsche 550 Spyder at most of the Cal Club and SCCA events.

Reader's Guide

Ken Miles was a key figure in Ford's 1966 Le Mans victory, but he was denied the win due to a combination of Ford's instruction to slow down for a photo finish and the rolling start rule: because McLaren's car started farther back, it covered more distance, and the rules gave the win to McLaren. Miles died in a crash while testing the Ford J-car at Riverside International Raceway in August 1966.

Did You Know?

• Miles was known as 'Teddy Teabag' by his American crew for his tea drinking.
• He was posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001.
• Miles described driving as 'a hobby, a relaxation for me, like golfing is to others.'