Miles, Ken

Pardon me if the subject has come up before (I'm a lousy searcher...... ;))

Having finally gotten to watch the Cobra/Ferrari Wars film over the weekend (thanks yet again to Allon FS), I was intrigued by the character of Ken Miles. I really don't know much about him at all, and we were wondering over on "AE" if you knowledgeable lot here knew of any books about him?

Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby - 7 litre GT40 Mk11s - kinda 'Le Mans romantics' eh? Be v. interesting to remember more about them.

Although usually remembered as an American, Ken Miles was born in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. After serving in an armoured regiment, attaining the rank of sergeant, he emigrated to California in 1952. He raced MG TDs and MG specials before becoming one of America's most successful Porsche drivers. He was an important part of the Shelby Cobra programme, due to his test driving abilities, and, with Lloyd Ruby, gave the GT40 its first victory at Daytona in 1965. A month later, Miles and Bruce McLaren came second at Sebring. Miles and Ruby repeated their Daytona win in 1966, following up with a victory at Sebring too. That year also saw the Le Mans "dead-heat" that wasn't, Miles/Hulme losing out to the Amon/McLaren pairing. Later that year Ken Miles died at Riverside while testing the new Ford J car - America had lost one of the most important figures in its road racing heritage ....

Great, thanks very much.

http://www.tigersunited.com/history/p-kmiles.asp

Terrific. Thanks a lot Paul and Vitesse.

Because of where I live, and for whom I work, I was able to attend the No. America Motorsport Hall of Fame ceremonies over the last couple years. The year Ken Miles was inducted, his son was there to accept the honors. His son is involved in Baja off-road competition.

I remember the moment I heard Ken Miles was killed because I had just finished a model of the GT40, and his death had a profound impact on me as I was quite a fan of Ford in it's battle w/ Ferrari, Chapparal, et al.

I'm glad he is not forgotten.

He was also nicknamed "The Hawk" as he had a rather large, beek-like nose...

I met Ken Miles down at Riverside one weekend when they were testing one of the modified Ford chassis and considering racing in the Can-Am. The car had lobster-claw like front fenders and seemed a little short on the wheelbase side. Ken was somewhat a legend in SOCAL and being so very young at the time, I liked his style and approach. He used to drive this modified MG that looked horrible but kicked ass where ever he drove it. He had a "Punch-n-Judy" face and a focused determination towards understanding what the car was doing on track.

The next week I heard that he had been killed. I was amazed because everything was calculated with Ken. As I began to drive, I remembered Ken's approach and followed suit. He was a very early friend of mine in auto racing.