The 25th annual Millers of Milwaukee Vintage Indy Car event was held in Wisconsin on July 12-13. Harry A. Miller was the most influential race car builder of the 1920s-1930s. The Harry A. Miller Club was founded in 1995 and the race car meet has been held since then. It took place at the Milwaukee Mile.
Fifty cars from owners in 18 states showed up. The field included cars that were once driven by Ralph DePalma, Babe Stapp, Tommy Milton, Bill Holland, Joe Hunt and John Fray. A special treat was a 1909 Locomobile “Cobe Cup” car brought to the Midwest event by Tom Malloy of Corona, Calif.
Auctioneer Dana Mecum – a huge supporter of the club – brought seven cars, including a Miller V-16 that finished the 1931 Indianapolis 500 in fourth place. Carl Jensen’s 1930 Stutz stood out. Harry Stutz came from Indianapolis and built racing cars there. A Stutz won the first Indy 500.
Joe Freeman of Boston, Mass., brought four cars to Milwaukee including the black 1960 No. 26 Joe Hunt Ewing roadster, the 1961 black No. 67John Fray Upright Champ car, the Kurtis 500A Wolcott Special and the Auto Shipper 500A Offy.
There were at least eight of the highly-prized Miller creations at the track, including the No. 2 1926 Miller 91 Perfect Circle racer of Tom Barbour (Bellvue, Colo.); Jeff Decker’s 1932 Miller 220 sprint car from Springville, Utah; Ralph DePalma’s 122 Miller Special from Bobby Green of Altadena, Calif.; Bill Hoff’s 1935 No. 23 Miller Ford from Pecatonica, Ill.; Tom Malloy’s 1934 Miller-Burd car; Bob McConnell’s No. 1 1933 Miller Red Lion from Urbana, Ohio; Dana Mecum’s No. 27 Miller V-16; Mecum’s blue 1934 No. 3 Miller-Sparks-Weirick Gilmore Special; Mitch Rasanky’s 1928 No. 27 Miller Front Drive from Dallas, Tex. and Carl Schulz’s 1927 Miller No. 15 Miller 91 Boyle Valve Special.
Sponsors for the 2019 event included Bill Warner of the Amelia Island Concours, Bob McConnell of Gaslight Auto Parts, Tom Malloy/Ed Pink Racing Engines, Dana and Patti Mecum, Racemaker Press/Joel Freeman, Phil Reilly & Co./Brian Madden and State Farm Insurance, plus 12 Friends of the Miller Club donors.
The Harry A. Miller Club announced that its 26th Annual Meet will be held June 24-25, 2020 in Milwaukee. For additional information contact Harry A. Miller Club, PO Box 740762, Boynton Beach, FL 33474. You can also email [email protected] or call (262) 388-5221.
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