AK Millers El Caballo II
07-12-10, 10:41 PM
#1
AK Millers El Caballo II
AK Millers El Caballo II
It helps to be as old as I am to know of Ak Miller, but if something important happened in rodding history, Ak was there. Lakes racing? Yep, before World War II and as the SCTA's first postwar president. Bonneville? He worked alongside Wally Parks and Bob Petersen to plan the first speed trials on the Salt in 1949. Drag racing? Ak was the NHRA's first vice president when the association was formed in 1951. Street racing? Ak did his fair share in the day, often humbling flathead-powered iron with a sleeper Chevy roadster packing a Buick straight-eight. Road racing? HOT ROD made legendary his exploits in the Carrera Panamericana road races and on Pikes Peak he won 7 times, more than anyone or even the entire Unser Family. Factory performance? For 10 years, Ak worked for Ford as a performance consultant, touring the country with hot-car displays and doing the dirty-fingernail development work that stymied Dearborn engineers.
Ak planned to return for the sixth Carrera, but when the race was canceled, he set his sights on the Mille Miglia in Italy. Ak built a new hot rod, the El Caballo II, using Hemi power, a Frank Kurtis-built chassis, and an aluminum body.
BTW, the number on the car is the start time for the Mille Miglia 1000 mile race around Italy.
Ak spent some time after the Mille touring Europe in an Olds coupe with the Caballo trailered behind it. Renowned auto journalist Denis Jenkinson, who was traveling with photographer Jesse Alexander, encountered Ak, Harrison, and crewman Pete Coltrin (whose mother donated the Olds tow car) on their way to a race and offered to show Ak the way.
Here's how Jenkinson describes the trip in his book, Porsche Past and Present:
That journey to Rouen was a terrible embarrassment to Jesse and me, for on the long straights across France, that great bulbous Oldsmobile coupe with the trailer and racing car on the back sat behind us no matter what we did. We both rowed our little Porsches along as hard as we could, and the Miller entourage just sat there in our mirrors. What was worse, Ak, Doug, and Pete were sitting abreast on the bench seat smoking cigars while Ak drove with one hand on the wheel and his elbow on the window ledge. Meantime, both Jesse and I were driving our Porsches as if we were competing in a race. When we stopped, Ak removed his cigar and asked, 'Your little cars okay?' That Oldsmobile coupe had been timed at Bonneville at something like 141 mph using one of 'Uncle Ak's' special V-8 engines, but Pete's mother didn’t know about that.
The reason I am sharing this information with my friends on the forum is that my brother in law for the past 25 years has been rebuilding this famous race car. He stumbled on it while driving near his home in Apple Valley sitting in a field behind someone’s home. Bob, my brother in law recognized the car from the issue of Hot Rod magazine from the 50’s and made an offer. This past weekend he had a start up party and the photos are of the car and some special guests.
Powered by the same Chrysler Hemi
What was at the time a state of the art Kilborn Mechanical Fuel Injection in 1955.
Bob sitting in his pride and joy
For safety reasons a modern Fuel Cell
The body still needs some work but hopefully will be complete by the end of the year
Three of a kind (L to R), my brother in law Bob, Jack Lufkin, Ak's longtime business partner and chief mechanic who BTW still runs AK millers shop in Pico Rivera, and the legend Ed Iskenderian (Isky Cams).
It helps to be as old as I am to know of Ak Miller, but if something important happened in rodding history, Ak was there. Lakes racing? Yep, before World War II and as the SCTA's first postwar president. Bonneville? He worked alongside Wally Parks and Bob Petersen to plan the first speed trials on the Salt in 1949. Drag racing? Ak was the NHRA's first vice president when the association was formed in 1951. Street racing? Ak did his fair share in the day, often humbling flathead-powered iron with a sleeper Chevy roadster packing a Buick straight-eight. Road racing? HOT ROD made legendary his exploits in the Carrera Panamericana road races and on Pikes Peak he won 7 times, more than anyone or even the entire Unser Family. Factory performance? For 10 years, Ak worked for Ford as a performance consultant, touring the country with hot-car displays and doing the dirty-fingernail development work that stymied Dearborn engineers.
Ak planned to return for the sixth Carrera, but when the race was canceled, he set his sights on the Mille Miglia in Italy. Ak built a new hot rod, the El Caballo II, using Hemi power, a Frank Kurtis-built chassis, and an aluminum body.
BTW, the number on the car is the start time for the Mille Miglia 1000 mile race around Italy.
Ak spent some time after the Mille touring Europe in an Olds coupe with the Caballo trailered behind it. Renowned auto journalist Denis Jenkinson, who was traveling with photographer Jesse Alexander, encountered Ak, Harrison, and crewman Pete Coltrin (whose mother donated the Olds tow car) on their way to a race and offered to show Ak the way.
Here's how Jenkinson describes the trip in his book, Porsche Past and Present:
That journey to Rouen was a terrible embarrassment to Jesse and me, for on the long straights across France, that great bulbous Oldsmobile coupe with the trailer and racing car on the back sat behind us no matter what we did. We both rowed our little Porsches along as hard as we could, and the Miller entourage just sat there in our mirrors. What was worse, Ak, Doug, and Pete were sitting abreast on the bench seat smoking cigars while Ak drove with one hand on the wheel and his elbow on the window ledge. Meantime, both Jesse and I were driving our Porsches as if we were competing in a race. When we stopped, Ak removed his cigar and asked, 'Your little cars okay?' That Oldsmobile coupe had been timed at Bonneville at something like 141 mph using one of 'Uncle Ak's' special V-8 engines, but Pete's mother didn’t know about that.
The reason I am sharing this information with my friends on the forum is that my brother in law for the past 25 years has been rebuilding this famous race car. He stumbled on it while driving near his home in Apple Valley sitting in a field behind someone’s home. Bob, my brother in law recognized the car from the issue of Hot Rod magazine from the 50’s and made an offer. This past weekend he had a start up party and the photos are of the car and some special guests.
Powered by the same Chrysler Hemi
What was at the time a state of the art Kilborn Mechanical Fuel Injection in 1955.
Bob sitting in his pride and joy
For safety reasons a modern Fuel Cell
The body still needs some work but hopefully will be complete by the end of the year
Three of a kind (L to R), my brother in law Bob, Jack Lufkin, Ak's longtime business partner and chief mechanic who BTW still runs AK millers shop in Pico Rivera, and the legend Ed Iskenderian (Isky Cams).
Last edited by hwy1isf; 07-12-10 at 10:55 PM.
