It never won a race, but it’s in the record books. An innovative Indy 500 entrant has become the most valuable racing car ever created by famed race car builder Harry Miller after being sold for $3,305,000 at the Gooding Christie’s Amelia Island auction.
Miller’s cars won nine Indy 500s in the 1920s and 1930s, three of them featuring front-wheel-drive powertrains. In 1932, Miller got the idea to give four-wheel-drive a shot and teamed up with the Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company in Wisconsin, which specialized in trucks at the time.
Miller used the company’s technology to build the Miller FWD Special, with FWD standing for Four-Wheel Drive, rather than Front-Wheel Drive, before 4WD became the naming convention.
Two cars were finished in time for the 1932 Indy 500 with fullyl independent suspensions and V8 engines and looked fast, but did not finish the race due to mechanical issues. Chassis No. 2 was repaired and upgraded for the 1933 event, where it qualified second, but once again dropped out.
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Miller switched to a four-cylinder engine for 1934 and the car led 60 laps before it retired, which happened again in 1935, but future three-time Indy 500 winner Mauri Rose finally drove it to a fourth-place finish in 1936. It made its final appearance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1937, but didn’t make it to the end.
The car went on to compete in other types of racing for a few years, including the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb and Watkins Glen Grand Prix, but was finally retired in 1953.
It was put through a full restoration in 1994 and last changed ownership in 2008 before crossing the block at the Amelia Island auction, where it sold for a hammer price of $3 million before auction fees were added on, which is the highest price ever paid for one of the 60-70 Millers that still exist.
A handful of other four-wheel-drive cars entered the Indy 500, but one never won it. The closest anyone got was Parnelli Jones, who came within three laps of victory in 1967 driving the turbine-powered STP-Paxton Turbocar, which was foiled by the failure of a $6 transmission bearing after leading 171 laps.
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