Ken Miles – The Shelby American Years

Author: Dave Friedman Published by: Car Tech ISBN: 978-1-61325-597-1

Ken Miles was a British-born mechanic and racing driver, best known for his association and friendship with Carroll Shelby. Born in 1918 in Solihull, he retained his strong Birmingham accent throughout his life. Trained initially as a Wolseley mechanic, he served in the Army, taking part in the Normandy landings. After the war he moved to America and settled in Los Angeles, California as a service manager for Gough Industries, the Southern California MG distributor, racing in his spare time mostly at Sports Car Club of America sanctioned road racing events. He was exceptionally competitive, though popular and gentlemanly.

As his success on the track brought him fame, he came to the attention of Shelby. Hired initially as competition manager, his mechanical and supreme driving skills soon elevated him to test and race driver, enabling him to pilot the Shelby 289, 390 and 427 Cobras, the King Cobra, Shelby Daytona, Mustang GT350R and Ford GT. In 1966, having won Sebring and Daytona, he was famously denied winning at Le Mans by Ford executives, who wanted their three GT40 MkIIs to cross the line together. The French authorities insisted the first car across the line had won and Bruce McLaren had that honour, despite having trailed Miles for many laps.

While testing the Ford J-car just months later, Miles was tragically killed on the last day of testing, aged just 47. This pictorial history of Miles with 240 pages of photos, mostly taken while working with Shelby, provides a unique record of one of Britain’s most successful racing drivers, now long gone, but thankfully, not forgotten. Mostly monochrome, the pictures are clear and professional, showing Miles at work and on the track. Shelby’s achievements were greatly enhanced by Miles’ contributions.