KEN MILES: THE SHELBY AMERICAN YEARS
Motorsport and movie production photographer Dave Friedman promised his old boss Carroll Shelby that he would do a book on Ken Miles. The Cobra founder passed before Friedman finished the work, but Shelby would surely be proud of the result. More than 50 years after popular Shelby team racer, tester and competition manager Miles died while testing the Ford J-car at Riverside, this vivid tribute has finally arrived.
The 240-page publication is primarily a photo book with expanded captions, but what a wonderful collection. Art Evans’s tribute, which was published in 2004, offers the full story of Miles’s life, but here Friedman focuses on the Shelby years. From the opening in the old Scarab workshop in 1962 to that dark day in 1966 when the J-car cannoned off at Turn Nine, Friedman’s remarkable images celebrate Miles’s final four years with Shelby. Even the test report from that terrible day is reprinted.
Friedman has dug deep in his amazing archive to unearth fresh shots, both on track and behind the scenes. Shelby had the inspired vision to enlist Friedman to chronicle the team through the Cobra and GT40 years, which gave this talented young photographer a unique familiarity with the crew.
The mostly monochrome printing is better than in many more expensive books, but Friedman would tolerate nothing less. If you enjoyed the movie Ford v Ferrari (or Le Mans ’66), this book is a must-read – though Friedman dismisses the James Mangolddirected film, particularly the characterisation of Leo Beebe, head of Ford Racing. “There was obviously no research by the writer of that dreadful script,” says Friedman. “Beebe had to make some tough decisions and admired Ken Miles. He was not the idiot portrayed in the movie.”
The book opens with a moving foreword by Ken’s son Peter who, aged 15, was at Riverside when his dad was killed. The father-and-son relationship had just started to develop into a friendship, but despite the loss Peter reviews his father’s life in a positive light. He recalls the diverse guests at the Miles home, including Steve Mcqueen, who came to discuss a secret racing film project, and the British consul general. Friedman, meanwhile, remembers his friend’s love of music: “During our late-evening chats while glueing up those awful homologation papers the room was filled with classical music.”
As well as covering the development of the Daytona Cobra, the 390 Lightweight Roadster and the GT40, Friedman also highlights other drives by ‘Teddy Teabag.’ In November 1963 Miles was invited to race a Galaxie stocker in a NASCAR event at Riverside, with dramatic results including a roll in practice and a final 11th place in a very battered Holman-moody car. Lighter moments with the Shelby team are also featured, such as the ‘Gurney for President’ rally, which Miles supported wearing the team’s snake mascot ‘Herman’ on his head.
Friedman has a talent for portraits, which are another highlight of this book. Whether it’s our hero feeling the heat at Road America or working late while welding up a crashed Cobra, these evocative Miles moments are masterfully captured.
If you love Cobras and 1960s sports car racing, this marvellous book is a must-have. MW
£35 Dave Friedman, Cartech. ISBN 9781613255971 (via hortonsbooks.co.uk)
‘Shelby enlisted Friedman to chronicle the team through the Cobra and GT40 years, giving this young photographer a unique familiarity with the crew’