Miller ‘M183’ (1930) « Indy Car A-Z

Miller ‘M183’ (1930)

by Michael Ferner

Under the new management, his former employees did what most everybody did in 1930: they recycled existing hardware, improved a bit here and polished a bit there, and presented two “new” racing cars for the ‘500’ – effectively, the cars were built on standard Miller Speedway frames, widened to accept two-seater bodywork, and actually not unlike the late 1922 “Durant Special” two-seaters, but with 3-litre “big block” versions of the marine-type 4-cylinder ‘M151’ engine. They were sold and run as sort-of semi-works entries by Bill White from California, and a man named McCarthy from Illinois, the latter a veritable “shadow man” who would run his cars under various names of sponsors and entrants. They did surprisingly well in 1930, considering their genesis, and after ditching the somewhat antique engines they continued to appear at Indy and on the dirt tracks for many, many years – in fact, one of them holds the record for the most Indy 500 starts (twelve), and for longevity (1930-47) by a single chassis!

- Year # Car name, colour, Engine make & type, team/owner, driver (results at races)

Miller ‘M183’, chassis ‘1’

- 1930 #16 Miller Hi-Speed => Miller-Schofield, white/red/black, Miller ‘M183’, W. S. White, Shorty Cantlon (2nd Indy with relief from Herman Schurch, ret Detroit, 4th Altoona with relief from Herman Schurch, 1st Cleveland, ret Pittsburgh, 3rd Altoona, 3rd Syracuse)
- 1931 #15 All Oil, white, Miller 200, W. S. White, Bert Karnatz (dns Indy), Shorty Cantlon (ret Detroit)
- 1932 #6 Lion Head, cream/red/blue, Miller 220, W. J. Cantlon, Howdy Wilcox (2nd Indy, 2nd Detroit, 4th Chicago, ret Syracuse, dns Detroit), Al Gordon/Shorty Cantlon (6th Oakland)
- 1933 #25 Sullivan & O’Brien, tan/silver, Miller 220, W. J. Cantlon, Shorty Cantlon (ret Indy, 4th Syracuse)
- 1934 #15 Sullivan & O’Brien => Nick Lutze, tan, Miller 220, W. J. Cantlon, Shorty Cantlon (ret Indy with relief from Billy Winn, dns Syracuse), 7th Los Angeles (with relief from Harris Insinger)
- 1935 #9 Sullivan & O’Brien, tan/silver, Miller 220, W. J. Cantlon, Shorty Cantlon (6th Indy with relief from Billy Winn), Chet Miller (7th Altoona), Wilbur Shaw (ret Los Angeles)
- 1936 #47 Sullivan & O’Brien, cream/red/black, Miller 220, W. J. Cantlon, Wilbur Shaw (ret Oakland), Red Shafer (ret Los Angeles), Johnny Seymour (ret Indy), Ted Horn (dns Goshen), Bob Sall (6th Syracuse)
- 1937 #47 Sullivan & O’Brien, white/red, Miller 220S, W. J. Cantlon, Harry McQuinn (ret Indy)
- 1938 #47 Kamm’s, black/white/red, Miller?, W. J. Cantlon, Shorty Cantlon (ret Indy)
- 1939 #47 Automotive Service, silver, Offenhauser 263, W. J. Cantlon, Shorty Cantlon (ret Indy, ret Milwaukee, 8th Syracuse)
- 1940 #24 Surber, cream/red, Offenhauser 263, F. K. Surber, Shorty Cantlon => Babe Stapp (ret Indy with relief from Doc Williams), Shorty Cantlon (5th Syracuse)
- 1941 #23 Payday Candy Bar, cream/red, Offenhauser 270, F. K. Surber, Billy Devore (ret Indy), Shorty Cantlon (dns Milwaukee), Billy Devore => Floyd Davis (5th Syracuse)
- 1947 #53 Club Southern => Fankhauser, maroon/silver, Offenhauser 270, M. Fankhauser, Milt Fankhauser (ret Indy, ret Milwaukee, ret Langhorne, 5th Atlanta, 9th Cleveland, dns Milwaukee, ret Goshen, 6th Arlington Downs)
- 1948 #23 Fankhauser, ?, Offenhauser, M. Fankhauser, Milt Fankhauser (dnq Indy, dns Milwaukee)
- 1949 #23 Fankhauser, ?, Offenhauser, M. Fankhauser, Milt Fankhauser (6th Arlington Downs)
possibly broken up and parts used to build Hall ‘CC-49’

Miller ‘M183’, chassis ‘2’

- 1930 #25 Miller Products => Allen Miller, black/red, Miller ‘M183’, R?. McCarthy, Les Allen (9th Indy with relief from Fred Lecklider and Stubby Stubblefield), Stubby Stubblefield (ret Detroit, dns Pittsburgh, ret Altoona), George Young (ret Syracuse)
- 1931 #67 => #65 Tucker Tappet, black/red, Cragar DO, R?. McCarthy, Ernie Triplett => Francis Quinn (ret Indy), Ernie Triplett (2nd Detroit)
- 1932 #7 Floating Power, orange/black, Miller 220, W. S. White, Ernie Triplett (ret Indy, ret Detroit, 3rd Oakland)
- 1933 #53 Lencki-Madis => Burd Piston Ring, blue/red, Miller 220, J. Lencki, Johnny Sawyer (ret Indy, ret Detroit, dns Syracuse)
- 1934 #41 Burd Piston Ring, green/black, Gallivan DO, J. Lencki, Johnny Sawyer (ret Indy, ret Springfield, ret Syracuse)
- 1935 #26 Burd Piston Ring, blue/red, Gallivan DO, J. Lencki, Zeke Meyer => Louis Tomei (ret Indy), Maynard Clark (10th Saint Paul), Wilbur Shaw (ret Syracuse)
- 1936 #4 Burd Piston Ring, orange/black, Offenhauser 255, J. Lencki, Floyd Roberts (ret Indy, 4th Goshen), Shorty Cantlon (7th Syracuse with relief from Wilbur Shaw), Emil Andres (12th Vanderbilt)
apparently rebuilt as Lencki ‘IC-37’

Last updated by Michael Ferner on 11 Jul 2012.