The Harry A. Miller Club Vintage Indy Car Exhibition was held July 11-12 at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds in West Allis, Wisc. This year, in addition to the many Indy racers, there were three Mercer Raceabouts in attendance, and the Delage GP car that raced at Indy in 1929. The appearance of the Delage was an incredible opportunity to hear and inspect the top contemporary racing cars in the world, side-by-side. At Indy in 1929, this Delage raced against three Millers present at the Miller Meet: the de Paolo front-drive, the Derby-Miller front-drive, and the Boyle Valve rear-drive. The Millers all ran from 1927 to 1929 and the best qualifying times and positions for all the cars were:

Delage (1929) - 107.351 mph; started 14th, finished 7th
Pete de Paolo front-drive - 119.510 mph; best start 2nd; best finish 18th
Derby-Miller front-drive - 116.887 mph; best start 5th; best finish 6th
Boyle Valve rear-drive - 114.752 mph; best start 6th; best finish 7th

The Club has done a great job of preserving a wonderfully cordial and open atmosphere for all attendees.  At what other event can you stand in pit row and watch and listen to the best historical race cars from around the world and then go and chat with the owners, drivers, and restorers at leisure?

Cars in attendance included:

 

1932 Chrysler Riverside Special	Anderson
1932 Hudson Martz Special	Bauman
1952 Springfield Welding Smith Special	Boston
1961 Watson roadster	Boyce
1921 Miller 183	Castle
1924 Miller	Collier
1927 Delage Grand Prix	Collier
1927 Miller 91 front-drive	C. Davis
1951 Kurtis 4000	Dittman
1952 Kurtis-Chrysler 500A	Freeman
270 Offy	Hahn
1913 Mercer	Zakira's
1935 Ford	Lawrence
1912 Mercer Raceabout 35	Lederer
1946 Jewell Special	Lederer
1928 Front-drive	LeFever
1935 Miller-Ford	Malloy
1956 Kurtis Bell Lines	Malloy
1959 Watson Leader Card	Malloy
1934 Glimore Special Sparks-Wierick Miller	Mecum
1933 Ford - Fred Frame car	Mecum
1937 Sparks-Thorne Big Six	Mecum
1960 Watson roadster	Mecum
1953 Kurtis 3000	Mueller
270 Offy	Mueller
1933 Detroit Gasket Special	Natenshon
1959 Watson Indy roadster	Pfitzenmaier
1927 Miller 91 rear-drive	Rasansky
1928 Miller 91 front-drive	Rasansky
1960 Kurtis/Epperly - Bowes Seal Fast Special	Reilly
1968 Champ dirt car	Savaglio
1964 Watson roadster	Taylor
1963 Watson roadster	Thomas/Watson
1949 Grancon Special	Thomas/Watson
1931 Miller Boyle Valve	Truchan
1964 Kuzma Delta International Movers	Truchan
1912 Mercer raceabout	Uihlein
1931 Miller-Bowes	Uihlein
1954 Uihlein Special	Uihlein

 
 

Photos
(click on any photo to enlarge to full-size)

Miller 122 Boyle Special radiator cap	Miller 122 Boyle Special oil cap
Miller 183 1919 Baby Chevrolet	Miller 183 1919 Baby Chevrolet	Miller 183 1919 Baby Chevrolet	Miller 183 1919 Baby Chevrolet
Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP
Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP
Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP
Delage 1927 GP	Delage 1927 GP

 
 
 

Videos

These videos were recorded on a Casio EXP-505 in MPEG-4 AVI format. The source file is DVD quality: 640x480, 30fps, with digital stereo audio. In order to accomodate various Internet speeds, the source files were compressed into Windows Media Video files, using Microsoft Movie Maker. The finished videos are available in two sizes: Small - 320x240, 350k bit rate; Large - 640x480, variable bit rate.

The recording location was directly across from the grandstands, facing the track, with the pits behind. The cars accelerate out of the turn off to the right, come down the grandstand straight from right to left, and then decelerate for the next turn. You can occasionally hear voices and other cars in the pit row that was right behind the recording location. To really hear how the cars sounded, connect a pair of full-range high quality speakers or headphones rather than tiny computer speakers.

Here are videos of two of the greatest racing cars of the last 1920s. In light of their value and condition, they're only running at about half rated rpm. Imagine what the sound must have been like at full throttle!
 

The Pete de Paolo Miller 91 rear-drive on the track. 1.4 minute video of the car warming up; car exiting the pits; three passes on the track; returning to the pits.
    Small 320x240, 3.4MB                  Large 640x480, 34MB
 

The Delage GP on the track. 1.5 minute video of the car exiting the pits; three passes on the track; returning to the pits.
    Small 320x240, 3.6MB                  Large 640x480, 33MB
 
 
 

Copyright Ó 2009 Harold Peters.