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Miller Transmissions
One of the most difficult to locate components of a Miller racing car is the transmission. The following photos show what was probably the largest collection of early Miller transmissions ever in one place in recent times. Everything you see is original except for the shifter ball on the 91 transmission.
The leftmost transmission is from the Junior Special. It was built by Miller in the early 1920s and was delivered as part of the rolling chassis for the Junior Specials. Photos of these cars are in the Features Archive #1.
The second from the left transmission is a Miller transmission built for the 183 Duesenberg race car. Two such transmissions were built for the 1921 Indy. These cars then went on to be used in the famous 1921 French Grand Prix won by Jimmy Murphy. It is part of Dave Hedrick's 183 Duesenberg car.
The middle transmission is from a 183. It is now in the Miller TNT car owned by the late Bob Sutherland; photos on the Photo and sound gallery page.
The second from the right transmission is from a 122. It is now in the maroon 122 car owned by Charles Nearburg; photos on the Photo and sound gallery page.
The rightmost transmission is from a 91. It is part of Dave Hedrick's 91 rear drive car.
It has been assumed by most Miller historians that all 183 transmissions used fibroid universal joints. This style was used on the middle two 183 transmissions. However, the Miller transmission for the Junior Special has a ball universal joint. Contrary to what has been published and accepted, such a joint has also been found on other early 183 transmissions. Also, note the differences in the two 183 transmissions: shifter mounting for one.
(click on any photo to enlarge to full-size)
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Copyright Ó 2000 Harold Peters.