In the previous article I wrote, we discussed the sports drama film Ford v Ferrari and Ken miles Son Peter Miles and his contribution in producing the film. We had a look at his life and how he kept his father’s dreams alive even after his tragic death. In this article, we are going to see Ken miles life, his dreams, his passion for motorsport, and his tragic death.
Ken Miles And His Tragic Death.
Ken Miles was born in Sutton Goldfield, England on November 01, 1918. This town is located 10 miles north of Birmingham. Miles started motorcycle racing at the age of 11. For this, he used a 350 cc Triumph bike during at the time of the first race he broke his nose and three teeth. Later he brought a larger motorcycle. At the age of 15 he meets Mollie and eventually got married to her.
At the age of 15 he designed his first car which was painted British green by his wife Mollie. The car was named as Nellie which was then sold out during world war II. After the war he continued with his work of designing cars. The mechanical modification done to his first car later became signatures of his later car designs.
Miles served the British territorial army for seven years. There to didn’t leave his work of experimenting with vehicles. During these seven years, he’s primary work was to recover the tanks. He had to reclaim the thanks and get it operational again. In 1994 he was seen taking part as a part of a tank unit in D- Day landings.
While working in the military miles didn’t give up on his passion and love for motorsport and engine technology. After getting separated from his racing fans he worked harder towards his dream. During this time he even continued with his studies. He studied and kept himself updated with developments in engine technology. He even expressed his desire towards designing his own supercharged version of the engine. Then getting it installed in the four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Now because of the sports drama film, Ford v Ferrari Miles is getting public attention that he deserved to get years ago. Miles died in a tragic accident that involved him testing the Ford J car model that was launched in order to compete with Ferrari. The car in its initial experimental stage before getting launched at the famous Le men race the following year it got caught fire and the pro driver Miles was declared dead on sport on 17, August 1966.
His death came as a tragedy to Miles’s wife, 15-year-old son Peter and the team that worked with him. Expressing his grief over the death Carroll Shelby said ” We really don’t know what caused it, the car just disintegrated. We have nobody to take his place. Nobody. He was our baseline, our guiding point. He was the backbone of our program. There will never be another Ken Miles. It broke everyone’s heart especially Shelby’s who withdrew from Le Man’s racing after 1967.
For further updates stay with Stanford Arts Review.
