User:WeiHsiang Wang/肯·邁爾斯

肯·邁爾斯 Ken Miles
1961年3月的肯·邁爾斯
个人资料
出生	肯·哈利·邁爾斯 （Kenneth Harry Miles） (1918-11-01)1918年11月1日 英格蘭華威郡薩頓科爾菲爾德
逝世	1966年8月17日(1966歲—08—17)（47歲） 美國加利福尼亚州里弗賽德國際賽道
墓地	美國加利福尼亚州好莱坞好萊塢永生公墓
国籍	英國
军事背景
效忠	英国
服役	英國陸軍
服役时间	1939－1945年
军衔	特級上士

肯·哈利·邁爾斯（英語：Kenneth Henry Miles，1918年11月1日—1966年8月17日）是一名英格蘭賽車工程師兼車手，自效力美國車隊出賽國際賽事而著名。他在2001年入選美國賽車名人堂。

職業生涯

1918年11月1日，邁爾斯生於英格蘭華威郡薩頓科爾菲爾德，父母為埃里克·邁爾斯（Eric Miles）及克拉麗斯·賈維斯（Clarice Jarvis）。1929年，邁爾斯開始騎乘摩托車，更在一次事故中撞斷鼻梁及3顆牙齒。在一次嘗試逃亡美國失敗後，15歲的邁爾斯選擇休學並至沃爾斯利汽車擔任學徒，在公司的安排下進入一間技術學校學習車輛結構等相關知識。第二次世界大战爆發時，他受徵招至英國陸軍預備役部隊下的一支防空隊負責坦克搶救任務，並在1942年晉升特級上士，更曾參與1944年諾曼第登陸。

戰後，邁爾斯加入英國當地的古董跑車俱樂部，先後駕駛布加迪、愛快羅密歐及阿維斯等車輛，隨後轉往駕駛福特V8弗雷泽-纳什。1951年左右，邁爾斯移民至美國，定居於加利福尼亞州洛杉磯。兩年後他自行改裝MG賽車，在美國賽車俱樂部（SCCA）賽事中拿下14場勝利。

1955賽季，他再度以MG賽車改造出第二輛特別款賽車，這輛名為「飛天屋瓦」（Flying Shingle）的賽車在美國西岸SCCA F改裝級別賽事中表現出色。在3月底於棕櫚泉的賽事中，邁爾斯從同為駕駛MG特別款賽車的老將賽·耶多（Cy Yedor），以及駕駛著保时捷356 Speedster首度參賽的演員詹姆士·狄恩手中贏得冠軍。然而，邁爾斯隨後因為車輛技術違規而被判失格，使得耶多及狄恩分別站上冠亞軍。到了1956年，邁爾斯選擇加入強尼·馮·諾伊曼（Johnny von Neumann）的車隊，駕駛保时捷550 Spyder出賽加州賽車俱樂部及SCCA等賽事。

For the 1957 season (in co-operation with Otto Zipper), Miles engineered the installation of a Porsche 550S engine and transmission in a 1956 Cooper chassis and body. It was the second successful race car to be known on the West Coast as "the Pooper", the first being an early 1950s Cooper chassis and body powered by a Porsche 356 power train that was built and campaigned by Pete Lovely of Tacoma, WA. The resulting car dominated the F Modified class of SCCA on the west coast in the 1957 and 1958 seasons with Miles driving.

Due to his great skill and talent, both as a driver and mechanical engineer, Miles was a key member of the Shelby/Cobra race team in the early 1960s. Miles described himself this way:

I am a mechanic. That has been the direction of my entire vocational life. Driving is a hobby, a relaxation for me, like golfing is to others. I should like to drive a Formula One machine, not for the grand prize, but just to see what it is like. I should think it would be jolly good fun!

With a very pronounced Brummie accent (from his hometown of Birmingham, renowned for car manufacturing) combined with a seemingly obscure and sardonic sense of humour, he was affectionately known by his American racing crew as "Teddy Teabag" (for his tea drinking) or "Sidebite" (as he talked out of the side of his mouth). He played a key role in the development and success of the racing versions of the Shelby Cobra 289 in SCCA, USRRC and FIA sports car racing between 1962 and 1965 as well as the Daytona Coupe and 427 versions of the Cobra and the Ford GT (GT40).

He became the chief test driver of Shelby-American in 1963.

Miles had a "reputation for courtesy on the track" and was sometimes called the "Stirling Moss of the West Coast". While a member of the AC-Cobra Ford Team, Miles entered a Lotus 23 in the 1964 Player's 200 at Mosport.

GT40 Mk II rear

In 1965, he shared a Ford GT Mk.II with Bruce McLaren at the 24 Hours of Le Mans but retired with gearbox trouble. Earlier in the year, also with McLaren, he had finished second at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

The next year he won the 24 Hours of Daytona, sharing the Ford GT Mk.II with Lloyd Ruby, and then won the 12 Hours of Sebring. Several months later, sharing the drive with Denny Hulme, Miles was leading the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans, but Ford executive Leo Beebe, desiring a publicity photo of three of their cars crossing the finish line together, instructed Carroll Shelby to order him to slow down, which Shelby agreed to. Accordingly, the next car (Bruce McLaren/Chris Amon) and the third place car drew up, and they cruised to the line together. Miles was denied the unique achievement of winning Sebring, Daytona, and Le Mans in the same year. The French race officials, after initially agreeing to Ford's dead-heat "photo-finish", reneged during the final hour of the race. Since the McLaren/Amon #2 car had started some 20 yards behind the Miles/Hulme #1 Car, it had traveled a farther distance, and Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon were declared the winners.

Test driver/car developer

His early career got Carroll Shelby's attention, who hired Miles as a test driver in the early 1960s. Miles helped Shelby develop the Shelby Cobra. Miles also developed the first Sunbeam Tiger prototype, for which he was approached by The Rootes Group, for the sum of $800, and which he completed in one week. He also is credited with helping Shelby develop the GT40 and the Mustang GT350.

Death

The Ford J-car was intended to be the successor to the all-conquering Ford GT Mk.II and, despite reliability problems, showed potential in the springtime Le Mans trials. After the death of Walt Hansgen in a Mk.II Ford, the decision was made to shelve the J-car and focus on the proven Mk IIs, and little development was done for the rest of the 1966 World Sports Car Championship season. Finally, in August 1966, Shelby American resumed testing and development work with Miles serving as primary test driver. The J-car featured a breadvan-shaped rear section that experimented with Kammback aerodynamic theories, as well as a revolutionary (but untested) honeycomb panel design that was supposed to both lighten and stiffen the car, but the design remained unproven with high-speed prototype sports cars.

After almost a day of testing at Riverside International Raceway in the brutally hot Southern California desert summer weather, Miles approached the end of the track's 1-英里（1.6-公里）, downhill back straight at top speed (200-plus mph) when the car suddenly looped, flipped, crashed and caught fire. The car broke into pieces and ejected Miles, killing him instantly. The car had suffered precisely the sort of crash damage the honeycomb construction was designed to prevent. As a result, the aerodynamics of the J-car were heavily modified to correct the rear-end lift generated at race speeds. Ford officials, under pressure after the second of two fatal accidents in the programme in five months, also ordered a NASCAR-style steel tube rollover cage to be installed in future versions of the car. The death of 47-year-old Miles, following that of 46-year-old Hansgen, led Ford to favour younger drivers in subsequent race entries. The significantly revised J-car, renamed the Ford Mk IV, won the only two races in which it was entered: the 1967 Sebring (Fla.) 12 Hours, and the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. The steel roll cage in the Mk IV (mandated as a direct result of Miles's death) probably saved the life of Mario Andretti, who crashed violently during the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans but escaped.

Miles is interred at the Abbey of the Psalms Mausoleum of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Awards and honours

• Miles was posthumously inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001.

Racing record

USAC Road Racing Championship results

Season	Series	Position	Team	Car
1961	USAC Road Racing Championship	1st	Crandall Industries Incorporated	Porsche 718 RS 61

Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	WDC	Points
1961	Louise Bryden-Brown	Lotus 18	Climax Straight-4	MON	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	USA DNA	NC	0
Source:

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1955	S1.5	41		MG EX182 MG L4 1489cc	MG Cars Ltd.	John Lockett	249	12th	5th
1965	P+5.0	1	G	Ford GT Mk II Ford 427 V8/90° OHV 6981cc	Shelby American Inc.	Bruce McLaren	45	DNF Gearbox
1966	P+2.0	1	G	Ford GT Mk II Ford 427 V8/90° OHV 6982cc	Shelby American Inc.	Denny Hulme	360	2nd	2nd
Source:

24 Hours of Daytona results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1966	P+2.0	98	G	Ford GT Mk II Ford 427 V8/90° OHV 7000cc	Shelby American Inc.	Lloyd Ruby	678	1st	1st
Source:

12 Hours of Sebring results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
1957	S1.5	45		Porsche 550 RS Porsche F4 2v DOHC 1498cc	J. Kunstle	Jean Pierre Kunstle	184	9th	2nd
1958	S1.5	45		Porsche 550 RS Porsche F4 2v DOHC 1498cc	Jean Pierre Kunstle	Jean Pierre Kunstle	59	DNF Clutch
1959	S1.5	35		Porsche 718 RSK Porsche 1498cc	Precision Motors	Jack McAfee	173	8th	3rd
1962	GT1.6	42		Sunbeam Alpine Sunbeam L4 1592cc	Rootes Group	Lew Spencer	25	DNF Engine
1963	GT+4.0	12	G	AC Cobra Ford V8/90° 2v OHV 4727cc	Ed Hugus	Phil Hill Lew Spencer	192	11th	1st
	GT+4.0	16	G	AC Cobra Ford V8/90° 2v OHV 4727cc	Shelby American Inc.	Lew Spencer Dave MacDonald Fireball Roberts	56	DNF Steering Arm
1964	P3+0	1	G	AC Cobra Ford V8/90° 2v OHV 7000cc	Shelby American Inc.	John Morton	81	DNF Blown Engine
1965	P+5.0	98	G	Ford GT40 Ford 289 V8/90° 2v UHV 4727cc	Shelby American Inc.	Bruce McLaren	192	2nd	1st
1966	P+5.0	1	G	Ford GT-X1 Ford A V8 OHV 7040cc	Shelby American Inc.	Lloyd Ruby	228	1st	1st
Source:

Personal life

Ken Miles was married to his wife, Mollie, and had a son Peter Miles. When Ken died while testing a prototype car in 1966, Peter, who witnessed his father's death, was almost 15. A few months after Ken's death, Peter went to work for Ken's friend Dick Troutman at the Troutman and Barnes custom car shop in Culver City, CA. Peter stayed at the workshop for 14 years. In 1986, Peter joined Precision Performance Inc. (PPI), starting as fabricator and then a mechanic before becoming the crew chief. Peter was the crew chief for Ivan Stewart when Stewart won the 1991 Nissan 400 in Nevada. In a 2019 interview with Le Mans, Peter revealed that the last time he went to Le Mans was in 1965 with his father Ken, and he has not returned since.

Peter is currently an executive administrator of a vintage car collection belonging to William E. Connor II., valued at over $80 million.

In popular culture

Miles is portrayed by Christian Bale in the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari (released under the title "Le Mans '66" in Europe) Miles's wife Mollie and his son Peter are portrayed by Caitriona Balfe and Noah Jupe, respectively.

外部連結

• Shelby American Automobile Club World Registry of Cobras & GT40s
• 在Find a Grave上的WeiHsiang Wang/肯·邁爾斯