Ak Miller-RIP

I dropped in on Ak's shop a couple of years ago and he was generous enough to talk with me at length about propane-fueled engines. He showed me under the hood of his supercharged F-150 Lightning and his ex-wife Marilyn's turbocharged Corvette, both running on propane. Ak made his opinion on this alternative fuel clear when he said, "I wouldn't drive a gasoline fueled car if you paid me."

Once I finished my propane-powered '31 roadster I planned to drive it down to Ak's place to see if he wanted to take it for a spin. Unfortunately I didn't build it fast enough.

R.I.P. Ak, and thanks again for taking the time.

 

...........that's cool "Zonk." I had a few phone conversations in the early 90's with Bud "The Kat" Anderson (from AMT Models). HE was one of my biggest heros from my youth. He would tell me stories of he and Ak.......... "Imagine two old geezers (he & Ak) running around the freeway at 3am in a propane powered Pinto looking for some punk in an Import to dust off....."
An innovator and a true "hot rodder!" Journey well........

"Chili Phil"........when you wake up hung over and read this, please realize one thing........YOU'RE OLD AND GONNA'DIE!!!! GET OVER IT!!!!! Dude, this has been going on since time began. There are kids coming up behind you to take your place. If you are lucky, you will leave a positive impression on the world and someone will notice that you p***ed. IT AIN'T THE END OF THE WORLD.........JUST YOUR WORLD!! (I'm 55 and headed out with you bud........enjoy what we have left and don't hang around with old ****ers, they will depress you!)

 

I was just looking at a photo of Ak in the Iron Horse lining up on the old Morrow Field dragstrip. The first I really heard of him was from a very old Mobil Oil produced movie about the 1954 Carerra Panamericana. He really did it all it seems. I would like to have met him.

Phil, I'm drinking some good Knob Creek bourbon right now because it is cold, raining and dark up here and I want to head off the chills. I am drinking to Ak Miller now.

Salud!

 

RIP Ak...we'll keep the oil and plugs changed for ya man....

 

Here's a little story about Miller..I remember him from the 50's and 60's...man he got a lot of ink for his accomplishments, his escapades and his cars. What a life....http://www.oilstick.com/rparks/akmiller.html
http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/collector_cars/1267106.html

 

RIP, hope he went peacefully. I also hope his funeral looks like a hot rod get together.

 

As a teenager, I learned a lot from his articals in HRM. RIP. Our ww2 vets are dying at the aprox rate of 1000 a day. God speed Acton.

 

How's yer hangover? Looking back at that turbo installation, both times, I don't think we ever quite got the waste gate workin' quite right..lol

I asked my step son what happened when I finally got to him...and that oil slick was more than an 1/8 mile long...didn't know a small block Chevy held that much oil...He said it was pullin like a bandit and just went BOOM!...We put a big block in that one eventially....

Yea, we are all gettin' older by the minute..and every time one of our age group leaves us...we take a little time to suffer thru the woes of eventiality....Then I look around me at all of the wonderful things that I have now...A beautiful, loving wife..who will hang with me until the wee hours at the shop if needed...loves racing and the cars as much as I do...some great friends across this land that I should get around to seeing more often and a life of doing what i love.
We put an obituary page up on our board last year..It's getting longer every dam day...but these guys have earned the respect that is due em.
Get over the hangover.......and go on.
Mark

 

Ak did many amazing things in hiis life. Thankfully for us, most of his experiments and acheivements are do***ented in the Pages of Hot Rod, Street Rodder and other magazines.

If you arent familiar with him, go dig through your old magazine collection......you do have an old magazine collection?

Godspeed Ak.

 

Good morning all. Am pleasently surprised to not have a hangover, I did earn one.

Skate Finker, I know that we all die. When I do, I won't be getting drunk over it. I will leave a life well lived and I hope a few folks miss me.

1,000 WW2 vets a day? Brokaw was right to call them the greatest generation.

But I'll say this and not much more: Ak Miller was a giant a**** racers and mechanics. Lots of people have talent, many set records and brought innovation to the pursuit of speed. But very few always took time to answer the questions of young kids and rank amatuers. Ak did. He was above all a true gentleman. His door was always open to any racer. I know that I won't make a large impact on the automotive world, but Ak Miller will be my inspiration regarding being helpful. I don't think anyone ever heard him make a disparaging remark about anybody or their projects. But he WAS a compe***ive man. Loved to beat someone with less engine than they had and show them how to be faster next time.

I hope there is a book and movie of his life, what a story it is.

RIP Akton.

 

Welcome back Bubba...hope you slept well. I gotta total of 'bout 4 hours ...gonna just kick back today and take it slow...

 

A fine man with a fine mind. He may or may not have come up with the "old age and treachery" line but he is who I think of everytime I hear it.
Pete

 

.......DAMN! You bounce rack light that, 60 should be no problem at all......
You are right. Not only was Ak an inovative genius, he loved life. THAT'S what we need to learn from him. (Glad you're OK)

 

A great Ak Miller photo on the AHRF site:
http://www.ahrf.com/photos.php

Few great quotes too:
http://www.ahrf.com/pioneer.php?pioneer=ak_miller

Truly a Hot Rod Milestone gone. :-(

 

I just got done reading that interview,too. That's one issue I will never give away because of that interview. I have a video of drag racing history that he was in and he came across as just a regular guy who loved this stuff.
RIP Mr. Miller. I hope I catch up with you on the other side.

 

****! i usually avoid these, but this really hurts...i have enjoyed reading all about his exploits and tales. always wanted to meet him.

fair winds and following seas.

 

The SRM interview of Ak is a great one.
He talks about his Olds-headed, Durant rod Chevy banger, his '32 roadster with first Cadillac flathead power, then an Olds 303 OHV with Ak-built intake and ignition and probably the first IFS installed under a rod (this is early '50s timeframe).
He also touches on his Buick straight eight and his first head porting. Not a huge amount of detail, but you get the sense that the man was a true hotrodder, and an idea of the scene he helped to create.

 

Sad news indeed!!!!!

R.I.P. Ak. The Miller brothers Zeke & Ak definitely were a force to reckoned with during the infancy of "Our Way of life".
Ak even talked Jay Storer(Freelanch writer) in to building a Falcon powered Deuce Rodster powered by propane as an alternattive fuel & Jay drove the ****er accross the country. When I spoke with him last, he so fondly recalled his infuences by Ak and how he planned out his proposed fuel stops.
I wish him well in the big dry lake in the sky & his family has my condolenses.

 

The salt is always good in heaven...RIP

 

From where is his quote: "I wouldn't drive a gasoline powered car again"?

This is in regard to propane power.

 

I can just see Ak taking St. Peter for a 4 wheel drift down the streets of heaven in the old "Caballo de Herrera".
R.I.P. fellow Rodder

 

Well, I guess the official cited source would be the HAMB 'cause he said it to me and I've only written it here.

The exact (well, more or less) quote was, "I wouldn't drive a gasoline fueled car if you paid me."

 

I wrote this and posted it a few years ago, but I figure this memorial post warrants a re-telling of the story Ak spun for me when I met him. I guess it's sort of a HAMB eulogy now.

***

Most of you know your hot rod history, so you know who Ak Miller is. For everyone else, Ak is a lifelong hot rodder from the days when what we call traditional was modern and cutting edge. When he talks about his ‘old friends,’ he means Wally Parks, Gene Winfield, and Ed Iskenderian, a**** others. Ak isn’t just old school. He, along with some of his ‘old friends,’ pretty much invented old school hot rodding.

Anyway, I was in SoCal this weekend, so I decided to drop by Ak’s shop in Pico Rivera to see if he would be willing to spend a few minutes with a young car guy. As it turns out, Ak is quite personable, and my girlfriend and I ended up spending a couple of hours talking with 82 year-old Ak and his ex-wife Marilyn.

Now one of the main reasons I wanted to meet Ak has to do with my interest in alternative fuels; I’m currently building a ’31 Ford roadster powered by a propane-burning 289 Ford engine, and hot rods and propane are just two of the subjects that Ak knows a thing or two about. You see, Ak was running propane-powered hot rods in the 40’s for fun and profit. Quite a bit of profit, actually.

Back then, Ak was a young man with an ap***ude for mechanics and a reputation as a bit of a sneaky guy. He had a ’32 Ford roadster with a V8 engine in it--this much was commonly known. As his reputation as a young hot rodder grew, Ak began entertaining challenges from older men with fast cars. The standard procedure quickly took shape: Drag race, standing start, half mile distance. Winner takes home $300 of the loser’s money—a sum equal to three month’s worth of income at Ak’s normal day job.

Which leads us to how Ak came by his reputation as a sneaky guy. See, he wouldn’t lie to anyone, but he wouldn’t offer any extra information, either.

Challenger: “You got a V8 in that Ford?”

Ak: “Yep.”

No one thought to ask if the engine was in fact a Ford V8, or even a flathead. With engine swaps perhaps being somewhat less common at the time, it apparently didn’t occur to them that someone might take a monster Cadillac engine and shoehorn it into a Deuce roadster. Or that someone would be running propane gas for fuel instead of gasoline.

Whoops.

Many challengers came and lost both the race and their hard-earned cash. One of the defeated racers was so impressed with Ak’s ability that he began operating as his agent—he’d bring Ak fresh combatants in exchange for a cut of the prize. He’d set ‘em up, and Ak would knock ‘em down.

Fun and profit. Sure beats a day job.

Ak went on to build cars, win races, and set records, in events like the Mexican Road Race, the Pike’s Peak Hill Climb, Bonneville, and the Dry Lakes. Ak’s success in the Mexican Road Race is said to have inspired Doane Spencer to build his famous highboy Deuce roadster, which Doane intended to enter in the race only to see the event discontinued due to numerous fatalities. But Ak’s ‘official’ exploits are well do***ented in the books and magazines cluttering up our houses and garages. Not so well known were the back road adventures involving a Deuce roadster, a transplanted Cadillac engine, and a thirst for speed.

Not to mention one hell of a poker face.
.

 

Thanks, I want to track down whatever he may have written about propane. I am also interested in alternate fuels.

 

I haven't run across too much stuff that Ak wrote about propane himself, but there are a good number of articles written on the subject that quote him or use him as a technical reference. Here's one on the net:

http://www.truckworld.com/4x4-OffRoad/96-1957TurboWillys/1957TurboWillys.html

Incidentally, someone mentioned that Ak turned Jay Storer onto propane power. Not only did Jay build a '32 Ford roadster with a propane-fueled turbocharged Ford inline six, he also built a '32 Ford coupe with a propane-fed turbo 302 V8 and wrote a book called, "Propane Fuel Conversions." It was published in 1986 and is out of print and hard to find, but I picked up a used copy for cheap.

 

There are several articles on Ak's propane activities in R&C, I think late 1960's or thereabouts. The guy was versatile--also a lot of fuel injection conversion stuff, same time period, adapting complex Bosch mechanical injection stuff to American iron.
One of the greats...
Ak Miller
Don Francisco
Racer Brown
Roger Huntington, the Stephen Hawking of roddom

These were the people who knew everything I wanted to know when I discovered the magazines.

 

What a loss. Rest in peace.
Not much great guys left.

 

Ak's obit was in the LA Times today. Real nice piece by Shav Glick. Here it is:

Ak Miller, 84; Pioneer Drag Racer Helped Found Hot Rod ***n.
By Shav Glick, Times Staff Writer
Ak Miller, a pioneer drag racer who had a career as a driver and car builder in many facets of motor racing for six decades, died Dec. 15 of a heart attack in a rest home in Pico Rivera. He was 84.
Miller began his racing career on Southern California's dry lakes in the 1930s as a charter member of the Roadrunners, one of a group of car clubs that created the Southern California Timing ***n. and the National Hot Rod ***n. He served twice as president of the SCTA and was a charter member of the NHRA, serving as vice president with Wally Parks as the founding president.
After a long ***ociation with land speed record attempts on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and Muroc Dry Lake (now Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base), Miller was elected to the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame.
Miller also competed in the Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Baja 1000 off-road races and events in Italy and Mexico. With Ray Brock as his crewman, Miller won in his cl*** nine times at Pikes Peak and also won the 1963 Baja 1000.
For the La Carrera Panamericana, a race that spans the length of Mexico held to celebrate the completion of the Pan-American Highway in 1950, Miller built his Ak Miller Special, "El Caballo de Hierro" ("The Iron Horse"), a conglomerate that had an Oldsmobile engine and a 1927 Model T Ford body mounted on a 1950 Ford ch***is. According to racing lore, the Mexicans called it "Ensalada" because it was a "salad" of parts.
In 1953, Miller had no trailer and no sponsor except for Hot Rod magazine, so he drove the car from his home in Whittier to the start of the race in Juarez, Mexico. Then he "did a little fine-tuning," raced over the 2,000-mile course for six days and drove back home.
"We were young and tough," Miller recalled recently. "We could race for 20 hours and we wanted to prove a hot rod could do it."
Born Akton Moeller, in Denmark, Miller migrated to Whittier with his parents as a child.
As a teenager, he worked in the Nixon family store and in later years enjoyed recalling that young Richard M. Nixon often asked him to bring him a candy bar and to "help yourself as well."
Years later, when Miller was at the White House with a group of racing personalities, he was being kidded by friends about the legitimacy of his story when President Nixon walked into the room, grasped Miller's hand and said, "Ak, did you bring me a candy bar?"
There are no survivors and there will be no services. Miller told friends that he wanted his ashes ****tered at the Bonneville, Pikes Peak and Baja race courses.

 

Good ending...thanks for the closure Phil...

 

Better late than never. I've enjoyed Ak's contributions to hot rodding and automobiles in general for many years. I could never resist a magazine that had his name on the cover because I knew there would be some real "meat" inside.
We've lost an origional and gifted comrade and I'm sure a moment of silence would be more than appropiate. I suggest we all do it at some convenient time, perhaps when some contribution of Ak's come to mind. All who knew and respected him will know when the time is right.
At 61, I feel I'm not to many years removed from joining him. When that happens maybe I'll get an opportunity to sit and chat with him. I've got lots of questions.

Frank