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Although usually remembered as an American, Ken Miles was born in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham. After serving in an armoured regiment, attaining the rank of sergeant, he emigrated to California in 1952. He raced MG TDs and MG specials before becoming one of America's most successful Porsche drivers. He was an important part of the Shelby Cobra programme, due to his test driving abilities, and, with Lloyd Ruby, gave the GT40 its first victory at Daytona in 1965. A month later, Miles and Bruce McLaren came second at Sebring. Miles and Ruby repeated their Daytona win in 1966, following up with a victory at Sebring too. That year also saw the Le Mans "dead-heat" that wasn't, Miles/Hulme losing out to the Amon/McLaren pairing. Later that year Ken Miles died at Riverside while testing the new Ford J car - America had lost one of the most important figures in its road racing heritage ....
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