1957 Caballo II

Few early American racers did more than Ak Miller. He was a well-known hot rodder, successful long-distance racer, had more than one legendary run in The Carrera Panamericana in the 1950s, was a frequent winner at the hillclimbs at Pikes Peak, tried his hand at road racing, and even roared across the Salt Flats of Bonneville. But perhaps his most interesting accomplishment was Caballo II, the first, last, and only all-American sports car to compete in Italy’s legendary Mille Miglia.

Caballo II was conceived as a car to run in the 1957 Carrera Panamericana. After the race was canceled following the tragic 1955 season, rumors began to fly that the event would again be run the following year. When that didn’t happen, the team of Miller, Doug Harrison, and Ray Brock decided to press on with construction…certain that they would find a way to put the car to use. The project began with Miller’s purchase of a 500X space frame from Frank Kurtis. Harrison went to work adding tubes to increase the car’s overall stiffness. This was an extremely good idea as its power plant was a bored and stroked 392 Chrysler Hemi pumping out 400 horsepower at 5,400 rpm. At just 2,100 pounds, the monster had an astounding 5.25 pounds per horsepower. Not satisfied with brute force alone, Miller hired famed metal shaper Jack Sutton to clothe the car in an exotic dual head-fairing’d masterpiece.