The first event of the 1954 season was held on January 24 at Palm Springs. Ken in his MG Special, R-1, won the under-1500cc main event—the Desert Trophy—and came in 3rd overall in the Palm Springs Cup, the main event for cars over 1500-cc. In those days, the first three finishers in the under-1500-cc main event were allowed to run in the over-1500-cc main event and were usually gridded at the back.
Photo: Photo by Dean Batchelor, Ron Kellogg Collection
In the Western U.S. during the ’50s, there were a number of road-racing drivers who went on to international success in the following decade. Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby, and Dan Gurney come immediately to mind. However, if a single ’50s-era dominating figure had to be chosen, it would be Ken Miles, even though today he’s largely forgotten. A number of books have been written about Phil, Carroll, and Dan, but until recently, none about Ken. So, two years ago, I set out to rectify the situation and put together a book about Miles in my scrapbook format.
Doing my type of book is like taking a trip through time. Before I started on Ken—especially because of the relationship between the Miles’ and Evans’ families—I thought I knew as much as anyone did about him. But as I got into it, I discovered a lot more. For one thing, I learned about Ken’s service with the British Army during WWII. He landed with his tank group at Normandy two days after D-Day and fought across Europe until the victory.
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