Shocking the eyes and ears of thrilled Indianapolis 500 spectators, the explosive roar of the supercharged Novi engines pushing their cars to full power on the Speedway’s brick surface was an experience unmatched, both before and since. And even though they never won an Indy 500, the Novis’ innovative technologies revolutionized race engine design.
Ironically, the extraordinary Novi engine that powers the rare 1935 Miller-Ford Indianapolis car on these pages did not exist when the car was originally designed by Harry Miller and Preston Tucker for Henry Ford in late 1934. Initially conceived and built under the auspices of automotive genius Harry Miller, this car was one of a stable of ten identical racecars built by Miller and automotive entrepreneur Preston Tucker for Henry Ford, specifically to compete as a Ford entry in the 1935 Indianapolis 500. It was initially powered by Ford’s new flathead V8 engine, which was purposed for use as an Indy 500 showcase, demonstrating the prowess of Ford’s new high-performance motorcars to an expectant public.
But how does one make God laugh? Tell him your plan. At the Indianapolis 500 race of 1935, Harry Miller and Preston Tucker’s plan failed, enraging Henry Ford. Tucker had insisted that the combination of a Miller racecar with a new race-prepared Ford Flathead V8 engine would be a superior combination that would win the ’35 Indy 500 – thereby proving to all the world the superiority of Ford’s new V8 engine, through Ford’s racing success. The anticipated outcomes from huge Ford commitment and expenditure with massive pre-Indy 500 promotion were dashed.
After forming Miller and Tucker, Inc. to build ten Ford V-8 racecars under contract to Henry Ford for Indy 1935, insufficient time for their development and testing caused race failures due to a simple exhaust manifold problem. Result: disaster.
Although Miller and Tucker did in fact finish all ten Miller-Fords in time for 1935 Indy qualifying, available man-hours were simply insufficient for the kind of development required for a new and untested racecar design. Although all ten cars were assembled and running for 1935 Indy qualifying day, only four made the race – and in the back of the pack, no higher than 26th on the grid. The slowest of the qualified Miller Fords started dead last in 33rd position. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough for Henry Ford, all four cars DNF’d in the 500, with the best one placing no higher than 16th and completing only 145 of the 200 laps. The other three cars didn’t even make the halfway mark. Their common fatal flaw was a steering box mounted too close to the exhaust manifold, which produced heat that caused the steering gear to seize, making it impossible for the drivers to steer their cars.
Yet the design of these awesome Miller racecars was later perfected by privateers, examples of which ran at Indianapolis through 1948. One of those cars, the Miller-Ford shown here, was fitted with an extraordinary new Novi engine after the engine’s debut in 1941. Hence, this car is a 1935 Miller-Ford Indianapolis racecar, powered by a monstrous 1941 Novi engine.
Although Henry Ford ordered the cars mothballed after what he considered the dismal Indy 500 failure of 1935, many automotive experts considered the cars masterful examples of design and engineering that simply needed more time and effort to be proven. Among these were longtime Ford engineer Lew Welch, who was highly regarded by Henry Ford. After Welch founded his own auto parts manufacturing company (with Ford and Ford dealers as primary customers), Welch used his relationship with Henry Ford to purchase initially one, and later additional Miller-Ford Indy cars. His idea was to optimize the cars’ engineering and development, fit them with better power and attempt the Indianapolis 500 once again. But they would not be entered as “Fords.”
Welch initially fitted his Miller-Ford racecar with a proven 270-cubic inch Offenhauser race engine, for re-introduction of the car to the Indianapolis 500. This successful combination provided an impressive 6th place finish at Indy in 1938 and an even better 4th in 1939, after which Welch embarked upon a search for a more powerful engine solution. Like Henry Ford, he still wanted to win the Indianapolis 500 outright. It was rumored, in fact, that Mr. Ford was sufficiently impressed with Welch that he provided clandestine funding for Welch’s racing efforts.
Lew Welch teamed up with race engine expert “Bud” Winfield, who conceived a new and innovative engine for the ’35 Miller racecar design. Welch and Winfield then brought on Fred Offenhauser and Leo Goosen, the two men responsible for the already renowned Offenhauser race engine. The magical chemistry of this talented team, led forward by the engine building artistry of Leo Goosen produced an invention like no other; a double overhead cam, supercharged race engine that produced an astonishing 450+ horsepower, yet was reasonably compact and lightweight and would ultimately prove dependable while spiriting the Miller racecars to new horizons and stunningly high speeds.
Originally named the “Winfield” engine (later changed to “NOVI” because manufacture took place in the town of Novi, Michigan), the engine’s storied “shriek” was caused by its gear-driven centrifugal supercharger that turned at over five times the crankshaft speed, thus giving it a scream at full power. The engine’s four-cam format with oversized valve design also gave it an exhaust noise much louder than other engines of its period, resulting in a deep-bass roar that sounded like a WWII fighter plane. Some claimed that the noise actually rattled their teeth.
The whole Novi package became legendary and had a notorious reputation for being perilously powerful, particularly after racing veterans Ralph Hepburn (in 1948) and Chet Miller (in 1953) both died in practice while piloting these enormously powerful racecars. After repeated proofs to Lew Welch that the Novi engines dangerously overpowered his 1935 Miller racecar design, causing wheel spin at less than full speed on the Indianapolis straightaway, he was finally convinced to deviate from his beloved front-wheel-drive Miller racecar to a later-period rear-wheel-drive Kurtis chassis.
The restored Lew Welch 1935-41 Miller-Ford Novi on these pages was discovered in the early 1970s in the M.H. “Tiny” Gould collection, before transfer to the ownership of Don Noble of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and later to Jim Etter of Pittsburgh. “Buck” Boudeman purchased the car from Etter. Both the car and its namesake Novi engine were reunited when Etter sold the car to Robert Sutherland, who had acquired a disassembled Novi engine from John “Doc” Young. Under Sutherland’s care and ownership, both car and engine were brought back to life and displayed. Mr. Sutherland’s death led California automobile dealer and car collector Joe MacPherson to purchase it at auction. And after MacPherson’s passing, Tom Malloy was able to acquire and add this extraordinary racecar to the Malloy Collection, Inc.
