Early Life
Miller was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in its suburbs. His lifelong love of automobiles began at age five in 1939, and he began secretly tinkering with his family’s 1937 Ford in 1948. He built an advanced 1940 Ford club coupe hotrod convertible in 1953. As a charter member of George Barris’s Kustoms of America based in Southern California, he ordered custom parts from Barris to complete his project in Pennsylvania.
Because of his knowledge of automobiles, Miller was assigned to the United States Third Army’s 45th Ordnance Battalion, Direct Automotive Support Company in 1957. This one-of-a-kind company was trained to repair jeeps and trucks under battlefield conditions and consisted of hot-rodders, drag racers, United Auto Workers assembly line workers and NASCAR racers.
Miller was mentored by Mel Leighton and Sumner “Red” Oliver, two black racing pioneers of the 1920s-1940s. These relationships, and friendships with Wendell Scott and Malcolm Durham, helped propel Miller and African American driver Benny Scott to many achievements racing under the Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR) and Vanguard Racing, Inc. banners in the 1970s.
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Famous quotes related to early life:
“... business training in early life should not be regarded solely as insurance against destitution in the case of an emergency. For from business experience women can gain, too, knowledge of the world and of human beings, which should be of immeasurable value to their marriage careers. Self-discipline, co-operation, adaptability, efficiency, economic management,—if she learns these in her business life she is liable for many less heartbreaks and disappointments in her married life.”
—Hortense Odlum (1892–?)