Cult heroes -- Ak Miller

Hot-rodding pioneer, Carrera PanAmericana veteran, Bonneville record-breaker and turbocharger innovator, Ak Miller was nothing if not prolific. Born Arkton Moeller in Denmark — his family emigrated to Southern California in 1925 when he was a small child — he followed his brothers to the Muroc dry lakes in the early ’30s, thus beginning a love of speed.

After seeing service in the Battle of the Bulge, Miller returned Stateside to break hundreds of speed and endurance records at Bonneville in the early ’50s. But his fame spread further on entering an Oldsmobile V8-powered, Model T Ford-bodied special, El Caballo del Hierro (iron horse) in the Carrera, finishing 14th in 1953 and seventh a year later. Setting his sights on Europe, he then bought a Kurtis chassis and built another special, but his run on the ’55 Mille Miglia ended the first time he used the brakes.

Pre-empting Carrol Shelby by inserting a Ford V8 into an AC Ace, Miller returned to the salt before adding nine class wins at Pikes Peak and big finishes on the Baja 1000 to his tally. — RH