Cars
Miller Golden Submarine: aerodynamics and safety on the track
Harry A. Miller, a brilliant inventor who shaped the world of American motorsport with his technical and aerodynamic innovations, is an example of how genius doesn't always require a university degree.
Genius doesn’t always go hand in hand with a university degree. Harry A. Miller, the man who “shaped” the world of American motor sport with his brilliant technical and aerodynamic inventions, is a case in point. After starting his career very young, as a mechanic, Miller went on to become hugely prominent, described by many as America’s Bugatti. Precisely because he was not specialized in any particular area, he was able to consider every single aspect of a car, to the point of conceiving, for Indianapolis, a racing car with a fully enclosed cockpit. How exactly he reached this point is not clear. We don’t know whether he had seen Count Ricotti’s Alfa Romeo, but the tail of his car certainly recalls the teardrop shape of the “Torpedo” developed in Milan.
Stages in the birth of a concept: Ricotti’s “Torpedo”, application of the teardrop idea to a single-seater, and finally Miller Golden Submarine.
His “Golden Submarine”, created for American driver Barney Adfield, boasted excellent rigidity thanks to its entirely steel frame — this was the first US racing car to have this feature —, and it also had a perfect teardrop shape. It is amusing to note how the futuristic tapered rear was combined with a classic front.
