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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - On all fours through the Brickyard

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Created on February 11, 2026

Text:

Martin Sigrist / Gooding Christie's

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Gooding Christie's

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Gooding Christie's

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - The racing car served as an image carrier for a commercial vehicle manufacturer

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - A tightly packed, technical tour-de-force

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - Technically, the Miller 1932 was at the height of its time

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - There is a De Dion axle at the front and rear

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - The mechanics put a spanner in the works of the great success at Indianapolis

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - The Miller has a transfer case with integrated center differential like an off-road vehicle

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - The four-cylinder DOHC engine was installed in the specially prepared chassis after the demise of the V8

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - Housing for the front wheel drive with De-Dion axle tube in front

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - The Four-Wheel-Drive-Auto-Company financed the development

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Miller FWD Indy-Racer (1932) - The car was paid for by sponsor FWD Auto Company

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Christie was the first to experiment with front-wheel drive in racing cars in the USA

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Summary

Harry A. Miller was one of the most brilliant and influential designers in motorsport in the USA. He designed some of the most advanced racing cars of the early 20th century. From his early rear-wheel drive designs to the first successful front-wheel drive race cars that redefined American motorsport, a logical culmination of this development was the combination of front and rear-wheel drive in a single chassis, the Miller Four Wheel Drive (FWD) Special of 1932.

This article contains the following chapters

Bold in the economic crisis
Car sponsor from the commercial vehicle industry
Tightly packed, technical showpiece
Success with a different engine
Persistence paid off
A lot of original substance
The Miller FWD history, as far as is known:

Estimated reading time: 12min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Over the course of his career, Harry A. Miller - arguably America's most brilliant and influential race car designer - developed some of the most advanced race cars of the early 20th century. He steadily pushed his work forward, from early rear-wheel drive designs to bold front-wheel drive designs that redefined American championship racing at a time when the principle was considered in some quarters to be suitable for little more than small cars. Miller, however, pursued his ideas regardless of commercial success. The logical culmination of this development - the combination of front and rear-wheel drive in a single chassis - had been on Miller's mind for some time before circumstances allowed him to take this final step and develop a racing car with all-wheel drive.

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