"I had several long discussions with Ak about his Devin bodied specials.

Even though four of the cars carried the 295 Devin body, they all looked quite different. This was because the 295 body could be purchased with different lengths and widths as well as different radiator openings.

The fifth car carried the Devin SS body on an AC Ace frame with Frank Kurtis inde- pendent front and rear suspension. Yes, Frank was a big fan of independent suspension. 

The AC was purchased from Stirling Moss after Moss had put a rod through the Bristol block. Ak had been racing the AC with a small block Ford motor close to six months before Shelby had AC build his prototype Cobra. After running the car awhile, Ak mounted the Devin body. Later, Frank Kurtis offered to replace the suspension with a Kurtis design using mostly Ford parts.

Apparently, Ak built a sixth Devin bodied car for a customer. Ak never raced this car and I never saw it.

Ak was a Bill Devin body dealer. He told me that Devin would give him bodies as long as Ak agreed he would race the cars in order to promote Devin products. So, Ak would build the cars to suit whatever body Devin sent him.

Ak claimed that he built one of the cars in three weeks. He also claimed that one car was under 1500 lbs in weight. He had no frame to speak of behind the rear axle on some of the cars. He accomplished this by using coil-over shocks for rear springs, eliminating the need to have a frame member to support spring ends. The rear body work was mounted with electrical conduit!

He used Ford small block, Ford big block, Oldsmobile and Chevrolet motors depending on what was given to him or what he could buy cheap.

At one Pike's Peak event Ak was practicing with an Oldsmobile motor. The Ford people came by and asked why he was using a GM motor. Ak was employed by Ford at the time testing street cars. So, Ford gave him a big FE block Ford motor. Ak and his friends changed over right there in the dirt pits. This required different motor mounts, headers and plumbing. Ak finished the job and won the Sports Car class, making Ford happy.

He used Cadillac LaSalle, Jaguar, and T-10 transmissions.

Bill Devin showed up at Ak's auto repair shop a few months before Bill's passing just to reminisce about the old days."

(8-20-10)   More from Ron Cummings:

"Ak first ran the AC Ace with it's original body. Just as Ak was leaving for Bonneville,
Bob Sorrell dropped by the shop. Ak wanted  to do something about the streamlining
of the body. Right there, in a few minutes, Sorrell fabricated the aluminum cone that
stuck out the radiator opening.

Ak went quite well with this configuration. It was ugly as hell.

I never thought to ask what he did with the AC body.  Knowing Ak he probably found a buyer."

(8-24-10)   Another Ak Miller story from Ron Cummings:

Seven or eight months before Ak's passing we had a party at the NHRA museum for Ak. 

I told the story about Ak being black flagged three times during the 1959 Los Angeles Times Riverside GP by the Turn Seven steward. Ak had third place locked down toward the end of the race when he started getting flagged for leaking oil. There was no oil. 

It turns out the the steward was the jealous husband of a babe who Ak had loaned his Aston-Martin to. Ak's reputation as a Lady's man was such that the guy thought Ak was messing around with his wife.

Ak finished 13th and went looking for the guy. Ak always denied any affair with the woman. Apparently the babe was a friend of one of Ak's wives.

Ak was driving the Miller-Hanson Oldsmobile Devin and had he finished third it would have been a very big accomplishment."