Miles returned to the series in 1964 — again behind the wheel of a Cobra — and helped Shelby to the USRRC constructors’ title. The Briton’s partnership with the V8-powered symbol of US muscle has since become synonymous with road racing in America.
In 1965 Shelby began its racing partnership with Ford, which after a botched attempt to buy Ferrari, was set on building and developing a car of its own, capable of beating the Maranello outfit at Le Mans.
Miles was drafted in as a test driver — having become renowned for his ability to develop race cars and take machinery to a new peak — and became a leading force on two projects, both of which have since achieved legendary status.
The Ford GT350R Mustang, which wears a classic white and blue livery in Scalextric’s triple-car set, was a highly-tuned version of Ford’s coupe that acted as the test bed for Shelby American’s engineering projects, including the second 5R001 Mustang and the 34 customer R models.
In its first race at Green Valley Raceway on February 14, 1965, Miles made the car an instant icon: taking a sublime win after being photographed with all four wheels off the tarmac — a result of pushing the car to its absolute limit, but never going past it (as only Ken could).
Ken Miles gets some air in the GT350R
Mecum Auctions
But of all the cars in the Ken Miles Scalextric race set, none is more synonymous with him than the Ford GT40 — a car that started life as an unruly and unreliable monster but was quickly moulded into a endurance-dominating legend.
Miles was famously unimpressed with the original GT40 — with its alarming tendency to spin its wheels on the straights at over 200mph! — and was given mere months to turn its fortunes around before race season began. But despite the time constraint, the West Midlands native still managed to secure victory with Lloyd Ruby in the 1965 Daytona Continental 2000km as well as a second-place finish in the same year’s 12 Hours of Sebring with Bruce McLaren.
Unfortunately for Ford, the same success could not be found at Le Mans, as despite securing pole position, not a single GT40 reached the chequered flag — leaving Ferrari to claim an unopposed victory.
Miles in his No98 GT40 on his way to victory at Daytona, 1966
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In 1966, Ford rolled out the Miles-developed GT40 MKIIB and subsequently rocketed to the very top of the world endurance racing scene. Miles and Ruby won the Daytona 24 Hours for Ford and Shelby American — in the very same black, white and orange liveried car included in the Scalextric set — and won again at Sebring in March of the same year.
Miles and the GT40 then returned to Le Mans, where he led two sister GT40s for much of the race and set numerous lap records along the way.
As all Le Mans ’66 viewers will know, he should have won, but instead forfeited victory to Bruce McLaren after being ordered to orchestrate a formation finish. The pair finished in a dead heat, but McLaren was declared winner having initially started further back on the grid than Miles and therefore travelled a longer distance over the 24 hours.
Scalextric models of Ken Miles’ classic cars are on sale now
Scalextric
Despite being naturally disappointed, the Briton almost immediately continued his pursuit of perfection with the GT40 and began testing the ‘J-Car’ — an evolution of Ford’s winning sports car, designed to take on Ferrari’s growing might.
Tragically, on August 18, 1966, Miles died testing a J-Car at Californian circuit Riverside — a loss that shook the motoring world to its core. But the Briton’s renowned grit and winning legacy lived on momentarily with Ford, who took overall victories at Le Mans again in 1967, 1968 and 1969.
It remains to be seen whether the American outfit will be able to replicate that same success in 2027 during its return to Le Mans. But in the meantime, via Scalextric, fans can relive the glory days of Ken Miles on their very own living room floors.
