Claim profile

Ken Miles

British racing driver (1918–1966)

  • Fame63.1
  • Momentum15.0
  • Wikipedia105.2K
Source-basedBreakout
Lived 1918–1966, aged 48United Kingdom
United Kingdom flagUnited KingdomAthletesAthlete
  • Wikipedia
    26 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    1918–1966
    Aged 48
  • Awards
    1
    recognised work
Summary
Updated 2026-08-23

An English engineer who could both design a race car and drive it faster than almost anyone — then got written out of the win that should have crowned his career.

Biography

About

Kenneth Henry Jarvis Miles was born 1 November 1918 in England and came to the U.S. with a rare double skill: he could tune an engine and pilot it at the edge. Teaming with Carroll Shelby, he helped develop the Ford GT40, the machine built to beat Ferrari at Le Mans. In 1966 the car finally won, but Miles was ordered to stage a photo finish and lost on a technicality. The GT40 went on to take Le Mans in 1967, 1968, and 1969; Miles never saw it. He died testing a prototype on 17 August 1966, two months after the race. He's in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, and the 2019 film Ford v Fer…

Deep cuts

Awards

Low confidence
  • Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
Where to find them

Platforms

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By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Rising
63.1
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum15.0
Historical25.6
Now attention100.0
Source confidence60.0
Completeness70.0
Global rank
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Country rank
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Category rank
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Receipts

Sources

  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence