After the war, Miles raced
Bugattis,
Alfa Romeos, and
Alvises with the
Vintage Sports Car Club. He then turned to a Ford V8
Frazer-Nash. In 1952, Miles moved from England to the U.S. and settled in
Los Angeles,
California, as a service manager for Gough Industries, the Southern California MG distributor. In 1953, he won 14 straight victories in
SCCA racing in an MG-based special of his own design and construction. For the 1955 season, Miles designed, constructed, and campaigned a second special based on
MG components that was known as the "Flying Shingle". It was very successful in the SCCA F modified class on the West Coast. Miles raced the "Flying Shingle" at Palm Springs in late March, finishing first overall against veteran driver Cy Yedor, also in an MG Special, and novice driver, actor
James Dean in a
Porsche 356 Speedster. Miles was later disqualified on a technical infraction because his fenders were too wide, thus allowing Yedor and Dean to get 'bumped up' to first and second. During 1956, Miles raced John von Neumann's
Porsche 550 Spyder at most of the Cal Club and SCCA events. For the 1957 season (in co-operation with Otto Zipper), Miles engineered the installation of a Porsche 550S engine and transmission in a 1956
Cooper chassis and body. It was the second successful race car to be known on the West Coast as "the Pooper", the first being an early 1950s Cooper chassis and body powered by a Porsche 356 power train that was built and campaigned by
Pete Lovely of Tacoma, Washington. The resulting car dominated the F Modified class of SCCA on the West Coast in the 1957 and 1958 seasons with Miles driving. Due to his great skill and talent, both as a driver and mechanical engineer, Miles was a significant member of the
Shelby/
Cobra race team in the early 1960s. Miles described himself this way: I am a mechanic. That has been the direction of my entire vocational life. Driving is a hobby, a relaxation for me, like golfing is to others. I should like to drive a Formula One machine, not for the grand prize, but just to see what it is like. I should think it would be jolly good fun! With a very pronounced
Brummie accent (from his hometown of Birmingham, renowned for car manufacturing) combined with a seemingly obscure and sardonic sense of humour, Miles was affectionately known by his American racing crew as "Teddy Teabag" (for his tea drinking) or "Sidebite" (as he talked out of the side of his mouth). He played a major role in the development and success of the racing versions of the
Shelby Cobra 289 in SCCA, USRRC, and FIA sports car racing between 1962 and 1965, as well as the
Daytona Coupe and 427 versions of the Cobra and the
Ford GT (GT40). Miles became the chief test driver of
Shelby-American in 1963. While a member of the AC-Cobra Ford Team, Miles entered a
Lotus 23 in the 1964 Player's 200 at
Mosport. In 1965, Miles shared a
Ford GT Mk II with
Bruce McLaren at the
24 Hours of Le Mans, but retired with gearbox trouble. Earlier in the year, also with McLaren, he had finished second at the
12 Hours of Sebring, and won the Daytona 2000 km that same year, with
Lloyd Ruby. The next year, Miles won the
24 Hours of Daytona, sharing the Ford GT Mk II with
Lloyd Ruby, and then won the 12 Hours of Sebring. Several months later, sharing the drive with
Denny Hulme, Miles was leading the
1966 24 Hours of Le Mans in the #1 car, but Ford executives, desiring a publicity photo of three of Ford's cars crossing the finish line together, instructed Miles to slow down, which he did. Miles's #1 car and McLaren's #2 car crossed the finish line almost at the same time, with photos and official track data showing McLaren's #2 as 6 metres ahead when crossing the line. Additionally, McLaren's #2 started just over 14 metres behind Miles's car and had therefore covered more distance during the race; the official rules regarding cars finishing together indicate that starting position should be taken into account, so McLaren was declared the winner. ==Death==