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One of America’s renowned and passionaterestoration shops, Zakira’s Garage, is quarteredin a spacious and functional former telephone-repair-truck terminal in Cincinnati, just outsidethe historic town of Mariemont. Inside thebuilding’s subway-tiled walls prowls the ghost ofHarry Miller, whose innovative and preciseracing creations graced and dominatedAmerica’s speedways during the ’20s and ’30s.“If we could do only what we wanted to do,

we would work only on Millers,” says DonButler, Zakira’s president and brother of shopowner Dean Butler, the noted vintage-carcollector and racer, who founded LensCraftersand later Vision Express.The shop began as a repository and race-prep

and maintenance facility for Dean’s collectionand later for customer cars, but established itselfas a restoration shop in the late 1990s when

Dean asked brother Don to bring his businessexperience to bear on the success of Zakira’s,which was named after Dean’s children, Zacharyand Kira, and is pronounced zuh-keeras. “What keeps us going today is restoration,”

Don says. This all began with a complexassignment, the complete restoration of a Kurtis-Kraft Novi V8, a car with Miller underpinningsthat sat untouched from the day in 1953 whenChet Miller died behind its wheel atIndianapolis. While Zakira’s has a significant Miller focus,

Don believes “there’s not enough Miller work inthe world to keep a shop busy. I think we wouldmore fairly characterize our shop as a shop thatends up with a lot of one-off projects that otherpeople aren’t interested in.” Such a project is the current restoration of

designer Luigi Colani’s 1974 fanciful fiberglassand engineless rolling Le Mans sculpture; a one-off if ever there was one. Previous non-Millerwork includes restoration of a 1912 Bugatti Type13 (“the fourth-oldest Bugatti ever made”), a1938 BMW 328, the 1934 MG PA/PB known as“Leonidis” and the Fred Frame 1938supercharged Duesenberg Indianapolis car. Whether it ’s work on Millers or other

marques, a restoration at Zakira’s goes to theheart and soul of the car. Typically, engines andother major systems have to be completelyrebuilt or made from scratch, a painstakingprocess that requires a highly-skilled cadre ofindividuals who can mix technical expertisewith the artistic touches these cars demand. “The ethos of our shop is [that] the guys love

working on new things,” Don says. “We are fortunate to have a staff that thrives

in a problem-solving environment and is excitedwhen we get a job unlike others we have done.We take pride in historical accuracy and strive torestore to precise original spec with originalparts, if available, and if not, with parts fromoriginal pattern or spec.”

Mike Yust “dynos” a 159cid laydown Offy engine that wasshipped to England to be mounted in a Scarab Formula 1 car.

Mike Christie confirms the fit of the integrated fuel/oil tank forthe 1926 Locomobile according tothe wooden buck he also crafted.

Josh Shaw installs an in-house-made exact-replicafuel pressure pump on the 1923 Indianapolis-winning Miller.

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The essence ofZakira’s Garage is thecontinual challenge ofdoing one-off projects.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHYBY FRITZ FROMMEYER

The team at Zakira’s Garage(from left): Dave Schleppi,

Josh Shaw, Mike Yust,Mike Christie, Jim Himmelsbach,

and Don Butler.

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Except for gear cutting, upholstery, andpainting, everything is handled insideZakira’s. Projects often involve workingfrom drawings from which patterns andthen castings are made, the latter workcompleted on the outside.Zakira’s was able to purchase a trove of

original Miller drawings, blueprints, andpatterns. While invaluable for restorations,Zakira’s also sees itself as the curator of thisimportant and historic collection. These documents and patterns were

vital to the recent restoration of the 1923Indianapolis-winning Miller 122 of TommyMilton, which returned to the Speedwaylast May. Underway is work on the Miller-based 1926 Fengler Locomobile that CliffDurant sponsored and drove. And,amazingly, the shop is taking on an entirelyscratch-built recreation of Miller’s onlypassenger car. Built in the early ’30s, the“Burden car” was a complex four-wheel-drive vehicle powered by a superchargedquad-cam V16. Earlier Miller workinvolved restoration of the team car to the1923 Indy winner spec and rebuilding thepair of 1113cid V16 Millers (the largest-ever Miller engines) from boat-racer GarWood’s “Miss America VIII.” The central figure in Zakira’s restoration

work is Jim Himmelsbach, the first personhired. He came from Chris Leydon’sPennsylvania shop in 1996 where he didhis initial Miller work on the former LeonDuray front-wheel-drive car that’s in theSmithsonian. Jim “understands the genius of Harry

Miller,” Don says. “Jim really is our go-toguy for restoration issues, quality control[and] making final decisions … he’s anexcellent machinist, [has] a fine eye fordetail, a good knowledge of history and adesire to do it right.” Jim is joined by three others in creating

Zakira’s stunning restorations: MikeChristie, Josh Shaw, and Mike Yust. “I’mkind of the middle of the wheel,” Jim says.“I go and tell them how I feel it should be.This is how Miller did it. This is how wegotta’ do it. As long as it comes out andlooks exactly the same, if we cancompromise, fine. But, in the end, this iswhat it has to look like and this is how itfunctions.” That said, he respects theirskills and knowledge and listens to theirideas, adding, “Everybody is a perfectionistin their area.” The restoration process begins with the

establishment of the identity of the car inquestion. “What do we have and what doesthe customer want?” Don explains. Theorigins of the car must be established bythe owner’s diligence in purchasing an

Mike Yust prepares the 159cid laydown Offy engine for shipmentto England where it will be installed in a Scarab Formula 1 car.

Don Butler with Zakira’s huge in-house library of books and periodicalsthat are used to help confirm the authenticity of restoration projects.

The 1923 Indianapolis-winning Millergets attention from Josh Shaw.

Zakira’s isolated engine assemblyroom is manned by Mike Yust.

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authentic automobile and by Zakira’sconfirming this through research using itsextensive library and outside sources. If acar has gone through several iterations inits lifetime, what point in its history shouldthe restoration capture? The project automobile and its attached

or accumulated parts are examined forauthenticity, and anything that’s notoriginal is discarded. What’s left–a frame, adrive train, suspension, whatever—is setaside for restoration and all other necessaryparts, including engines and other complexsystems, are either sought or re-created.The entire process is tracked through

Zakira’s Project Management System, aquality-control and documentation processdeveloped by the sixth member of theshop, Dave Schleppi. Every part used onthe car is documented in this system, alongwith every hour of productive labor. Forexample, 10 years after completion, if thecar’s owner needs a part, he can findexactly what it is and who made it in oneof the huge three-ring binders he receivedupon completion of his car. It’s a “writtenand photo archive of everything we do,”Don says. “We think that we have to guarantee

quality every step of the way, and that youcan’t go back and sort of fix things that youdidn’t do right at the end [of the process].Do we look over a car at the end? Sure wedo. But that’s not the time to fix it.” Harry Miller would certainly agree.

ZAKIRA’S GARAGE6219 Wooster Pike

Cincinnati, OH 45227513-272-2229

Jim Himmelsbach drills and taps screw holes for an inspection plateto be mounted on the 1926 Locomobile’s integrated fuel/oil tank.

Dave Schleppi reviews one of the fivelarge three-ring binders that detailevery step in the restoration of the1938 BMW 328 tracked by Zakira’s

Project Management System.

Josh Shaw took a few test laps aroundZakira’s building after working on the1923 Indianapolis-winning Miller 122.