Bill Miller’s family business is still rolling after 100 years.

Bill Miller Used Cars is the continuation of a family enterprise that started with mule and wagon sales at 113 Washington Ave. in 1910.

In 1915, five years after opening, Fred Miller, the founder and grandfather of the current owner, Bill Miller, began selling Ford Model T’s.

The business continued with new and used car sales, and the Millers watched cars grow from an early 20th-century novelty to a staple of modern life.

The Millers sold cars through the coming of automotive air conditioning, the era of giant fins in the late 1950s, the 1970s body-style tragedies of the Gremlin and the Pacer, and the SUV craze.

Along the way, a second Miller car enterprise also opened. Bill Miller’s uncle, Clarence Miller, started out with Fred Miller’s business but struck out on his own in 1931 at the corner of Second Street and Washington. Now run by Bill Miller’s cousin, Floyd Miller, Clarence Miller Autos continues at 1926 Franklin Ave.

Bill Miller, 73, said the best cars he ever sold were the 1955, ’56 and ’57 Chevrolet Bel Airs. He regards them so highly because they had a good power-to-weight balance, they were sturdy, and even with a V-8, they got decent gas mileage for their day.

In his opinion, the Yugo gets the designation for the biggest lemon.

“It was a cheaply made car,” he said. “The upholstery didn’t last over a year and a half before it started tearing and ripping.”

Old guard

Bill Miller was born and reared in Waco. After high school, he headed south to the University of Texas to earn a bachelor’s degree in finance.

He came back to help run the business and eventually took over from his father, Allen Miller.

Bill Miller is active in Waco charities and often can be found afloat on his party barge on Lake Waco.

He also takes daily drives in his burnt-orange 1975 Cadillac convertible.

As the third-generation owner of the business, Bill Miller is a rarity, said Jamie Collins, Baylor University assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship.

Younger generations often don’t want to carry on a family business or don’t value the toil it took to build it.

“Probably less than 15 percent of family businesses make it to that third generation,” he said.

Families that stay in business do a careful job of grooming the next generation. Bill Miller already is looking to a nephew, Trey Miller, to take over when he decides to retire.

Because of the 1953 tornado that battered downtown and the 1960s urban renewal program designed to clear blighted areas of downtown, many of the dealers migrated away.

A lot of dealers settled together on Franklin Avenue, but in 1969 Miller’s headed for the former Kip’s Hamburgers location in East Waco.

How it began

Fred Miller got started in cars by gathering a group of friends and loading them on a train for Detroit.

They picked up 80 model T’s, with 40 drivers bringing them back in a caravan that took more than two weeks.

The cars were sold for about $900.

Originally, the business was at 113 Washington but moved across the street to 114 Washington in the 1930s.

How things were done in the car business 70 years ago would be unheard of these days, said Floyd Miller, 79.

Farmers traded livestock for cars, he said.

In cases where there was a balance due after the trade, Clarence Miller would just put a lien on the vehicle that the farmer would take care of when his crop came in.

“He would trade a horse for a Model A as a down payment,” Floyd Miller said.

In the first few decades, new cars didn’t cost so much and most sales were new, Bill Miller said.

A Chevrolet Bel-Air went for about $1,900 in 1954.

Things shifted at midcentury, and the Miller business quit selling new in the 1960s.

Along the way, there have been some memorable cars.

One of them was a certain Chevrolet that kept coming back after it had been sold.

“It was a 1955 Bel Air my wife bought brand-new,” Bill Miller said. After a couple of years, they decided to put it up for sale. The car sold and then later was brought back again to be put up for sale.

“We sold that car 25 times,” he said. The last time was in the late 1980s, he said.

Some of his customers have been unusual, too. He recalled the sale of a certain Pontiac Trans-Am.

“One time we sold a car to David Koresh. His name at that time was Vernon,” he said.

Proven value

The term “used car” may have a taint to it in the minds of many. After nearly a century of wheeling and dealing, the Miller business is ribbed by some who refer to their wares as “Miller three-day thrillers.”

But these days, used is the way to go, Bill Miller said, noting they are often a great value.

New cars now are more expensive, and many people don’t want to spend that kind of money, he said. Cars built in recent years are built to last, so when they come to his used lot, they often have some life left in them, he said.

“The only advantage to buying a new car is you get exactly what you want. You wind up paying 10 times the price of a used one,” Bill Miller said.

bteeter@wacotrib.com

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