FA: Speaking of IROC, in your book, you speak about how challenging stock car racing is, and how you regret not having taken it more seriously as a possible career path. Would you consider returning to racing if offered a NASCAR ride?
SM: I wouldn't at this point, because I know I've passed my peak. When I retired, I was leading the championship, and won the previous race. I know how fit you have to be and how much racing you have to do to be at your peak, so I wouldn't go back just to fill-up the field.
FA: Throughout your career, your successes on the track seemed to have been matched by an innate business sense that enabled you to attract and keep sponsors. In an age where money seems more important than ever to a successful racing campaign, what secrets can you share for budding racers seeking sponsors?
SM: The sponsor needs to get a return on his investment, and it should be a much better return than one would get through an advertisement in a newspaper or television. So it's critical to have a plan and proposal going in, so that the sponsor can see initially that he is getting a better return than through investing in some other kind of medium. Then one needs to follow-up, to make sure the sponsor is getting such a return so that you can keep the sponsorship.
FA: You established Stillen with your former sponsor and good friend Dave
Schollum. From a small shop, Stillen has grown into a thriving auto accessory and parts operation. Do you see any similarities between winning races and growing and running a successful business?
SM: Absolutely. It's still competition. If the market wasn't competitive, none of us would do as well as we are. The aftermarket is a thriving business, and it's because of the competition that we're trying to produce better parts and offer better service. It really comes down to doing a better job of winning the "race".
FA: You've got quite an operation here. How many employees do you have now?
SM: We now have a staff of 130 enthusiasts. The company is terrific fun. I get so much pride walking around seeing what we do here, because we have so many talented people. If you think about the fact that we do all of the modeling, mold-making, urethane production, R&D, machining, fabrication work, sales, and marketing, it's incredible.
FA: In 1995, Stillen introduced the world to Nissan's 25th Anniversary SMZ 001, a highly modified 300ZX, and distributed through select Nissan dealers. Your shop also developed the super-charged 2000 Maxima pace car, and more recently the blazing orange 2002 Altima. Can we expect more Nissan-based project cars? Perhaps a modified G35 coupe to take on the M3? Or a hot rod 350Z to challenge the exotics?
SM: You can certainly expect that; it's what we're good at. We've just finished the Spec V body kit, and we're doing mechanical components for them as well. We're also working on new suspension parts for the Altima and Sentra. Of course, we're dying to get our hands on the new 350-Z; we just think its going to be terrific. We still do good business with the Z32 because a lot of those cars are wearing out, and the owners are upgrading instead of going with original parts.
FA: I assume you do the testing yourself, and that the finished product has to satisfy you as a racer before it's made available to the public?
SM: Absolutely. We have a dynamometer here so we can do horsepower and torque measuring, but with handling and braking, the only way to do it properly is to drive them myself. We do a lot of development with braking using AP racing kits and different pads.
FA: It's interesting how you're one of the few outfits that have placed an emphasis on braking, but it's such an integral part of being able to consistently drive fast.
SM: We started the whole aftermarket brake upgrade kits, because we recognized way back in 1989-90 that a lot of people put emphasis on making a car look good, handle better, and produce more horsepower, but the brakes were being neglected. I know from racing the importance of good brakes, consistent brakes, which is where the idea came from.
FA: A few weeks ago, Stillen held the annual open house, where enthusiasts were free to stop in and explore all of the after-market parts and project cars on display. Do you have plans for a similar event in the near future?
SM: We'll be having a "Nissan Day" later in the year; we've had the "Sentra Day" and "Maxima Day", but this will be for all Nissan models and fans.
FA: Have you driven the Skyline/G35 yet? This is probably one of the most intriguing Nissan cars to come about in a long time.
SM: We have one here now. We've actually started to develop some parts for the intake system, with work now on the exhaust system. We've already made more horsepower with the new exhaust system, but are working to produce even more. The enthusiasts are very pleased to see what's coming from Nissan-Infiniti; I know we are. It's a great base for us to work from.
FA: You've done quite a few stunt drives for television commercials, once even filling in for Ayrton Senna to shoot a Honda commercial. Do you still do them? And wasn't that your nephew Rhys Millen recently in a Nissan commercial spinning the Altima to a 360 degrees stop?
SM: Yes it was. I don't do very many commercials these days, being so busy with running the business. What's happened is that over the years, we've evolved to manufacture more of our own parts. That means investing in people, equipment and machinery, and being a lot more involved in new business, R&D, etc., so I can't be away too often doing commercials. Besides, coming to work is fun. It's very easy to get up early to go to work, because you're doing your hobby.
FA: It's something all of us dream of doing. What are your personal cars at the moment?
SM: I have a '95 300ZX - the limited edition model we produced; a GMC Yukon - terrific for carrying things and towing a trailer; a '59 Cadillac convertible - growing up in New Zealand, we didn't get to be around the big American cars; a '34 Ford with a big-block blown Chevy; and a couple of motorbikes, including a Harley-Davidson with a turbocharger. So I don't have a lot of vehicles, but the ones I have are pretty special.
FA: You've also got here in the lobby the Ralt RT1 Formula Atlantic car which you successfully campaigned in Southeast Asia against the likes of Andrea de Cesaris and Mike Thackwell. Tell us a little about that car and how you reacquired it.
SM: My business partner David Schollum, owned the car in the late '70s, and I raced it at all the grand prixs throughout Southeast Asia, and even raced it at Long Beach in 1981. We then sold the car to a chap in New Zealand and bought a new ground-effect Ralt RT4, which I raced for a season before moving to America to continue my career. About 5 years later, David and I saw an advertisement in an Australian paper for the "ex Schollum Racing Millen RT1". So we said, "Wouldn't it be great to get that car, rebuild it to what it was like, and run it at some historic events". We've taken it down to the last nut and bolt, and the car is now immaculate. It's been very, very fast at the historics.
FA: Do you enjoy running in the historics?
SM: Historic events are fun, but they're potentially quite dangerous, and they worry me a lot when I'm driving. I'm very cautious about being around people I don't' know; I don't know their abilities or preparation of their cars. I'm not overly excited about them; it's more of a fun event than a competitive event.
FA: Of course, your other car, which is occasionally displayed in the lobby here and which you dust-off to run in special events, is the IMSA GTS-champion 300ZX. Which races did you run in that car?
SM: That's chassis number seven. It's probably the best among eight that were built. I won the championship in it in 1994, won Sebring outright, was leading the Daytona 24 hour race until an engine problem, which was very, very rare in those cars. It was the sister car that we won that race in. I've won many other races, and spent so much of my career with it, so it's very special to me.
FA: You were in Japan last year at the invitation of Nissan for the
NISMO festival.
SM: Back in December, we took the #75 car there and ran it at the festival at Fuji, which was terrific fun.
FA: It must be a great feeling to get back in the car from time-to-time. Do you still feel the need for speed, or have you gotten it out of your system? How do you satisfy the speed craving?
SM: The need for speed never leaves you, whether I'm on a wave runner or a four wheel motor bike out in the desert. You still want to run it hard. The day you can't do that is a sad day. It's great to run things on the limit, although not nearly as much as it used to be.
FA: With Nissan expected to eventually return to road racing in the U.S. with the new Z and G35/GT-R models, do you foresee getting back into racing in some form, perhaps running your own team?
SM: I would only do so if it was correctly funded. I was fortunate enough in the last thirteen years of my career to spend six of that with the Toyota as a factory driver, and in the last seven with the Nissan factory team. Having been exposed to a properly-funded team that can do enough testing and development, and be competitive and successful, I feel it's the only way to go.
FA: Thanks for spending time with FA, and we look forward to future surprises from the Stillen shop.
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