Raymond Milo

Contributor

Born in 1938 in Belgrade to a Serbian father and French mother, Raymond Milo spent the duration of WWII dressed as a girl. This was a direct result of his father’s important but dangerous position in the anti-Nazi guerilla; as the only male child in the family, the Gestapo placed a prize on young Raymond’s head. After the communist take over, Raymond escaped to France with his mother, but his father was never heard from again.

Eventually, Raymond studied mathematics at the Sorbonne and sculpture at Academie Raymond Duncan, but was more interested in sports cars, girls and jazz. In 1956, he set his sights on America. When a friend picked him up at the Chicago train station in a 1957 Chevy Belair convertible, Raymond knew then and there that the USA would be his home.

At the University of Illinois, the study of mechanical engineering was made more interesting by driving succession of used British sports cars to class. Raymond joined the Chicagoland Sports Car Club, and raced his various mounts in local races. His most memorable "racer" was a Morgan +4, which he bought from none other then Tom Barrett III.

After graduating, Raymond was offered a job at Douglas Aircraft Aerospace Division in Santa Monica. He made the drive to California on the unforgettable old Route 66.

Raymond also flirted with racing; his last race car was an SCCA championship winning BT21, ex Dino Diogardi that almost bankrupted him. He decided never to race again, because he "lacked talent, devotion to the sport, and money."

In the late sixties, Raymond swore off neckties, clearance badges and working for anyone else. He began buying remodeling and selling homes, started a publishing company, and bought the latest Ferrari for European delivery.

In the late eighties, Raymond Milo’s sage CPA advised him to start a collector car business to fund his expensive racing endeavors, and BB One Exports was born. In 1999 he sold the publishing business, and began racing (this time as a team owner rather than driver). Meanwhile, the car business flourished. In ’91, his Indy Lite team took the Rookie of the Year award, and finished 5th OVA in the championship. In ‘92 they finished 2nd OVA. Today, Raymond lives in the Hollywood Hills and still loves his job as "CEO and chief sanitation engineer" of BB One Exports.