Spending money doesn't come easy for the Millers, the house notwithstanding. They tend to buy things on sale, and they certainly don't splurge on clothing. Miller likes to tell people he still wears the same $22 wedding ring and $150 watch. For years, the biggest thing he bought himself was a $64 softball mitt.

During the early years of his career, when his salary soared with the Toyota boom, he saved. Instead of buying a boat or taking lavish vacations, he saved the $88,000 he eventually used as the down payment on his first car dealership.

"You want frugal stories?" says Greg. "One time we drove downtown to get something to eat and pulled up to a parking meter right in front of the restaurant. Larry slowed down and then speeded up. I said, 'Where are you going?' He said, 'There wasn't any time left on the meter.' We drove a half block up the road so we could save 25 cents."

When the subject of Larry's frugality is raised, Gail is skeptical. "I don't know about that now," she says. "He has 11 Cobras. Want to see some of them?" She leads her guest to one of the garages on the property and points to three shiny red convertible sports cars.

The cars notwithstanding, she says, "Larry understands the value of money. About the only thing you can find fault with him is it's hard for him to enjoy it."

Gail has known Miller since they were 12. It began when he asked a friend if he knew of any cute girls he could meet; the meeting was arranged at Gail's locker. They introduced themselves. Nothing much happened, but when Miller appeared as a model for Gail's art class in ninth grade, the romance began in earnest. They married when she was 21 and he 20.

When the kids came along and Miller began working incessantly, Gail picked up the slack at home. "My mother is a saint," says Greg. Gail mowed the lawn, cleaned the garage, painted the house, fixed broken bikes, helped with homework and coped alone with the trials of her children.

"That's all Larry learned at home when he was growing up," says Gail. "He didn't learn emotional attachments and the warmth of a father. He thought he was doing what a father should do, and that was provide."

Miller's parents married before World War II and then divorced after the war ended. Miller was 1 1/2 at the time. His mother remarried a couple of years later. Miller's stepfather was Frank Miller, who worked at the Phillips petroleum plant. "You could set your watch by his electric shaver that went on every morning," says Larry. "He was a salt-of-the-earth kind of guy. Reliable. Honest. Hard-working."