• Log In
  • Become A Subscriber
  • News
  • Features
    • Special Features
    • Moss Special
    • Photography
    • Featured Editorials
    • Racecar Features
    • Roadcar Features
  • Race
    • Racecar Mag.
      • News
      • Features
      • Profile
      • Interview
      • Racecar Gallery
    • Columns
      • First Turn
      • Fast Lines
      • Fabulous Fifties
      • Heroes
      • Legends Speak
      • Stirling Speaks
      • Greatest Racecars
      • Last Lap
    • Profiles
      • Grand Prix History
      • Can-Am Racing
      • Grand Prix Cars
      • Mille Miglia
      • Race Profiles
      • Racecar Profiles
      • Driver Profiles
    • More
      • Art History
      • Fast Exposure
      • Hidden Treasure
      • Hot Laps
      • Time Capsule
      • Market Guide
      • The Golden Age
      • Hard Drive
  • Road
    • Roadcar Mag.
      • News
      • Features
      • Profile
      • Interview
    • Columns
      • From The Editor
      • By Design
      • Driven
      • Flashback
      • Roadcar Gallery
      • Roadcar Video
    • More
      • Roadcar Articles
      • Roadcar Features
      • Roadcar Interviews
      • Roadcar News
      • Roadcar Profiles
  • Brands
    • A to C
      • Alfa Romeo
      • Alpine
      • Auburn
      • Audi
      • Austin
      • Aston Martin
      • Bentley
      • BMW
      • Bugatti
      • Buick
      • Cadillac
      • Chevrolet
      • Chrysler
    • D to L
      • Dodge
      • Duesenberg
      • Ferrari
      • Fiat
      • Ford
      • Hispano Suiza
      • Honda
      • Koenigsegg
      • Jaguar
      • Lagonda
      • Lamborghini
      • Lancia
      • Lexus
      • Lincoln
      • Lola
      • Lotus
    • K to R
      • Maserati
      • Mazda
      • McLaren
      • Mercedes
      • MG
      • Mini
      • Mitsubishi
      • Morgan
      • Nissan
      • Packard
      • Pagani
      • Porsche
      • Renault
      • Rimac
      • Rolls-Royce
    • S to Z
      • SCG
      • Shelby
      • Spyker
      • Subaru
      • Sunbeam
      • Toyota
      • Triumph
      • Vauxhall
      • Volkswagen
      • Volvo
  • Events
  • Cars
    • Iconic Cars
    • SCD Car Profiles
    • VRR Car Profiles
    • Car Profiles
    • Garage & Collection Profiles
    • People Profiles
  • Market
    • Auctions Hub
    • Buyer Guides
    • Cars for Sale
  • For Sale
    • Cars for Sale
    • Dealer Showcase
  • Members
    • Become Member
    • Premium Content
    • Member Help
    • Free Newsletter
Reading
Scarab Collection at Bonhams Goodwood Revival 2015
ShareTweet
simon clay
1959 Scarab Formula 1 Single-Seater, 1959-Type Scarab Formula 1 Single-Seater and the Scarab Formula 1 Team Transporter
Events

Scarab Collection at Bonhams Goodwood Revival 2015

Avatar photoVR Staff

The Reventlow Automobiles Inc.’s (RAI) Scarab Grand Prix single-seaters were the first, home-grown, all-American team of Formula 1 racing cars. Bonhams will offer two of these Formula 1 classics, along with their Fiat-Bartoletti transporter, at the 2015 Goodwood Revival auction, to be held 12th September at the Goodwood Motor Circuit in Chichester, England.

The Scarab racing team was the brainchild of Woolworth heir, Lance Reventlow. A youthful racing enthusiast, he learned to race in Mercedes-Benz and Porsche cars, mixed in social circles that included the likes of James Dean, and founded Reventlow Automobiles Inc. to go racing “for America”.

Named after the Egyptian ‘good luck’ beetle, the first two Scarab sports cars used Chevrolet V8 engines, re-writing racing standards in US events through 1958-59. Three Formula 1 Scarabs followed, constructed by the Troutman and Barnes, combining lightweight and looks and a Mercedes-Benz Formula One-inspired fuel-injected desmodromic engine. But sports-racing success in the US and slow development delayed the Scarab team’s F1 debut until the 1960 Monaco GP. By that time the new age of rear-engined F1 cars, led by 1959 World Champions Cooper, had re-written the performance standards, and Reventlow’s Scarabs – driven by Reventlow himself and by the talented driver/engineer Chuck Daigh – proved outdated. After running RAI for five years, during which the company built eight racing cars, Reventlow wrote-off the operation as a tax loss.

Lance Reventlow was a true contemporary celebrity. His first wife was Hollywood actress Jill St. John, and his second was Mickey Mouse Club star Cheryl Holdridge. Heir to the Woolworth fortune, his mother was wealthy socialite, Barbara Hutton. A debutante, heiress and philanthropist, Hutton was one of the wealthiest women in the world. She married seven times (including a brief marriage to actor, Cary Grant), and had one son, Lance, with second husband, Count Kurt von Haugwitz-Reventlow.

In 1972, aged only 36, Lance Reventlow was killed when his private aircraft – flown by an inexperienced pilot he was tutoring – flew into a canyon near Aspen, Colorado, stalled in attempting a U-turn and crashed.

The 1959 Scarab Formula 1 Single-Seater (Est: £700,000 – £950,000), 1959-Type Scarab Formula 1 Single-Seater (Est: £400,000 – £525,000) and the Scarab Formula 1 Team Transporter (Est: £600,000 – £800,000) will be among the headline entries at the Bonhams Goodwood Revival 2015 sale.

Lance Reventlow's Scarab F1 at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix
Lance Reventlow\’s Scarab F1 at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix
Reventlow Scarab Transporter in period
Reventlow Scarab Transporter in period
Chuck Daigh in the Scarab F1 at Goodwood in 1961
Chuck Daigh in the Scarab F1 at Goodwood in 1961

James Knight, Bonhams International Group Motoring Director, said, “The Scarab team cars were fantastically quick, but unfortunately for Reventlow, not quick enough in their development. However, at events such as the Monaco Historic, and Goodwood Revival, the superiority of these front-engined projectiles has been absolutely demonstrated, time after time in recent years. These Scarabs are spectacular and beautiful Grand Prix cars with a proven race winning record at Historic motor racing events.”

For more information, visit Bonhams Goodwood Revival.

[Source: Bonhams]

Tags
Event (Goodwood Festival of Speed)Events AllEvents All (Car Shows & Festivals)Place (Goodwood)The Market (Auctions & Market)The Market (Auctions)Vendor (Bonhams)

Get Our Free Weekly Newsletter

We bring you all the latest from the world of vintage and classic cars each week. News, auctions, events, vintage racing and more.

Avatar photo
VR Staff
Sports Car Digest is composed of writers and photographers from around the world, all focused upon providing authoritative content and commentary and stunning images to our audience of historic car enthusiasts. Many of our contributors choose to be anonymous, so we use this author account to share their stories and amazing photography.
Related

Marketplace: 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL “Gullwing”

Lamborghinis on Lake Como

Cavallino Classic Modena 2025

2025 Hagerty Hill Climb at Shelsley Walsh

Marketplace: 1972 Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider

Jaguar E Type

Donington Historic Festival 2025

One Comment

  1. Avatar photo Tom Schultz says:
    August 27, 2015 at 9:03 am

    Only one of the two Orosco cars is real. One car is chassis #1, a true Scarab as raced in 1960. The other car is a replica. Caveat emptor.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • Free Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Paid Subscription
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • News
  • Cars For Sale
  • Special Feature
  • The Cars
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Subscribe
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Meet the Team
Copyright © 2025 A07 Online Media
  • News
  • Features
    • Special Features
    • Moss Special
    • Photography
    • Featured Editorials
    • Racecar Features
    • Roadcar Features
  • Race
    • Racecar Mag.
      • News
      • Features
      • Profile
      • Interview
      • Racecar Gallery
    • Columns
      • First Turn
      • Fast Lines
      • Fabulous Fifties
      • Heroes
      • Legends Speak
      • Stirling Speaks
      • Greatest Racecars
      • Last Lap
    • Profiles
      • Grand Prix History
      • Can-Am Racing
      • Grand Prix Cars
      • Mille Miglia
      • Race Profiles
      • Racecar Profiles
      • Driver Profiles
    • More
      • Art History
      • Fast Exposure
      • Hidden Treasure
      • Hot Laps
      • Time Capsule
      • Market Guide
      • The Golden Age
      • Hard Drive
  • Road
    • Roadcar Mag.
      • News
      • Features
      • Profile
      • Interview
    • Columns
      • From The Editor
      • By Design
      • Driven
      • Flashback
      • Roadcar Gallery
      • Roadcar Video
    • More
      • Roadcar Articles
      • Roadcar Features
      • Roadcar Interviews
      • Roadcar News
      • Roadcar Profiles
  • Brands
    • A to C
      • Alfa Romeo
      • Alpine
      • Auburn
      • Audi
      • Austin
      • Aston Martin
      • Bentley
      • BMW
      • Bugatti
      • Buick
      • Cadillac
      • Chevrolet
      • Chrysler
    • D to L
      • Dodge
      • Duesenberg
      • Ferrari
      • Fiat
      • Ford
      • Hispano Suiza
      • Honda
      • Koenigsegg
      • Jaguar
      • Lagonda
      • Lamborghini
      • Lancia
      • Lexus
      • Lincoln
      • Lola
      • Lotus
    • K to R
      • Maserati
      • Mazda
      • McLaren
      • Mercedes
      • MG
      • Mini
      • Mitsubishi
      • Morgan
      • Nissan
      • Packard
      • Pagani
      • Porsche
      • Renault
      • Rimac
      • Rolls-Royce
    • S to Z
      • SCG
      • Shelby
      • Spyker
      • Subaru
      • Sunbeam
      • Toyota
      • Triumph
      • Vauxhall
      • Volkswagen
      • Volvo
  • Events
  • Cars
    • Iconic Cars
    • SCD Car Profiles
    • VRR Car Profiles
    • Car Profiles
    • Garage & Collection Profiles
    • People Profiles
  • Market
    • Auctions Hub
    • Buyer Guides
    • Cars for Sale
  • For Sale
    • Cars for Sale
    • Dealer Showcase
  • Members
    • Become Member
    • Premium Content
    • Member Help
    • Free Newsletter
All Access
  • Free Newsletter
Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close
Featured (Racecar Feature) Events All The Market (Auctions & Market) The Market (Auctions) Featured (Vintage Car Racing)
See all results

Get Our Free Weekly Newsletter

We bring you all the latest from the world of vintage and classic cars each week. News, auctions, events, vintage racing and more.