Cars
Scarab. The Rarest Brands in the Top 100 Collections
Lance Reventlow: A bold American venture challenging European sports cars. Scarab, powered by a Chevrolet V8, triumphed before regulations hindered its European dreams. Reventlow's Formula 1 pursuit marked a pioneering American presence.
The history of American motoring, which for decades looked to Europe as its role model, was significantly influenced by Lance Reventlow. In 1958, at the young age of 22, Reventlow, the son of one of the wealthiest women in the world and heiress to the Woolworth retail estate, Barbara Hutton, decided to create a sports car of his own in strictly American blue and white colours to rival Ferrari, Jaguar, Aston Martin, and Porsche.
First out of the blocks for the new manufacturer was a very attractive and aerodynamically efficient car powered by a tuned Chevrolet V8 engine which started out at 301 cubic inches (4,930 cc) but was soon enlarged to 339 cubic inches (5,550 cc).
