Lance Reventlow and his close friend Bruce Kessler were from wealthy families and took up the relatively new sport in the US of sports car racing. They visited the various European manufacturers and returned home after deciding they could build a better car.

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Reventlow funded the new car company, Reventlow Automotive Incorporated, in August 1957 with the mission to build an all-American racer and compete and win in Europe against the likes of Ferrari, Maserati, Aston Martin and Jaguar.

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Reventlow recruited some of the best developers, designers and fabricators in the business, such as Warren Olson, Ken Miles, Phil Remington, Chuck Daigh, Traco Engineering and Troutman-Barnes to build the cars.

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The body was designed by Chuck Pelly and fabricated by Emil Deidt.  The painting and design were completed by Von Dutch who also designed the Scarab Logo.

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From 1957 to 1962 Reventlow Automotive built a total of 8 cars.  The first 3 were front engine sports cars, one mid engine, 3 Formula cars and one rear engine Formula car. The most successful were the 3 front engine sports racers.

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The three sports racers were build in 1958 and broke track records from their initial testing and throughout the year.

 

In 1959 the first car, left hand drive, was converted to a street car for Reventlow and the second and third, right hand drive, were sold to race teams in the Mid-west.

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The Meister Brauser and Nicky Chevrolet teams being the most successful of the Mid-West teams.

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The best source of information on Reventlow Automotive and the racing history of the Scarab is Preston Lerners book "SCARAB Race Log of the All-American Specials 1957-1965". 

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