1958 Scarab Sports Roadster MK II Sports Roadster

Of the eight Scarab racers built, the brainchildren of 22-year-old Lance Reventlow - whose father was a European count, whose mother was heiress to the Woolworth fortune, and whose wife at the time was actress Jill St. John - four were astounding successes and four were spectacular failures. An intensely competitive racer, Reventlow recognized that European racing factories always kept the latest racing model for their own teams, and only by producing his own car could he achieve technical equality.

Reventlow commenced building his American car at Warren Olson's sport car shop in West Los Angeles. A 301-cubic-inch overbored version of Chevrolet's small block 283 cubic-inch V-8 was coupled with a Corvette four-speed gearbox. This powertrain was mounted in a light 127-pound space frame chassis wrapped with an aluminum skin to the configuration you see. The engine stroke was quickly increased to enlarge displacement to 339 cubic inches.

During the production of this vehicle, European sports car rules were changed to permit only engines up to 183 cubic inches (3.0 liters). Other engines were tried with dismal results so the Chevy-powered Scarab races were limited to the U.S. with Chuck Daigh and Reventlow driving. No car was more successful in SCCA B-Modified during this period.