It’s my guess Reventlow’s confidence in F1 success was based to a large extent on the achievements of 1) his sports racers and 2) the legendary Offy. If so, I fear his confidence was misplaced, particularly with regard to power. Speaking of the Briggs Cunningham Offy powered C6-R at LeMans 1955, one online commentator has offered: “Yet its biggest weakness remained: the Meyer-Drake Offenhauser engine, which was well suited to its Indianapolis roots, could never be modified satisfactorily for the ever-changing loads applied by road racing.” Reventlow himself should have known of that deficiency after experimenting unsuccessfully with an Offy in one of his sports cars while trying to meet European displacement standards. Chances are 99% though, that when anyone who pays attention to this stuff hears or reads the name Reventlow, the beautiful Scarab Mk1 and 2’s will come to mind. Not too shabby a legacy, Lance.
It’s my guess Reventlow’s confidence in F1 success was based to a large extent on the achievements of 1) his sports racers and 2) the legendary Offy. If so, I fear his confidence was misplaced, particularly with regard to power. Speaking of the Briggs Cunningham Offy powered C6-R at LeMans 1955, one online commentator has offered: “Yet its biggest weakness remained: the Meyer-Drake Offenhauser engine, which was well suited to its Indianapolis roots, could never be modified satisfactorily for the ever-changing loads applied by road racing.” Reventlow himself should have known of that deficiency after experimenting unsuccessfully with an Offy in one of his sports cars while trying to meet European displacement standards. Chances are 99% though, that when anyone who pays attention to this stuff hears or reads the name Reventlow, the beautiful Scarab Mk1 and 2’s will come to mind. Not too shabby a legacy, Lance.
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