The Scarab was conceived by Lance Reventlow, heir to the Woolworth and E.F. Hutton fortunes. Reventlow assembled a team to design and build a car that could humble the popular Ferrari and Maserati racers of the day.
Chuck Pelly designed the gorgeous body, and Von Dutch laid down the beautiful metallic blue paint and white scallops.
In 1959, the Peter Hand Brewing Co. bought two Scarabs and hired Augie Pabst to drive one. He won the United States Auto Club’s National Road Racing Championship in 1959, and he was national champion in the Sports Car Club of America’s B-Modified class.
Meister Bräuser was a competitor of Pabst Blue Ribbon, and the success of a Pabst at the wheel of a Meister Bräuser-sponsored car did not sit well with the board of the Peter Hand Brewery (who produced Meister Bräuser beer).
Augie Pabst, the great grandson of the founder of the Pabst Brewing Company on his fathers side, and the Schlitz beer company on his mothers side, had a relatively brief racing career, spanning but ten years. But in those years he won numerous races, took two major Championships, and became one of the most popular and charismatic drivers of the day.
Pabst drove for some of the best-known car owners, such as Luigi Chinetti and Briggs Cunningham, and partnered with some of its best drivers, including Walt Hansgen and Roger Penske.
