If you want to make any money in racing, start with a lot of money. Luckily for American Peter Revson, a $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) inheritance usually helps buy you the best seat on the grid. New York-born Revson was the nephew of Charles Revson, who founded and ran the cosmetics giant Revlon, while his father Martin stood second in command.
That made the easy-going Peter one of the most eligible bachelors in Manhattan, and when he wasn’t cruising in high-end ChrisCraft speedboats with Miss World perched on the co-pilot’s seat, well, he was probably cruising with Miss Universe.
Easy living was a term made for this man; he had it all, but he didn’t necessarily want it all. All Revson wanted to do was race. So he did just that, easily affording to line up on any grid. Revson was a latecomer, lining up his Morgan Plus Four for the first time when he was 21, but for the next 15 years, racing was his life.
Three years after his debut Revson flew across the Atlantic to have some fun with single-seaters in Europe, before making a name for himself in tin-top racers. A top rookies finish in the 1969 Indy 500 and two years at the McLaren F1 team did a lot to put Revson on the motorsport map, as did two Grand Prix victories at the British and Canadian rounds of 1973.
But in his homeland it was sportscars and the muscle cars of the Trans-Am series that made him a household name — if your household loved racing. Top runs in the fearsome and competitive Can-Am series further boosted his success rate, and teaming up with film star Steve McQueen for the 12 Hours of Sebring wasn’t bad PR either. But Revson didn’t need the money or the fame.
And he would’ve carried on racing had it not been for March 22, 1974, when Revson showed up in South Africa for the Grand Prix at the old super-fast Kyalami. His Shadow’s titanium suspension failed and he veered into the Armco at Barbecue Bend. A great driver was killed, arguably before he even reached his prime. Since Revson went, no American-born driver has won a Formula 1 race.
