Peter Revson

There has, perhaps, been too much said about the dangers of auto racing. Yet the sometimes-brutal sport has cut short the promise of many drivers just as the potential of their talent was being realized.
Peter Revson was one of those.

Born in New York as the son of one of the founders of the gigantic cosmetic firm, Revlon, he had movie star good looks, charisma and an unquenchable zest for life. Revson could have chosen any lifestyle that struck his fancy. 
He chose racing.
A far cry from the life he was familiar with, racing in that era was grimy, roughneckand dangerous. Yet he embraced it. Desired it. Dreamed of it. It had him — more than the beautiful women that flocked around him, more than his family’s Upper West Side, New York City social circles, more than the money that he would one day inherit. 
Revson’s goal was to become both an Indianapolis 500 winner and a Formula One champion, and he demonstrated that he had not only the talent, but also the versatility to have accomplished that.   
As a part of Ford’s epic 1966 world-championship-winning season, he drove one of the remarkable GT40s to five victories. He captured the pole at Indianapolis in 1971 and came close to winning the 500. He did win the fiercely competitive CanAm Championship in 1971 against a stellar field that included Jackie Stewart, Dennis Hulme, Mark Donohue and Dan Gurney. He also won in Formula One, the last natural born American to do so.
Revson’s exceptional career had modest origins.
He first delved into racing with his Morgan sports car in 1960 while living briefly in Hawaii. He finished second in his first race and won the next event. After his third race, he was asked to leave the Hawaiian racing club; his aggressive driving had upset some of the more genteel racers.
Short lived as that stint was, it infused Revson with a love. He raced his Morgan successfully with the SCCA, and then in 1963 took his first steps toward Formula One. 
With a few thousand dollars of his own money, he bought an old bread truck that served as his transporter, as well as his place of residence, and competed throughout Europe in a Cooper Formula Junior.

FAST TIMES: Peter Revson makes his Formula One debut in Reg Parnell’s Lotus-BRM in 1964.

In 1964, he made it to F-1, running six races for Reg Parnell’s team driving a Lotus-BRM. Though moderately successful, the money was not there for him to continue in 1965. Instead, he turned to international sports-car racing, running at Sebring, Daytona and Le Mans, as well as competing in the Trans-Am and Can-Am series.
Throughout his career, Revson had to deal with the accusation that he was little more than a moneyed, jet-setting playboy, whose only interest in racing was its perceived glamour. He humbled many critics, however, with two telling demonstrations of his true racing resolve.
His younger brother, Doug, who had followed Peter into racing, was killed in a Formula 3 race, on July 30, 1967. Two days after burying his kid brother, Revson returned to the track and convincingly won a Trans-Am race at Bryar Park, N.H.
That Revson was a determined racer was further confirmed during his first visit to Indianapolis in 1969. He struggled all month with an underpowered Brabham before finally eking his way into the race in 33rd position. At the green flag, he began a sustained charge to the front and finished a surprising fifth.
Those who had once doubted him now touted him as a shoe-in for rookie of the year. That honor, however, went to Donohue, who finished two spots behind Revson.
The incredible drive did land Revson in a factory McLaren for 1970, although he fell out of the 500 early with a bad clutch. In 1971, the McLaren was impeccable. Revson won the pole, and nearly the race, giving his friend and nemesis, Donohue, his comeuppance for 1969 in the process.
Donohue had thoroughly dominated the month of May, routinely setting the daily fast times. He was the odds-on favorite for the pole. And, after his record breaking Pole Day qualifying run, most conceded it to him. 
Not Revson.

Peter Revson (right) chats to Dennis Hulme. (ALAMY IMAGES PHOTO)

He rolled out hours after Donohue with little fanfare. He rolled back in four laps later with the old Speedway in an uproar and new track records that would stand for 11 years. That dramatic pole-winning run endeared him to the fans and made him the sentimental favorite to win the race. At the start, however, he dropped back with a mysterious vibration that was never resolved and finished second. It was a fine race but a personal disappointment.
Despite that, 1971 proved to be a banner year for Revson.
The Can-Am series was the most wide-open series racing has ever known. There were no limits on engine size, tire size or chassis weight. 1,200 horsepower engines crammed into sleek, open-cockpit bodies earned the series the moniker Rolling Thunder.
A delicate feel for the car and a truck load of courage was required to handle those overpowered monsters around twisty road circuits like Laguna Seca and Watkins Glen. Revson had both. He won five of the 10 events and the championship.
His 1971 performance earned him a seat in the McLaren Formula One car for 1972. By 1973, Revson and the McLaren had come into their own, with Revson winning two Grands Prix that year and finishing fifth in points.
1974 could have been Revson’s Formula One championship season. But, needing an influx of cash, McLaren signed Emerson Fittipaldi with his hefty Marlboro sponsorship in Revson’s place. Revson nearly had a deal with Ferrari, but that, reportedly, fell apart when Ferrari would not accommodate Revson’s desire to be free to run Indianapolis.
Revson instead signed with Shadow, a new team, owned by American Don Nichols. It was a development effort from the start, but the team was quickly becoming competitive. At a practice session at Kyalami, South Africa, on March 22, a titanium suspension bolt snapped, and Revson’s Shadow DN3 exploded against a steel guardrail.
Graham Hill and Emerson Fittipaldi were the first to the crash, but Peter Jeffery Revson was already gone, his amazing potential never realized. His family quietly laid him to rest next to Doug in a crypt at Ferncliff in Hartsdale, N.Y.