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Peter Revson
Revson at the1973 German Grand Prix
Born	Peter Jeffrey Revlon Revson (1939-02-27)February 27, 1939 New York City, U.S.
Died	March 22, 1974(1974-03-22) (aged 35) Kyalami,Gauteng, South Africa
Cause of death	Injuries sustained at the 1974 South African Grand Prix
Partners	Marjorie Wallace (1973–1974; his death)
Relatives	Charles Revson (uncle)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	American
Active years	1964,1971–1974
Teams	PrivateerLotus,Parnell,Tyrrell,McLaren,Shadow
Entries	32 (30 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	2
Podiums	8
Careerpoints	61
Pole positions	1
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1964 Monaco Grand Prix
First win	1973 British Grand Prix
Last win	1973 Canadian Grand Prix
Last entry	1974 Brazilian Grand Prix
Champ Car career
17 races run over 8 years
Best finish	12th(1971)
First race	1966Bobby Ball Memorial(Phoenix)
Last race	1973California 500(Ontario)
First win	1969Indy 200 Heat 2(IRP)
Wins Podiums Poles 1 3 3

Peter Jeffrey Revlon Revson (February 27, 1939 – March 22, 1974) was an Americanracing driver, who competed inFormula One between1964 and1974.^[a] Revson won twoFormula One Grands Prix across five seasons.

Born and raised inNew York, Revson was the nephew ofCharles Revson and heir tocosmetics companyRevlon. Revson won theCanadian-American Challenge Cup in1971, and finished fifth overall in theWorld Drivers' Championship in1972 and1973 withMcLaren. He was also runner-up toAl Unser in the1971 Indianapolis 500.

Revson, along withDan Gurney, was one of two drivers to win races inFormula One,IndyCar,Can-Am, andTrans-Am. His champagne-spraying celebrations in victory lane earned him the nickname "Champagne Peter". Revson was inducted into theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1996.

Peter Revson was born in New York City, the son of Martin Revson and Julie (née Phelps) Hall.^[1] Martin had been a founding partner (along with his brotherCharles Revson) ofRevlon cosmetics, but had parted ways in 1958 and become chairman of Del Laboratories in 1963.^[2][3] His mother had been a nightclub singer at the time Martin met her.

Revson's full name was Peter Jeffrey Revlon Revson, his middle name a nod to his family's business.^[4] As a young man, newspaper articles commonly referred to him as Peter Revlon Revson.^[5]

A young, handsome bachelor described as a "free spirit", Peter passed up an easy life for one of competition and danger, including driving in both theUSAC Championship Car andFormula One circuits, piloting a 32-foot (9.8 m)ChrisCraft boat, and courting some of the most beautiful women in the world. At the time of his death, he was engaged to therecently dethroned^[b] 1973Miss World,Marjorie Wallace.

Peter Revson spent his childhood in White Plains, New York, attending prep schools. He had two sisters, Jennifer and Julie Ann, as well as a younger brother Doug, who was killed in a race in Denmark in 1967. Revson never finished his college education after attendingColumbia University,Cornell University, and theUniversity of Hawaii. In 1960, while attending the University of Hawaii, he bought aMorgan and entered intosports car racing. In his first race, Revson placed second, then won his next race. His family withdrew their financial aid when he turned his attention to competitive racing full time, relying instead on his savings and education funds. Teaming with Cornell classmateTimmy Mayer and friend Bill Smith, and managed byTeddy Mayer under the Rev-Em Racing banner, Revson competed inFormula Junior in 1962.

In 1963, after limited successes and withFormula One (F1) aspirations, Revson took the remaining money he had, aroundUS$12,000 (equivalent to $123,200 in 2024), and moved to the United Kingdom. There he was able to buy a Formula JuniorCooper T56 and aFord Thames van. He then began barnstorming around mainland Europe competing and winning against the likes of future F1 starsDenny Hulme andJochen Rindt. Revson caught the attention ofReg Parnell, from whom Revson rented workshop space, and was offered a spot on Parnell's planned F1 team for the1964 season. Revson made his F1 debut at a 1963 exhibition race at the Gold Cup inOulton Park, England, finishing ninth. In 1964, Revson teamed with fellowReg Parnell Racing driversChris Amon andMike Hailwood, referred to as the Ditton Road Flyers, who received more attention due to their antics and wild parties than their performances on the track. Revson also raced that year, closely associated with Reg Parnell Racing, under his own Revson Racing banner. Both teams were uncompetitive due to a number of factors, including the sudden death of Reg Parnell, financial troubles, and the poor performance of theLotus 24 car. Revson raced in four of the ten F1 World Championship races that season, completing only two; his best finish was 13th at the1964 Italian Grand Prix. He also competed in five non-championship races that season, where his best finish was a fourth place at the1964 Solitude Grand Prix, in West Germany.

Revson accepted an offer to race in the United States in 1965. Focusing mainly on sports car racing, including theCan-Am andTrans-Am Series, he was able to build his reputation as a capable driver. He also competed inAmerican open-wheel car racing, including the top levelUSAC Championship Car series. In that series, he qualified for the 33rd and final starting position at the1969 Indianapolis 500; despite completing only 197 of the 200 laps, he finished in 5th place in an underpoweredBrabham BT25. He returned to theIndianapolis Raceway Park track later in the 1969 USAC Championship Car season, where he finished third in leg one of the Indianapolis 200, followed by his first Champ Car win in the second leg. His 1969 success at Indianapolis Raceway Park earned him an invitation to race for theMcLaren team at the1970 Indianapolis 500, after his friend Chris Amon was dropped by the team for failing to qualify; Revson qualified 16th, but retired from the race due to mechanical reasons after 87 laps. That same year, while teamed in aPorsche 908/02 withSteve McQueen, the duo finished second overall in the12 hours of Sebring, and first overall in the 3-liter class, just a few seconds behind the 5-literFerrari 512 driven by a trio led byMario Andretti. McQueen received credit for driving with a broken foot, which also meant that Revson drove the bulk of the race. Revson also the finished the1970 Can-Am season in 8th, driving aLola T220 forCarl Haas Racing.

The 1971 racing season was a major breakthrough in Revson's career. Driving at the1971 Indianapolis 500 for McLaren Racing, he qualified in the pole position in aMcLaren M16, and finished the race in second place. As a member of the McLaren Racing team in the1971 Can-Am season, Revson drove hisMcLaren M8F to five wins and three other podium finishes in the 10-race season, winning the championship. His success earned him an invitation to race in Formula One, at the season ending1971 United States Grand Prix, for theTyrrell Racing team; he started 19th, but retired after one lap due to mechanical issues with hisTyrrell 003-Ford Cosworth DFV.

His success in 1971 earned Revson an offer from the McLaren Formula One team for 1972, headed by his long-time friendTeddy Mayer. Revson entered the 1972 season as a driver for McLaren's Indy Car, Can-Am, and Formula One teams.

His champagne-spraying celebrations in victory lane earned him the nickname "Champagne Peter".^[6]

During the1972 F1 season, Revson finished 5th in the Driver's World Championship, helping McLaren finish 3rd in the World Constructors' Champion Championship with itsMcLaren M19A / M19C. Running 9 out of the 12 races, Revson finished on the podium four times with three third-place finishes and a season-best second-place finish at the1972 Canadian Grand Prix.

As part of his contract with McLaren, Revson was required to drive a McLaren Indy team entry in theIndy Car Triple Crown of 500 mile races for the1972 USAC Championship Car season.^[7] At the1972 Indianapolis 500, he started from 10th on the grid, but retired due to mechanical issues after 23 laps. He also retired due to mechanical issues, after 7 laps, at thePocono 500 and finished 23rd at theCalifornia 500.

During the1973 F1 season, Revson won two races in hisMcLaren M23, the1973 British Grand Prix and the1973 Canadian Grand Prix. He added two other podium finishes, with a third place and a second-place finish, helping McLaren finish 3rd in the World Constructors' Champion Championship. Despite Revson's successes, Teddy Mayer was not satisfied and McLaren opted for the 1972 champion and 1973 runner-upEmerson Fittipaldi.

Revson again drove a McLaren Indy team entry in the Indy Car Triple Crown for the1973 USAC Championship Car season. At the1973 Indianapolis 500, he qualified to start from second on the grid, but retired after brushing the wall on the third lap. He qualified in the pole position for both the1973 Pocono 500 and the1973 California 500, finishing 21st and 23rd, respectively.

For the1974 F1 season, Revson signed with the one-year-oldShadow Racing Cars F1 team. Driving the team's newShadow DN3, Revson retired from the first race after an accident in the second lap, and retired from the second race due to overheating of hisFord Cosworth DFV engine after 10 laps.

Revson was killed during a test session on 22 March 1974, before the1974 South African Grand Prix inKyalami. HisShadow DN3 suffered a front suspension failure and crashed heavily into theArmco barrier on the outside of "Barbecue Bend". The car stood on its nose, wrapped itself around the barrier and caught fire, and although safety workers and other drivers managed to pull Revson from the wreckage, he was already dead.

Tony Southgate, designer of the DN3, in a 2012 interview withMotor Sport, said:

Revvie was a fabulous easy-going guy, fitted in well, and a very good driver. But tragically he wasn't with us for long. He qualified on row 2 for Argentina and row 3 for Brazil. Then he and I, our chief mechanic Pete Kerr and two other mechanics went down to Kyalami for testing before the South African GP. Revvie was going very well, very happy with the car, and then he didn't come around. We rushed out to the back of the circuit and found the car buried under the Armco on the outside of a quick corner. Peter was already in the ambulance and gone. I phoned the hospital, and they told me I had to go to the morgue and identify him. When the news got out all hell let loose, journalists banging on my hotel door, then the Revson family lawyer arrived and took over.We were using titanium quite a lot on the DN3, which was quite a new material then. Titanium is finicky, it has to be machined smooth and the surface polished, and a ball joint which had some coarse machining on it had failed. There was only one layer of Armco and the car, instead of being deflected or stopped, had gone right under as far as the cockpit. I felt personally responsible. It was a very difficult time. The glamour of Formula 1 had gone, replaced by a sort of loneliness. You just had to work on. Of course I replaced all the titanium components with steel before the next race.^[8]

He was the second Revson to lose his life racing; his brother Douglas was killed in a crash inDenmark in 1967. Peter and Douglas Revson are interred together in a crypt in the community mausoleum atFerncliff Cemetery inHartsdale, New York. Revson's autobiography,Speed with Style, co-written with Leon Mandel, was published posthumously by Doubleday & Company in 1974.

Revson was replaced byTom Pryce, who died three years later atthe same Grand Prix.

Revson was inducted into theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America^[9] in 1996 in the sports car category.

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position)(Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)

• List of select Jewish racing drivers

All work no playboy | Motor Sport Magazine Archive. (2014, November 27). Retrieved fromAll work no playboy

Chang, R. S. (2008, May 29). McQueen's Porsche, but Memories of Another Driver. Retrieved from

(n.d.). Retrieved from[1]

There but for fortune | Motor Sport Magazine Archive. (2014, December 23). Retrieved fromThere but for fortune

• Bruce McLaren Trust website with articles featuring Revson
• Video Tribute to Peter Revson onYouTube
• Video interview with Peter Revson onYouTube

• 1939 births
• 1974 deaths
• American Formula One drivers
• Hotchkiss School alumni
• Cornell University alumni
• Reg Parnell Racing Formula One drivers
• Tyrrell Formula One drivers
• McLaren Formula One drivers
• Shadow Formula One drivers
• Formula One race winners
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Indianapolis 500 polesitters
• Trans-Am Series drivers
• Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery
• Racing drivers who died while racing
• International Race of Champions drivers
• Sport deaths in South Africa
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• Racing drivers from New York City
• World Sportscar Championship drivers
• 24 Hours of Daytona drivers
• Jewish American sportspeople
• 20th-century American Jews
• Revson family

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