72 replies to this topic

[JohnH]

A sad loss on March 22, 1974 when Peter Revson's Shadow suffered suspension failure in the 160 MPH barbecue bend, killing the american driver. Sadly missed and never forgotten.

JH

[x_acto]

RIP

Another great driver that don't have the time to prove himself right...

[Théodore33]

Very sad day

My uncle said me that he was a member of the Revlon familly, but changed his name for proving on his own. He also said me that he was kind.
Wasn't he the favorite driver of Téo Fabi who weared a similar helmet ?

[SEdward]

My best mate was a Revson fan in the early 70s. We trotted along to Silverstone in 73 with a yellow and white banner ("Revson rules" or something like that). Of course, neither of us ever dreamt that he would win, but he did. I remember waving the banner under the great man's nose on his lap of honour.

It makes me wonder about all the sentimental gushings in this forum and elsewhere about Peterson and that race (and practice). Revson picked him off nicely at Stowe (I think) and then drove away. I remember him saying after the race that he never felt worried about beating Ronnie, but wasn't so sure about Emerson. In any case, it was a damn fine race and the right man won. He also was hitched up with Majorie Wallace at the time (Miss World 1973, later dethroned), which was another major achievement.

I went to the 1974 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch with the same mate. I was a rampant Jacky Ickx fan (he won) and the mate in question was still a fervent Revson fan (it was his last race ever, I think he finished fourth). A meaningful day.

Edward

[philippe7]

Originally posted by SEdward

I went to the 1974 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch with the same mate. I was a rampant Jacky Ickx fan (he won) and the mate in question was still a fervent Revson fan (it was his last race ever, I think he finished fourth). A meaningful day.

Edward

I was there too....a miserable day for us poor sodden spectators in the pouring rain, but a brilliant drive by Jackie Ickx ( taking the lead from Lauda on the outside line of Paddock bend....)

It was Mike Hailwood who finished 4th actually , Revson was 6th....and James Hunt , Graham Hill , Denny Hulme were there too....all gone but not forgotten.

[SEdward]

Re the previous post. Sorry folks, but my attempt to post a picture of Peter Revson on his greatest did not work. Moderators, please feel free to delete my mistake;

[Keir]

I attended Peter's funeral in NYC, it was a very sad day.

Peter's last name was Revson and he didn't change it from Revlon, nor did his father.

Peter was distantly related to the Revlon money, at best!

[Tim Murray]

At the time of Revson's death there was a song riding high in the UK charts called Seasons in the Sun - a Jacques Brel song with English lyrics. I can still never hear it without being very strongly reminded of Peter.

[Dave Ware]

Peter Revson was one of my great heros. I re-read his biography every few years.

RIP, Revvie.

Dave

[Lotus23]

Dave Ware, he was one of mine as well. I was lucky enough to know him personally, though all too briefly, during his Formula Junior days in Europe in the early sixties. He bought me a beer out of his Montlhery prize money even though he had fewer francs than I did.

A class act. I can't believe it's been 30 years.

[RX-7]

Originally posted by Keir
I attended Peter's funeral in NYC, it was a very sad day.

Peter's last name was Revson and he didn't change it from Revlon, nor did his father.

Peter was distantly related to the Revlon money, at best!

I remember Bill Buetel and Roger Grimsby mentioning the funeral service on channel 7 Eyewitness News.Very sad time for this fella, who was slowing finding out his heroes were not invincible.

[David Lawson]

I too was at the Race of Champions in 1974, as others have said we all got soaked but what a great race. I had cloths and plastic bags over my camera but the rain still got everywhere, here are some of the photos I took that day.


Peter Revson and Mike Hailwood, I didn't realise until Edward pointed it out this was Revson's last race.


As Philippe said Jacky Ickx passed Niki Lauda around the outside of Paddock Hill Bend here they both are seconds later at Druids, Lauda still close but already beaten.


Emerson Fittipaldi found the conditions difficult.


Carlos Reutemman found the conditions even more difficult.

A great race on a great circuit. I know I have several photographs of Peter Revson at Silverstone in 1973 including a shot of him on the slowing down lap waving to the crowd, when I can sort my negatives I'll post the picture.

David

[x_acto]

David Lawson, you pictures are just great!

Those black & white colors makes it something special!

[SEdward]

Interesting to see how Ickx took a wide line through Druids too.

Since this thread is about the late, great Peter Revson, does anyone have the 1973 Canadian GP lap charts? I would be curious to read input on that race in this forum. I have read so much trash about it, that it would be nice to cut through the ***** and try an figure out what really happened.

IIRC, three or four drivers (Oliver, Fittipaldi, Revson, maybe even Beltoise) thought that they had won!

Edward.

[Keir]

David,
Great shots!! I'd like to see more of the Peter pics!!

[Vrba]

Revson was known as something of a philosopher among the drivers. He said once: "To dice with death and collect the money, that's all we know. That's why there's no need to mourn us, whatever happens."
Also, "The death is right at the end of our way. It waits for us, just like an old friend."

Hrvoje

[conjohn]

Originally posted by SEdward
Since this thread is about the late, great Peter Revson, does anyone have the 1973 Canadian GP lap charts?
Edward.

I have a scan of the lap chart from Autosport, but nowhere to put it on the net.... I can email it to you, if you want - it's 769 KB. Be warned, though - there is a notation on the lap chart: "This is the official lap chart which happens to correspond with the official results" - so what evidentiary value it has is debatable....

[lanciaman]

Originally posted by Keir
I attended Peter's funeral in NYC, it was a very sad day.

Peter's last name was Revson and he didn't change it from Revlon, nor did his father.

Peter was distantly related to the Revlon money, at best!

Peter's uncle Charles Revson was the cosmetics magnate. Peter's father owned a modest nutritional company. I met Peter whilst helping him promote a vitamin supplement called "RevUp" which understandably disappeared on his death. Peter was smart, cultured, handsome and American, which mattered a good deal to us who wanted more of ours in F1.

[x_acto]

Originally posted by conjohn

I have a scan of the lap chart from Autosport, but nowhere to put it on the net.... I can email it to you, if you want - it's 769 KB. Be warned, though - there is a notation on the lap chart: "This is the official lap chart which happens to correspond with the official results" - so what evidentiary value it has is debatable....

To read the whole story about the probably craziest race of the 20th century, click in the link:

http://8w.forix.com/cdn73.html

[smithy]

Sorry, this is a bit gruesome but......

I was in South Africa at the time and was eight years old. Thirty years later, I still vividly remember a picture of the Revson accident from the front page of the newspaper. The Shadow is on its side with the cockpit against the railing. Poor old Peter's feet are sticking out the front.

One of the drivers (Fittipaldi?) is trying to get to the car and has his arms raised against the flames. Curiously I don't recall a fire marshall in the picture....?

It's wierd what we DO remember..... In the "First GP" thread, I described that we went to the GP on the race day that year. I don't recall any 'overhang' from the incident at all - it was like it never happened.

Kyalami was never a happy hunting ground for Shadow. Revson in '74 and then Tom Pryce in '77.

[SEdward]

I think that the accident occured during pre-race testing rather than practice. There may not have been any marshalls present, or just in reduced numbers.

Edward.

[JohnH]

The crash was in pre race testing ( a week before the race) and I've also seen the pic mentioned here....while searching microfilm of the NY Times. Not really graphic or gruesome, (no blood is seen) just bad and traumatic to see the driver with no car surrounding him.

John

[Dave Ware]

I saw a picture in an American newspaper (Cleveland Plain Dealer) that showed Graham Hill lifting some part of the wreckage to get to Revson.

Dave

[Hieronymus]

I always find it quite ironic that Peter got killed at Kyalami. In front of the people that he launched such a tirade against, in the biography that Peter Mandel wrote on his life.

"The Afrikaners are like their city, very drab. There's nothing stylish about their stores or what they sell inside...their language has got to be the worst sounding language I've ever heard. The English in South Africa are opportunists...etc, etc." (see pages 67-68 of the biography).

Always wondered if this was Peter's view or rather that of Mandel himself.

Anyway, Peter was a good driver and his personal views is not much of an issue. I have some graphic photos of Peter's accident, but this is stuff I take no pleasure in looking at. I understand that he was killed on impact.

Does anyone know the current whereabouts of the girl , Marjorie Wallace, that Peter once dated. I think she was a "Miss World" in the early 1970's.

[bigears]

Wonderful photos David!

It is certainly a nice sight to see cars in the wet fighting for grip.

I have to admit that I have seen some photos of Revson's car at that fateful day at Kyalami. It was a gruesome sight to see. I saw one photo Graham Hill was holding up the car when Denny Hulme in his casual clothes was extinguishing the flames from the burning Shadow.

[CSGPR]

Hi Guys

I have made some research regarding Peter Revson career, and I have found a source which suggest that Revson was offered a drive for Ferrari in 1974 alongside Niki Lauda. It is the very first time I have come across this matter. The source also claim that the deal didn’t went through because of Revson’s commitments at the 1974 Indy 500. Can someone in this forum confirm this assertion

Best Regards

[Pedro 917]

Preparing victory : Friday practice, Silverstone 1973. Really, those were the days. Strolling down the pitlane without a pitpass and have a close look at drivers and cars. Today, I guess they'd shoot you on the spot.

[Pedro 917]

Patiently waiting for an autograph, Nivelles 1972 :

[Paul Taylor]

Originally posted by Dave Ware
I saw a picture in an American newspaper (Cleveland Plain Dealer) that showed Graham Hill lifting some part of the wreckage to get to Revson.

Dave

Yes, I have seen that two (and one of them is on my website...and the other is on another website). There are in fact two camera angles showing that moment...

[Pedro 917]

Here's a picture of Peter and Marjorie :

[Dave Ware]

According to his biography, Revson considered Ferrari, Shadow, Eagle, and the Yardley-sponsored McLaren for his 1974 F1 efforts. He was offered a contract for Ferrari, but the retainer was $100,000 for both F1 and sports cars, and it excluded him from driving anything other than a Ferrari.

From page 200: "All of a sudden I was not going to be paid very well. If Ferrari had upped the ante to $150,000, it would have made some sense. But in this business, exclusivity is pretty sticky. I sent Ferrari a specific Telex and again they wouldn't answer. So I postponed my trip to Italy indefinitely."

The previous year, Revvie had earned around $300,000 from driving and endorsements. He was second or third behind Stewart in earnings for that year.

A pity. If he had chosen Ferrari he likely would have lived and become world champion.

Regarding the Canadian Grand Prix, from page 197:

"Eppie Wietzes is a great pace-car driver. Thanks to Eppie, I won the Canadian Grand Prix. When everything is pieced together, it will turn out that when the pace car was brought out it was put in front of the wrong car, and that determined the race."

"The fact that the pace car went out in front of the wrong car meant that Emerson Fittipaldi never got to catch up to the back of the pack. That lost him too much time. So I won the race. As they say, take them any way you can get them."

"When the rain stopped and Emerson came in to pit for drys and to hook up his roll bars, his pit stop was about sixty seconds longer than mine, which was only for a quick tire change. We decided to sacrifice handling for time on the track and let the roll bars go. It turned out Emerson couldn't make up the difference he lost in the pits."

Dave

[Rob Ryder]

Peter interviewed by 'Racetape' before the 1972 British GP at Brands Hatch...

Clip 1 (750kb)

Clip 2 (900kb)

...and a few photos I took of Peter at the Grand Prix






Rob

[CSGPR]

Hi Again Guys

And Dave - Thanks for the information regarding the drive at Ferrari:)

The source I refering to also claims that Teddy Mayer sacked Revson for 1974 to make place for Emerson Fittipaldi, but later in 1973 offered a drive the third McLaren by Phil Kerr, and according to my source Teddy Mayer was furious about Phil Kerr's offer and therefore made things difficult. But why should Teddy Mayer be so upset about having Revson in the team.? Revson Won two races for McLaren in 1973 so why

Must sources say that Peter Revson didn't like the idea of being the third driver in a team and therefore went to Don Nichols. But Revson position at McLaren wouldn't have be that bad at all, because Revson would had the disposal a spare car of his own (M23/1), where Denny Hulme was practical without a spare car as the red & white spare car mainly was reserved to Fittipaldi the entire season.

What does Revson biography say about this. And what is the exact title of Revson’s biography

And an extra question: How came the drive at Tyrrell up in 1971 Why not McLaren - Was it because of the agreement between Teddy Mayer and Roger Penske

Best Regards

[Rob Ryder]

Originally posted by CSGPR
And what is the exact title of Revson’s biography

"Speed with Style : An Autobiography of Peter Revson"
By Peter Revson and Leon Mandel

[CSGPR]

Thanks Rob

I have already ordred it through Amazon.com at 41.95 $, So now I just have to wait

Best Regards

[Muzza]

The similarity bewteen Teo Fabi's and Peter Revson's helmet liveries always drew my attention - it is more than a coincidence, wasn't it?

Was Revson Teo Fabi's childhood hero?

Regards,


Muzza

[Doug Nye]

Peter was a very nice bloke who came across as one troubled by his own celebrity - in terms of being so pursued by the non-racing press, always eager to unravel and report all his latest aerobatics with his numerous girlfriends. By reputation he wasn't the easiest person 'to manage', nor 'to negotiate with' but he was certainly pretty well wired-up as a racer, if never from the absolute top drawer as such.

His career was very odd in that his early Formula 1 outings as a privateer in 1964 impressed very few, and he seemed almost a different person by the time he muscled his way back in, into the 1970s. His decent performances at Indy certainly established his credentials in a way few earlier performances had suggested.

His fatal accident at Kyalami was - from memory - caused by failure of a titanium fitting, the machining of which was "cruddy"...according to one responsible for its manufacture. The fire at the scene was apparently minimised by the fact that the wreck ended up lying on deep sand, into which the leaking fuel soaked, producing containably small flames, flickering horizontally just above the surface. Sadly the impact itself had been immediately fatal. The incident was quite shocking to all who knew him.

I had interviewed him for 'Autosport' in his hotel room at Daytona in 1972, and the magazine ran the interview for some reason reversed with white print on solid black background. Peter thought the content was OK and acceptable, but he was ticked-off about the graphic presentation - "Looks like a darned obituary...". I could only apologise for the excesses of 'Autosport's art editor. No way could I imagine what the magazine's designers would stoop to in future years.....

DCN

[jgm]

I remember being particularly annoyed at the popular British press who reported Revson's death purely in terms of 'Miss World's boyfriend has been killed.'

[CSGPR]

Hi Guys

Doug do you think your picture library holds picture from Revson first Shadow at Silverstone. The test took place in late November 1973. Here the American had his first drive in a Shadow, which according to my source should have been in Oliver's old car the DN1/6A.

Revson said after the test that it was a good car, which just needed to be sorted out. I never heard what Jarier actually did think of the car.

Best Regards

[JohnH]

Thanks for all these great and fascinating responses....especially Doug and hearing the clips of Revson and the great pics. Five years ago, ESPN was doing a daily commercial to honor the upcoming end of the centruy called Sports Century...which they also of course were doing half hour and later hour long specials of the same name. Most of the Sports Century bits were inevitably stick and ball oriented. So imagine my shock and surprise when I taped RPM Tonight on March 22, 1999 and found a Sports Century segment on Revson! One of the photos included therein was of photo of his accident in progress I had never seen before. A fireball above the guard rail, his accident looked like a massive airplane accident.

John

[SEdward]

Question from an ignorant European member...

Just how successful was Peter in the various US categories?

Edward.

[Martyj]

SEdward,

Well...for starters he won the Can Am championship. Admittedly, it was hard to lose in a McLaren, but he did better Hulme, which was no small accomplishment.

He won a USAC road race at Indianapolis raceway park.

He sat on the pole at Indy in 1971, and finished 2nd to Al Unser.

That's just from memory.

[Cogs]

Here's a pretty good summary of his racing accomplishments:

http://www.subh.free...vers/revson.htm

A very versatile racer, a real "student" of the sport. I am particularly interested in his Trans-Am exploits...That seemed like a really intriguing series from 68-72.

What a sad loss...

Cogs

[Vrba]

Originally posted by conjohn

I have a scan of the lap chart from Autosport, but nowhere to put it on the net.... I can email it to you, if you want - it's 769 KB. Be warned, though - there is a notation on the lap chart: "This is the official lap chart which happens to correspond with the official results" - so what evidentiary value it has is debatable....

Thanks to conjohn who kindly sent the map to me, I was able to put it on the net:



Hrvoje

[Manfred Cubenoggin]

Interesting to peruse the chart. I note the rapid rise of Lauda in the early laps. He was head and shoulders faster than anyone else in the early wet track conditions. I was spectating on the exit of corner three and he was disappearing over the brow at four as the rest were coming thru corner three. Shades of things to come!

[Morten Alstrup]

Originally posted by Keir
I attended Peter's funeral in NYC, it was a very sad day.

Peter's last name was Revson and he didn't change it from Revlon, nor did his father.

Peter was distantly related to the Revlon money, at best!

Originally posted by Rob Ryder

"Speed with Style : An Autobiography of Peter Revson"
By Peter Revson and Leon Mandel

Originally posted by lanciaman


Peter's father owned a modest nutritional company. I met Peter whilst helping him promote a vitamin supplement called "RevUp" which understandably disappeared on his death.

The name of Peter's father was Joseph Revson, as I understand.

Does anyone of you - or other members of the TNF - know the name of Peter's mother?

[Rob Ryder]

Originally posted by Morten Alstrup

The name of Peter's father was Joseph Revson, as I understand.

Does anyone of you - or other members of the TNF - know the name of Peter's mother?

Peter's father was Martin Revson, one of the three brothers who founded Revlon.
His mother was Julie.
Brother ; Douglas.
Two sisters ; Julie Anne & Jennifer.

(From 'Speed with Style' p41-p43)

Rob

[Twin Window]

I took this [poor] pic of Revson on the grid for the 1974 Race of Champions. The date was March 17th, and five days later he was gone...



I find that as hard to comprehend now as I did as the 16 year-old I was at the time.

[M Needforspeed]

IN Sport Auto , Jabby Crombac interviewed Revson to make a compare between USAC racing and Life and F1 Racing .He said to Jabby he was very confident with the new Shadow car that he found exceptional handling .

Sadly, once he arrived at Kyalami, he phoned Crombac and said : "Come with one sample of the review in the mag" , because he was very proud to make his journalist debuts ... When Crombac arrived in South Africa, it was only to hear the tragic new, so he wldn t see the April issue of Sport Auto

[Keir]

Peter, as I knew him , was just one of those good guys who would give you the time of day like he was just another "joe". He never came off as a rich kid, although he did travel in some fast company off the track as well as on!!