I have included a few remembrances about Lance in some previous Vintage Racecar columns, but because he was such a fascinating character, I thought a column explicitly about him would be appropriate in order to wrap up the theme.
I wrote what was hopefully an amusing story about a party at Lance’s home in the September 2005 edition. Then I wrote about him in Chuck Daigh’s obituary in the July 2008 edition and recently about Lance’s Scarabs in the September 2008 edition. If you missed any of these, you might want to log on to www.sportscardigest.com for copies of those issues. Most who remember Lance associate him with Scarab cars, but before that, he drove as an amateur in Southern California events.
The first time I saw Lance race was at the one event we had at the Grand Central Airport in Glendale on November 13, 1955. He drove a 300SL he had just acquired. He was in the 2nd race, which was for production cars over 1500–cc and he finished 3rd behind winner Rudy Cleye in another 300SL and Jim Peterson in his XK120, a fantastic performance for a novice. At the end, he was just in front of Paul O’Shea who went on to win the SCCA National Championship in a Mercedes-Benz. Lance was only 19 at the time having been born on February 24, 1936. Like yours truly and Bruce Kessler, Lance lied about his age to get a racing license.
In 1956, Reventlow bought an 1100–cc Cooper-Climax. He raced it a number of times scoring a 1st overall in the under-1500–cc main event at Santa Maria and 1st in the consolation race at Pomona in October. He continued to race in a Formula 2 Cooper as well as the Cooper sports car the following two years.
Lance wanted to own his own home, so his mother provided the necessary funds for his 21st birthday. My friend and one-time racing partner, George Rosenthal, built the house in the hills above Beverly Hills. According to George, Lance had very definite ideas as to the location and the architecture. He wanted a picturesque view, but somewhat isolated. A unique feature at the time was an indoor/outdoor swimming pool. Rosenthal remembers that Lance had a lot of empathy for people and was a loyal friend.
Lance created a sensation at the April 1958 Palm Springs race when he entered and drove his new Scarab on Saturday. On the first lap, he went into the sand and rejoined dead last. But, working his way up, he finished 3rd overall just behind Carroll Shelby in a 4.9 Ferrari and Bob Oker in a DB3S Aston Martin. On Sunday, he drove his Cooper Bobtail in the under-1500–cc semi-main and placed 2nd overall to Jack McAfee in a Porsche Spyder.
The next month at Santa Barbara, Reventlow won Sunday’s main event in his Scarab. In the Times Grand Prix at Riverside on October 12, 1958, Lance failed to finish, but Chuck Daigh in the second Scarab won overall, and the marque proved it could run with the best from Europe. Warren Olson, in whose shop the Scarabs were built, remembers, “Lance listened and learned very quickly. He was always very quiet, but he turned out to be a lot better driver than most people realized. Lance was straight as an arrow; working with him was a very pleasant experience.”
Augie Pabst remembers that one time he, Alfred and Mary Momo, Walt Hansgen, Lance, and Jill St. John went out to dinner somewhere in Hollywood. Lance was driving his Scarab. “After dinner, all of us planned to go to Lance’s house. Lance offered to let me drive his Scarab. It was a hell of a ride and I was surprised I didn’t end up in jail.”
Lance was known not just for racing and the Scarabs. His mother was Barbara Hutton, one of the world’s richest women having inherited the Woolworth fortune. Her first marriage to a Russian prince ended childless and she married Danish Count Kurt Haugwitz Harenbert Reventlow on the same day her divorce was final.
Soon after Lance’s birth, Barbara separated from Count Reventlow and married movie star Cary Grant. That marriage ended in 1945. Count Reventlow was never around and Grant became Lance’s surrogate father, a relationship that lasted for the rest of Lance’s life. When Lance was killed on July 24, 1972 in a private-plane accident, Cary Grant arranged and attended the funeral.
Photo: Art Evans
After the Scarab Formula One fiasco, Lance lost interest in racing. Due to his rather brief marriage to Jill St. John, he was often in gossip columns. They were married in 1957 in a San Francisco hotel room. After a trip to Australia with Jill, Lance told Bruce that the marriage was at an end. They were subsequently divorced.
Next he married Cheryl Holridge, another starlet and the daughter of a general. Cheryl was best known for having been a cast member of the original Mickey Mouse Club. According to Bruce, she was really nice, quite different than Jill. Lance bought Cheryl a Daytona Ferrari, but had trouble teaching her how to drive it. Finally, Bruce had to take over instruction.
Lance and Cheryl split up (but didn’t divorce) and Lance moved to Hawaii and became a beach boy, surfing everyday. From Hawaii, Lance went to Aspen to ski. When Lance was killed, Cheryl called Bruce, who was in Austria directing Assignment in Vienna. Barbara Hutton wanted the body to be taken to Long Island and buried in the family plot. But both Cheryl and Bruce knew Lance wouldn’t have wanted that, so while Barbara was in the process of getting a legal order, Bruce advised Cheryl to have the body cremated. The ashes were spread over Aspen.
Cheryl wanted to give the number-one Scarab to Bruce because she thought Lance would have wanted him to have it. Bruce said he didn’t know what he would do with it, so she gave it to the Cunningham Museum, then in Costa Mesa.
Augie Pabst ended up with the number-two sports car as well as the only Scarab mid-engine sports car. He remembers being very fond of Lance. “He had a nifty sense of humor and was obviously very intelligent. He was a fun person to be around; I never knew him to be mean or unkind.”
