Peter Revson

[Teej]

Interesting item I read in the latest Indy 500 History Book that was sold last year. Revson would have driven for Roger Penske in 1974 had he not been killed testing for the South African Grand Prix.

Just think what kind of union that may have been, had it happened

[Jamski]

One for the ages. My grandfather used to get SI and saved all the racing articles for me. This was one of them.

[cheeseczar]

"TURBOPETER"


Hee, hee, hee.

[Teej]

"TURBOPETER"


Hee, hee, hee.

Obviously, the days before being PC
Thanks TTE for the link. I'm interested in the great drivers that did not win the 500. I think Mr. Revson is definitely in that category

[3-wide]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1WOIJkM2hE

[Coyote]

I was glad to see someone else call a men's shaving and overnight kit a "Dopp kit". I used that term the other day when packing for a trip and nobody knew what the heck I was talking about. That's what my Dad always called it.

I had to quote this part about Revson driving for a Trans Am team in '67 called Cougar Racing...

The Cougars were prepared by a shrewd veteran of Southern stock-car racing; slow-speaking, sleepy-eyed and about as mild as a raging wolverine. In the great tradition of stock-car racing, this gentleman didn't consider himself confined by the rules. Revson first encountered his enterprising, freewheeling approach at Lime Rock, a race Revson won.

Trans-Am cars had to conform to a weight minimum and they were put on the scales before a race to make sure they did. Revson's car had made the weight exactly and had been pushed back into the pits for a tire change when Revson wandered up. Seeing the crew members removing a wheel and hoping to establish himself right from the beginning of the racing season as a helpful driver, Revson bent over to lift one. He couldn't budge it. The boss-man had seen to it that the Cougar conformed to the weight minimum all right—but with sand-filled tires off the car it was somewhat lighter.

Just when the realization of why the wheel and tire wouldn't leave the ground hit Revson, he heard a soft Southern voice at his shoulder. "Leave it alone, boy. You do the drivin', we'll do the preparin'." As long as he was with Cougar, Revson never came near the working pits again.

Thanks to TTE for posting that link. Good article.

[cornutt]

Coyote, that is classic! Was Bud Moore running that team?

[Coyote]

Coyote, that is classic! Was Bud Moore running that team?

The article doesn't say, but I think so. Read somewhere else that he ran the Cougars in Trans-am in '67. Now looking on Google a link said Bud Moore was asked to be owner/manager of "Team Cougar". But the article on Revson says this was early in the season, while the article on Bud Moore I found says he took over the program in mid-67. Edit: I think the mid 67 I first found is wrong. Later in the article it said Bud Moore's was involved starting in mid '66, and that they think all the 67 Cougars were prepared in Bud Moores race shop around October of 66. Then it said Ford asked them to shut down in late '67 because they didn't want "internal" competition for the Mustang.

Haha. It is classic.

[rjohnson999]

That same weekend, I sat on the Lime Rock hill with Peter Revson listening to the Indy 500 on a portable radio. A very rare breed. Filthy rich. Talented. Down to earth.

I was glad to see someone else call a men's shaving and overnight kit a "Dopp kit". I used that term the other day when packing for a trip and nobody knew what the heck I was talking about. That's what my Dad always called it.

I had to quote this part about Revson driving for a Trans Am team in '67 called Cougar Racing...

The Cougars were prepared by a shrewd veteran of Southern stock-car racing; slow-speaking, sleepy-eyed and about as mild as a raging wolverine. In the great tradition of stock-car racing, this gentleman didn't consider himself confined by the rules. Revson first encountered his enterprising, freewheeling approach at Lime Rock, a race Revson won.

Trans-Am cars had to conform to a weight minimum and they were put on the scales before a race to make sure they did. Revson's car had made the weight exactly and had been pushed back into the pits for a tire change when Revson wandered up. Seeing the crew members removing a wheel and hoping to establish himself right from the beginning of the racing season as a helpful driver, Revson bent over to lift one. He couldn't budge it. The boss-man had seen to it that the Cougar conformed to the weight minimum all right—but with sand-filled tires off the car it was somewhat lighter.

Just when the realization of why the wheel and tire wouldn't leave the ground hit Revson, he heard a soft Southern voice at his shoulder. "Leave it alone, boy. You do the drivin', we'll do the preparin'." As long as he was with Cougar, Revson never came near the working pits again.

[Kurt Cobain]

As a boy growing up, I loved Peter Revson. He was fast everywhere he drove. I hated that news from Kyalami in 1974.

[Coyote]

As a boy growing up, I loved Peter Revson. He was fast everywhere he drove. I hated that news from Kyalami in 1974.

Interesting from the SI article posted. Revson talked about retiring in a couple years if he didn't start winning more. He said that in racing you're either seen as a winner, or a fast rising improver. And that he had already been known as the "improver" and so if he couldn't be seen as a winner he'd start being forgotten about and only wanted to be on top.

This from a man who won two grand prix the year before! He had high standards of himself apparently.

[cbreez99]

Went to my 1st 12 Hrs of Sebring about 70 or 71...Peter Revson and Steve Mcqueen, in an under-powered Porsche, barely lost to Mario Andretti by only a few seconds. Revson was the main driver, as Mcqueen had a foot in a cast, and lead the way for the team. The crowd was pulling for them more than the leader when it ended. With todays media coverage, Revson with his looks and ability, would be THE most popular star by far. He was quite a star back then.

[MichaelP]

Filthy rich.

I see this bandied around about him a lot, but he totally refuted that during an interview with Jim McKay aired during the 1971 Indy 500. McKay mentioned that he didn't have to race for a living (alluding to his family fortune) and he said (paraphrasing) 'nobody has to 'drive race cars' for a living, but the fact of the matter is, if I didn't I'd have to do something to earn a living.' He mentioned the common misconception that he was independently wealthy.

[rjohnson999]

He and his brother Doug, killed in an F3 crash in europe, were heirs to the Revlon fortune. He may not have been drawing on the family fortune directly, but he was raised by it and would have eventually inherrited a substantial fortune.

I see this bandied around about him a lot, but he totally refuted that during an interview with Jim McKay aired during the 1971 Indy 500. McKay mentioned that he didn't have to race for a living (alluding to his family fortune) and he said (paraphrasing) 'nobody has to 'drive race cars' for a living, but the fact of the matter is, if I didn't I'd have to do something to earn a living.' He mentioned the common misconception that he was independently wealthy.

[exfasteddy]

I thought it was "dob" kit, not "dopp". I'll have to ask my wife tonight, she's the one I heard it from. Maybe she's been saying dopp all along?

PS- loved the sandy tire story Coyote.