Peter Revson

Standing at the Times Square, New York, amongst a world of lights, advertisements and a swarm of people, you would never get the connection between a splendidly beautiful woman pouting her sumptuous lips for ‘Revlon’ on a billboard, a hoarding with probably an F1 driver endorsing something and the city itself. But there is much more to it than meets the eye. It unfolds the story of Peter Jeffrey Revlon (renamed later to Revson).

Born in New York on February 27, 1939, Revlon was an heir to his family business, Revlon Cosmetics, the biggest cosmetic brand in the world, estimated to be worth a billion dollars. If bookies were to bet on him taking over the driving seat of his business empire, they would certainly have lost their daily bread for it was the driving seat in Formula One that he desired much more than anything.

Peter Revson began racing during his years at Cornell University. In 1968, he enrolled in the new Javelin racing program started by American Motors for who he also raced in Formula One earlier in 1964 but without making any breakthroughs. In 1971, he drove for Tyrrell in the American Grand Prix but did not finish the race.

F1 for Revson was not as primary as his love for speed and so he featured in many competitions that tested his grit and thrilled the speedy teenager inside him. Be it a second place in Trans-Am Series in 1970 or another second place in the Indianapolis500 in 1971, this “free-spirited” youngster, as many would describe him, never failed to soak into the adrenalin rush and he just amplified this intoxicating high in the 1972 season of the Formula One Championship when he finished third in the South African, British and the Austrian Grands Prix. A second place in the Canadian GP made this fresh talent an indispensable part of McLaren. He was fifth in the Drivers’ competition that season and hungry for more.

Someone who lived his life in the fast lane, Revson was racing his best season in the South African GP of 1973. And he knew it in the British Grand Prix when he won the top spot on the podium. Another victory in the Canadian Grand Prix sealed the fifth place for him in the Drivers’ Championship.

Call it a bane of racing or the unfair ways of life, on March 22, 1974, Revson lost his life in a practice session for the South African Grand Prix, after a crash due to a suspension failure in his Shadow car. Being quick at everything, this handsome young bloke perhaps had an understanding with the Time God and he packed much action into his little quantum of time, more than any ordinary soul would.

-Anup Pareek