William Cotter -- 1961 Scarab Formula Libre

This was the most interesting car to appear at the "Wine Country Classic" this year.  Cotter, of Seattle, WA, finished 9th on Saturday.  It's the last of the fabled Scarabs, and the least known.  (Your webmaster had heard of it for decades but had never seen it before.)

Chuck Daigh raced this car once, in Australia, at Sandown Park, on March 12, 1962. 
 

From Don Capps, "Rear View Mirror" article:

 "...However, the Scarab did run a race in 1962. For reasons not really clear -- it was  possibly accurately described as a "lark," Lance Reventlow and his entourage showed up in Melbourne, Australia to run a Formula Libre race at the local race circuit,  Sandown Park. 

Chuck Daigh was the driver and head wrench Warren Olson was there to prepare the car for the race. Most of the attention was on Reventlow -- son of  Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton and Danish Count Kurt von Haugwitz-Reventlow -- and his current wife, Jill St. John, not the car.

The Scarab was still using gasoline to fuel its Buick engine whereas its opponents were in cars using alcohol to power the Coventry Climax FPF engines in the various Lotus and Cooper cars on the grid.  Daigh qualified sixth and managed a fourth in a preliminary heat.  In the final, Daigh had a spirited battle the entire race with Stirling Moss, nipping across the line ahead of Moss and capturing fourth in the results. And it was then returned to the shop in Venice..."

It never raced again and it's subsequent history is unknown to your webmaster.

Here's a discussion of the car on the "Atlas F1 Nostalgia Forum".

(A lot of "Googling" went into this page!  TM)

Next:   Terry Hefty -- 1961 Cooper T-53 F-1

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