Images: Supercars.net

In a shop in North Hollywood, California during the late ’50s, Reventow Automobiles built the Mk. I, the car that became one of the first of the American Specials, and the very first Scarab race car ever built. The 1957 Scarab Mk. I is said to be a race car that was built using some of the West Coast’s best automotive talent, and the car became most noted for its space-frame chassis, which was fitted with a potent version of Chevy’s small block V8 to make for one very quick car at the race track.

Using Ford supports in the front with custom wishbones and Munroe shocks, the original Mk. I was a car built to Ferrari and Jaguar, road-racing standards, but with the heart and soul of American muscle. The rear end of the Scarab Mk. I was a “de Dion” configuration, the same kind of rear setup used by factory Ferrari Testa Rossas of the time.

The Mk. I also used either a 301, a 327 or a 339 cubic-inch version of Chevy’s small block, a motor that when coupled with such race implements as Hilborn mechanical injection produced around 360bhp in the Scarab, the Mk. I car transmitting this power to the rear wheels via a Borg Warner, T10 4-speed.

The original car was introduced in March of 1958 at Phoenix, and won the Santa Barbara Weekend that same year with race driver Bruce Kessler behind the wheel. Now, for the first time in years, Scarab is back with a brand new Scarab race car that is made in Poland from top-notch, aircraft-quality materials, while emulating the original Mk. I that made the Scarab name famous.