Lance Graf von Haugwitz-Hardenberg-Reventlow,[1] (February 24, 1936 – July 24, 1972) was a British-born American entrepreneur, racing driver and heir to the Woolworth fortune.

[3] In 1948, at age 12, Reventlow was introduced to the world of Grand Prix motor racing when his mother married Prince Igor Troubetzkoy, who won the Targa Florio that year.

In his teenage years, Reventlow's money afforded him the latest in exotic cars, which led to his involvement in motor racing.

[5] He then set up his own company in Venice, California, to construct Chevrolet-powered race cars he named Scarab with Phil Remington as chief engineer.

Carroll Shelby drove a Scarab to first place at Continental Divide Raceways in Castle Rock in Douglas County, Colorado, where he broke a course record.

He went back to the drawing board and built a competitive prototype Scarab rear-engined car, but had become less interested in racing before its testing was complete.

[8] St. John filed for divorce on October 2, 1963, citing extreme cruelty;[9] she stated that Reventlow called her "stupid and incompetent" in front of others and bullied her into taking part in dangerous sports.

Reventlow's mother, Barbara Hutton, could not attend the wedding because of illness but gave the couple a $500,000, five-bedroom home set on 21 acres in Benedict Canyon.

[6] He was an experienced pilot, with thousands of hours, rated fully for IFR on multi-engine planes, but on July 24, 1972, Reventlow was a passenger, scouting locations for real estate in a hired single-engine Cessna 206.

The pilot was an inexperienced 27-year-old student with only 39 hours' flying time who flew into a blind canyon during a thunderstorm and stalled the aircraft while trying to turn around.