In June 1958 Lance Reventlow decided to build a Formula One car. The chassis was designed by young engineer Marshall Whitfield and built by Troutman and Barnes. Reventlow hired Goossen to design an engine specifically for the project, fabrication of which would be handled by Travers and Coon of Traco. An all new design, the Scarab F1 engine was an inline four cylinder engine, laid over to 11° from horizontal. The crankcase and cylinder block was one piece, cast in light alloy. The cylinders had press-in wet liners. Final bore and stroke were , resulting in a displacement of just over . The cylinder head was detachable. The engine was noteworthy for using desmodromic valve actuation for the two valves, set at an 84° included angle, in each cylinder's hemispherical combustion chamber. The desmodromic system was based on the one used by Mercedes Benz on their 300SLR, a car Traco had access to. Each cylinder had two sparkplugs. Power output was estimated to be in the range of . Two cars were tested at Riverside International Raceway before being sent to Europe for the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix. The cars' best finish was a tenth place at the 1960 US Grand Prix.