1974 Shadow DN4 Sports Racer

In 1971 Don Nichols founded Advanced Vehicle Systems and began producing the cars known as Shadows. Mr. Nichols was very familiar with innovation in the automobile industry. This would lead Nichols to become quite influential in the Far East, which enabled him to give rise to many theories about his life. There were said to be many rumors swirling around his mysterious life, which he would turn to good effect. While Nichols had an innovative mind, many of his innovations didn't always work out so well in reality.

As a racing team, Shadow first became involved in Can-Am racing. Working with his designer Trevor Harris, Nichols helped to create a very innovative and unique car. It would prove to be quick but wasn't always matched by reliability.

The Shadow Racing Cars team debuted at the 1973 South African Grand Prix and raced until the 1980 French Grand Prix. In 1974, Jackie Oliver became the Can-Am champion driving one of these DN4 Shadows.

Replacing the Shadow DN2, the DN4 sports a Chevrolet ninety-degree V8 with an all-aluminum block, pushrod OHV with two valves per cylinder. Shadow team data released at the time claimed a power output of 735 bhp.

At 1,670 lbs the aluminum-monocoque DN4 was a comparatively light car, to better take advantage of the new Can-Am fuel economy rules. The DN4 was more compact, and packaged around a fuel tank displacing approximately forty-five gallons overall. The wheelbase was shortened three inches compared to the 103-inch long dimension of the DN2.

According to Shadow team driver and 1972 Can-Am champion George Follmer, 'There's no substitute for horsepower, but chassis-wise the DN4 pointed in well and was very predictable. And because the front area was so small, it was fast in a straight line. It was an extremely good race car.'

The DN4 was an all-new car for 1974 and used many components from the DN3-F1 racer. Five examples of the Shadow DN4 were built for 1974, two of which were used in competition: One by Jackie Oliver and one by George Follmer.

This Shadow is DN4-1A and it was manufactured in the Nichols AVS facility in Northampton, England. It was shipped to North America to race in the 1974 Can Am Challenge Cup Series, which was organized under the Group 7 rules for unlimited sports cars. It was driven by Jackie Oliver and won four out of five races from the final shortened season of the original Can-Am. It would have scored a clean sweep of the series but suffered an engine failure in the final race, only four laps from the end.

DN4-1A was retained by Don Nichols in an unrestored condition until purchased by its current owner in 2014. It was restored and raced in historic races from 2016 to the present. It has finished first in every historic race entered. The DN4-1A has been newly restored following an incident at the 2020 Road America historic races in July 2020. The 2021 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance was the first time it was displayed since its latest restoration.