1974 Shadow DN4

The Advanced Vehicle System (AVS) began in 1970 and was created by Don Nichols. The cars were called Shadows. The company was established with the purpose of creating racers that had limited aerodynamic drag through the minimal front area of the cars. Nichols approached Firestone with a request to have tires created that were smaller in diameter than conventional race tires at the time. The reason for the request was to help in the reduction of aerodynamic drag. When other manufacturers were using 24-inch tires in the front and 26-inch in the rear, Nichols wanted to use 17 in the front and 19 in the rear. There were flaws to this thinking; the smaller tires meant smaller brakes and rotors which meant less stopping power. Another side effect of smaller brakes was that they were unable to dissipate the heat fast enough and this led to various other tires.

A Chevrolet big-block engine was chosen as the power unit for the car. Due to the design of the car, there was no room for the radiator to fit into the body. Trevor Harris had designed the car. The only logical place to fit the radiator was to mount it on the rear wing. This did not work well. Though many of the ideas were innovative in concept, they were failures in reality. The car, driven by George Follmer and Vic Elford, failed to finish many of the races that it entered.

In 1971, personnel from a company named Autocoast merged with AVS. Autocoast debuted their Ti22 racer in 1969 at Laguna Seca. It too was propelled by a Chevrolet V8 powerplant. It had been designed for CanAm competition by designer Peter Bryant, who created a very aerodynamic design. The chassis was a monocoque structure comprised of aluminum and titanium. This marked the first time that titanium was used extensively in a car. The name of the car was rather fitting, as 'Ti22' is the atomic symbol and weight of titanium.

At its inaugural debut, the Ti22 was driven by Jackie Oliver and finished in 13th place. The next race was at Riverside where the vehicle qualified fourth but retired prematurely during the race. The car's sponsor was Titanium Metal Corporation so when the titanium suspension piece broke, the team officially documented the problem to be related to the transmission in order to elevate any potential sponsorship conflicts.

In 1970 Jackie Oliver again drove the Ti22. The second race of the season ended in a tragedy for the team as the car flipped off the track on the first lap. Oliver was ok but the chassis was destroyed. The team was unable to get another car ready for most of the season. By the time a replacement car was ready, there were only two races left. Oliver drove the car to a second-place finish in both of those races.

When the personnel of AVS and Autocoast joined forces, they agreed upon creating a racer that utilized the strengths of both of the cars. Jackie Oliver was chosen as the driver. Universal Oil Products became the team's official sponsor.

The car, dubbed the MKII, was given larger tires than the one used on the original AVS car. In the front, the tires measured 18.8 inches while in the back they measured 22.3 inches. Though larger than the AVS car, they were still smaller than the tires used by other CanAm cars. Titanium was used in the car, though not in any major quantities.

The car was ready for the 1971 season. Oliver qualified the car very well for many of the races but he was unable to finish nearly all of the races. The car finished only one race and that was in Edmonton where it achieved an impressive third-place finish. For the following season, the team made the change to conventionally sized tires. In order to accommodate the larger tires, the body was enlarged where needed. This version of the body was dubbed, the MK III.

The Shadow team mimicked the design of the McLaren M20 of the prior year by moving the radiators to the side of the car and placing wings between the front wheels. To gain an advantage against their competition, the team began experimenting with forced induction. The turbocharger system never made it past the experimentation stage.

The 1972 season was similar to the 1971 season. Oliver was able to finish only one race. In the race he did finish, he crossed the line in third place just as he had done the year prior.

By this time the Shadow team had begun competing in Formula One Competition. Their entry into the series was the DN1, 'DN' for Don Nichols's initials. The car had been designed by Tony Southgate. The DN1 gave Jean-Pierre Beltoise a victory at the Monaco Grand Prix. For the 1973 season, the team created the DN2 for CanAm competition. Southgate designed the car and drew inspiration from the Lola T310.

When the Shadow DN2 made its racing debut, it was powered by a 1200-horsepower Chevy V8 engine. This massive amount of horsepower was generated with the help of a turbocharger. The system was used for three races and then switched to a naturally aspirated unit. The use of turbochargers had not worked well; in naturally aspirated form the Chevy V8 produced 735 horsepower which was enough to keep the car on pace.

The team finished the season in better standing than they had done in years past, but nowhere near what they had wanted to accomplish. The team finished only two races out of the eight that they entered. One was at Edmonton where the team finished in third and a second-place at Laguna Seca. The team had been plagued by mechanical issues.

In 1974, Shadow entered their newly created DN4. It was very similar to the DN2 but smaller and lighter. Rule changes required the cars to get 3 mpg so the reduction in weight and size was done in an effort to comply with these new regulations. There were two cars; both were powered by Chevrolet V8 engines that produced an impressive 800 horsepower. Jackie Oliver drove one of the DN4 racers and George Follmer drove the second DN4.

1974 was a very successful season for the Shadow team. Follmer finished in second place in three of the races. Oliver won four races and went on to secure the championship. It should be noted that McLaren, Porsche, and Lola had retired from competition and did not field new race cars for the 1974 season. 1974 also marked the final year of the CanAm series.

The Shadow team switched their attention to Formula One competition. They were met with little success and went out of business during the early 1980s. The company was absorbed by Theodore Racing. Lack of money meant that the team only lasted halfway through the season. Prior to the company's demise, a few members had left to form the Arrows F1 team. Alan Jones had left to work with Williams.

by Dan Vaughan

Sports Racer
Chassis number: DN4-2A

This vehicle is a 1974 AVS Shadow/Chevrolet DN4 CanAm Sports-Racing Spider with chassis number DN4-2A. It is the chassis driven by British racing star Jackie Oliver, winning the 1974 CanAm championship title. Oliver's racing career began with front-drive mini saloon cars, progressed to a wooden-chassised Marcos GT and then a Jaguar E-Type. Through time, he went to single-seaters, then Formula 3 and International Formula 2. In 1968 he was World Champion Driver Graham Hill's team-mate in the Formula 1 Lotus program. He raced in Formula 1 for a number of teams, including BRM, McLaren and Shadow cars. In 1969, he won LeMans while driving a Gulf-JW Ford.

In 1969 he raced in the CanAm series in Peter Bryant's Autocoast Ti22. From 1972 through 1974 he drove for Don Nichols in his AVS Shadow CanAm cars. He also drove their F1 single-seater cars at the time as well.

The fuel shortage of the early 1970s had CanAM change its regulations considerably, limiting fuel to just 37 gallons per race. The gas tanks shrank in size, many had been over 80 gallons. As a result, the cars decreased in size as well. The DN4, in comparison to the DN2, was considerably smaller, now just 100 inches in length. The AVS team claimed their V8 Chevrolet engine produced 735 horsepower. It is believed that the real figure was closer to 800.

Jackie Oliver kicked the season opener at Mosport Park, Canada to a wonderful start. He drove his DN4 to pole position with a qualifying time of 1 minute, 14.5 seconds. He and his teammate George Follmer finished first and second. Behind them was a McLaren M20 of Scooter Patrick, Bob Nagel's Lola T260, the Motschenbacher's Mclaren M8F, and Gene Fisher's Lola T222.

At Atlanta, Follmer qualified ahead of Oliver for pole position. The race, however, was won by Oliver with Follmer finishing in second. At Watkins Glen, the same scenario played out again. Follmer qualified for pole position but finished in second. Oliver won the race while starting second. Olive won for the fourth time at Mid-Ohio. Follmer qualified ahead of Oliver at Elkhart Lake, and both he and Oliver ran uncontested through most of the race. Both cars suffered mechanical difficulties and retired prematurely. The race was won by Scooter Patrick in his 1972 McLaren M20.

At the close of the season, Jackie Oliver had 82 points and emerged as the 1974 CanAm Champion Driver. This car, driven by Oliver, was offered for sale at the 2006 Bonhams & Butterfields auction held at the Quail Lodge in Carmel, California where it was estimated to sell between $240,000 - $280,000. Considering the history of the car and its dominant season, it was not a surprise to see bidding exceed that estimated value. The high bid landed well above the estimate, winning at $381,000.

by Dan Vaughan

Sports Racer
Chassis number: DN4-1A

This is the car that won the Can-Am series in 1974-which was the last year of the Can-Am. The DN4 was a new design for 1974 and proved to be an extremely quick car that was relatively easy to drive. It dominated the series winning 4 of the 5 races while being driven by Jackie Oliver. This was the first production chassis and the only thing that hindered it from winning all five races was an engine failure at the penultimate race at Road America. Oliver had qualified the car on pole and was easily leading the race when the engine expired. Following the end of the Can-Am series, two exhibition races were held at venues that originally planned to hold Can-Am events. The first was at Watkins Glen in conjunction with the Formula 1 race in October 1974. The second and last exhibition was held at Laguna Seca in conjunction with the Formula 5000 event.

Chassis DN4-1A was then retired and put on display at UOP facilities in the US and UK. During transit from the UK to the US, the car suffered significant damage when it broke loose from its moorings. The car was subsequently retained by Don Nichols, in an unrepaired state, until it was purchased by Jim Bartel in October 2014.

Since purchasing the racer, it has gone through a complete restoration to original specifications by RM Motorsports. Adhering to original specifications was made easier with the assistance of Dan Boyd. Dan was the official Shadow Team photographer from 1974 until Shadow closed its doors in 1979.

This car is powered by a Kieth Black 509 cu in (8.7 liters) aluminum block engine. It has a Lucas mechanical fuel injection system and an LG600 Mk2 gearbox. The engine has 900HP and over 720 ft.lbs of torque in a very wide torque band.

Sports Racer
Chassis number: DN4-1A

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.

Sports Racer
Chassis number: DN4-1P

Heading into 1972, the team's original design was reworked and improved substantially. This was helped to some degree by the fact it was a titanium car. By 1973, Shadow grew to be one of the more competitive teams in the dying series of Can-Am racing.

This Shadow, DN4-P is the actual development prototype. Jack Oliver drove this car for pre-season testing at Laguna Seca and Mosport. Later George Follmer was recruited by Nichols to fill the seat previously occupied by Peter Revson.

Chassis DN4-1P was retained by Nichols and eventually rebuilt in 1991. In 2012 the current owner obtained the car and has since prepped it for racing. It has since garnered seven event wins including the 2013 and 2014 SVRA national championships.