Growing up in Wisconsin just 40 miles from Road America, my interest in sports car racing came early. The Can-Am races lit that interest further when they came to Road America in 1967. The open rules and unlimited power made these sports racers the fastest road racers on the planet. The next level of interest occurred when I got my issue of the August 1969 Road & Track and saw the cover photo of the prototype AVS Shadow MkI. This was the most radical road racer ever imagined. The image never left my memory and that very issue of Road & Track still occupies space in my automotive library.
Twenty years later I was able to purchase my first Can-Am racer, a 1969 Lola T163. I restored and campaigned it in historic races. However, whenever one of the rare Shadow Can-Am cars appeared it immediately got my attention. I purchased my first Shadow, a DN6 F5000 racer, in pieces, from a magazine ad.
As it turns out, this would set the tone for how most of the Shadows would end up in my collection. The next Shadow was purchased directly from Don Nichols just three years before he passed away. It was the Shadow DN4-1A, the car that won the 1974 Can-Am championship driven by Jackie Oliver. Again, it was in pieces. Nichols had always planned to build a museum for his Shadows, but had to trade or deal his cars away through the years to survive financially.
Having collected this many Shadows that required restoration, I began looking further into their history to help with the task at hand. What I found is that no one had recorded the full story of the Shadow marque. Enter Pete Lyons, noted racing photographer and author. Pete had photographed and written articles on the Shadows “back in the day” and had wanted to write the full story for many years.
With the support of EVRO Publishing, the biography of Don Nichols and the Shadow marque was completed for the 50th Shadow Anniversary at Road America in July 2020.
Having collected this many Shadow Racers that required restoration, I began looking further into their history to help with the task at hand. What I found is that no one had recorded the full story of the Shadow Marque. Enter Pete Lyons, noted racing Photographer and author. Pete had photographed and written articles of the Shadows “Back in the Day” and had wanted to write the full story for many years.
With the support of EVRO Publishing the biography of Don Nichols and the Shadow Marque was completed for the 50th Shadow Anniversary at Road America in July 2020.
This updates the process of how I got to this point. What became obvious throughout this journey is that I was not the only one who remembered and treasured the Shadow mystique. Although the book captured the main story, there were still other details to be explored. To this end I have created this website to explore and share more of the Shadow legend.
The first of these is an in-depth study of the car that started the Shadow legend, the AVS Shadow Mk I. This book and more will be part of the Can-Am Shadow Special Edition Package.
The Can-Am Shadow Special Edition Package and other artifacts of the Shadow legend will be available through this website.
As the late songwriter Harry Chapin said, “All my life’s a circle!”
This updates the process of how I got to this point. What became obvious throughout this journey is that I was not the only one who remembered and treasured the Shadow mystique. Although the book captured the main story, there were still other details to be explored. To this end I have created this website to explore and share more of the Shadow legend.
The first of these is an in-depth study of the car that started the Shadow legend, the AVS Shadow Mk I. This book and more will be part of the Can-Am Shadow Special Edition Package.
The Can-Am Shadow Special Edition Package and other artifacts of the Shadow legend will be available through this website.
As the late songwriter Harry Chapin said, “All my life’s a circle!”
