1974 Can-Am winning Shadow and its 1972 inspiration from Lola ...

[Wouter Melissen]

Dear Ultimatecarpage.com visitor,

One of the all time great racing series was the original Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) held from 1966 to 1974. With very few limitations Can-Am saw some of the most unusual and powerful cars go head to head. The field was a mix of wealthy amateurs and many of the finest drivers of the day including F1 World Champions John Surtees, Denny Hulme, Jacky Stewart and Mario Andretti.
During the final years of the Can-Am Cup it suffered from the oil crisis and the dominant Porsches fielded by Team Penske. Most works team had withdrawn but the Anglo-American Shadow continued to fight against the odds and a much bigger budget. Their perseverance paid off in 1974 when the all new Shadow DN4 won four of the five races. The exceptionally low racer was designed by Tony Southgate and included many parts from the company's Formula 1 cars. The most important ingredient was a big block Chevrolet V8 engine that produced a staggering 800 bhp. After many strange designs, like this Shadow Mk1, Shadow had finally fielded a conventional car and it brought the desired results. Today we explore all aspects of the last Can-Am champion with a detailed report and a 18-shot gallery.
The ultra-low theme of the Shadow was pioneered in 1972 by this Lola T310. The rationale was that the low and wide body would generate a lot of downforce without the penalty of drag. The design was quite a departure from the short and narrow T260 used the year before and the car was completed for driver David Hobbs to make a real impact. It was Lola's final Can-Am car. We caught up with the ex-Hobbs car at the 2007 and 2008 Monterey Historic Races. In 2008 American racing icon Bobby Rahal piloted the white Lola to victory in the Can-Am race. Our article also includes pictures of a second car described by its owner as "number two of one produced."

Enjoy the links:

1972 Lola T310 Chevrolet - Images, Specifications and Information

1974 Shadow DN4 Chevrolet - Images, Specifications and Information

Regards,
Wouter Melissen

[henk4]

some more bonus shots of Bobby Rahal

[f6fhellcat13]

Nice update Wouter. I love th old CanAm cars.
Great pictures Pieter, do you have any of the Shadow?

[Soloracer]

Love the car. I saw the UOP Shadow being raced this summer at RA. The driver was crap though.

[cmcpokey]

on another tangent... wouter, nice to see you on speed channels front page again.

[Kitdy]

on another tangent... wouter, nice to see you on speed channels front page again.

Wouter and Marshall seem to have a good thing going - did you see the thread about Franchitti's live chat? I want to check that out tomorrow.

[cmcpokey]

that was what sent me to speedtv.com. i couldn't believe that daytona 24 is this weekend. i thought it would be a few more weeks.

[togos452]

Thanks for the unique machines.

[wildman]

To quote from Wouter's DN4 feature:

The team's 1971 and 1972 cars had been designed by Peter Bryant and were very bulky....

Compared to what? The original '71 Shadow was a very low-profile car, which used 12" diameter wheels when everyone else was using 15's. It almost sounds as if you have some axe to grind against Peter Bryant, though it bears mentioning that Tony Southgate's first Shadow, the DN2, was actually SLOWER at some tracks than Bryant's '72 design.

"The low and wide Lola T310 car that made a belated appearance towards the end of 1972"

Did you do any research at all before writing this piece? The T310 actually competed in the entire '72 series except for the first round at Mosport.