1972 Shadow DN2
Called the DN2 or Mk3, this Shadow was an upgraded version of the Mk2 with enough detail differences to warrant a new model type. Both cars were designed by Peter Bryant. As driven by Jackie Oliver, the cars failed to achieve success with both its naturally aspirated and turbocharged Chevrolet engines.
To upgrade the Mk2 for the 1971 year, Peter Bryant relocated the front-mounted radiators to the middle of the car on both sides of the driver.
Lee Muir was in charge of engine development and prepared a turbocharged version of the Chevrolet big-block engine with specialists George Bignotti and Danny Jones. They claimed 800bhp and 985lbs/ft torque at 5,000rpm. It debuted this way at the in the 1973 CanAm series.
For the bulk of the season, Jackie Oliver piloted a non-turbocharged car and it was unreliable at the season openers at Mosport, Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen. At Mid-Ohio, the DN2 placed second overall and its the closest Shadow Racing came to victory that year.
Bonham’s Auction
At their Important Sale of Collectors’ Motorcars and Automobilia on 18 Aug 2006 at the Quail Lodge Resort, Bonhams sold Chassis no. DN2-T1 for $221,500 inclusive of Buyer’s Premium. It was described as “This beautifully presented Shadow-Chevrolet is rigged today with the twin-turbocharged potentially 1,200-horspower Chevrolet V8 engine for which it was originally intended. It was prepared to this standard by Don Nichols’s AVS concern specifically for sale to its first owner ex-works, Peter Kaus of the Rosso Bianco Collection, and it is offered here now as a uniquely impressive CanAm car of towering stature – and a classically historic machine which has had only one previous owner “ex-works”.”
In Detail
| type | Series Production Car |
| released at | 1972 Mosport |
| built at | Santa Ana, California, USA |
| engineers | Peter Bryant |
| engine | Chevrolet V8 |
| position | Mid, Longitudinal |
| valvetrain | Pushrod OHV, 2 Valves per Cyl |
| body / frame | Fiberglass Body over Aluminum Semi-Monocoque Tub |
| driven wheels | RWD |
| fuel capacity | 317.94 litres or 84 gal. |
| key drivers | Jackie Oliver |
Auction Sales History
1973 Shadow DN2-IT Race Car – did not sell for $200,000
Powered by a 494 CI Chevrolet engine fitted with twin Schweitzer turbos and fed by a high-volume Bendix fuel system, the car was driven by Oliver at Road America and by Elford at Laguna Seca and Riverside. Don Nichols retired the car after the 1973 season, but it remained in his ownership until 1987, when it was purchased along with several others in 1987 from Nichols by collector Peter Kaus for his famous Rosso Bianco Collection in Aschaffenberg, Germany. In accordance with the terms of the purchase by Kaus, the car was returned to competition condition and driven in American vintage Can-Am events by George Follmer, who drove both earlier and later versions of the Shadow and whose name appears on the sides of the car.
DN2-1T remained in the Rosso Bianco Collection until 2006, when the entire Collection was purchased by Evert Louwman, who then sold off most of the race cars through Bonhams Auction. Held in private ownership since then, the car’s complete provenance is fully documented from builder Nichols to its present owner.
Auction Source: 2010 Mecum at Monterey
