IGO200

As some of you know I was an engine builder for Shadow Can Am and F-5000 in the 70's. I recently had a three cool videos sent to me from another former Team member. The first is a Shadow DN4 "The '74 Car" on a hot lap at Road America during the Vintage races last year. The second is a Mclaren at Road America and third is the Shadow DN6 F-5000 Car at Sears Point. Of interest is that the F-5000 car is Dodge Powered. The video caption mi-identifies the car as an F-1, which it is not. You don't get to see it run but you can hear it warm up. I also built those engines and it's likely that I originally assembled the very engine you hear because there were only a couple blocks and I assembled all of them for the race cars.
As I watch and listen to the DN4 Can Am car, it occurs to me that if that video was from 1974, it would be Jackie Oliver or George Follmer driving and I would be listening to my own engine. This is SO cool. Road America is very special for me as well because I grew up in Chicago and first attended races there with my uncle when I was 12 in 1959, little knowing that I would someday be racing there as a Championship Team Member. I love that place.


At Phoenix Racing (Shadow) , I worked under Ex-McLAren guy Lee Muir, who recently passed away in Germany where he had an engineering consulting company.

hipocars1

Thanks for posting those videos. Brings back some great memories.
I started following the Can Am series when I was discharged from the Army in '71. Saw them run at Elkhart Lake, Donneybrooke and Mid-Ohio.
The Can Am cars were spectacular machines. Unlimited horsepower!
The great drivers.....Revson, Hulme, Donohue, Oliver, Follmer.
The best race series ever!
UOP Shadows were awesome!
I've read some articles about the "NuArt Can Am cars / Unlimited Racing Championship Series" (http://www.unlimitedracingchampionship.com/).
Do you know if this series is active?
Here's the '74 Program.....

Easy Rhino

Great stuff, thanks for sharing.

Can-Am was my favorite American racing series back in the day. Great gobs of American V-8 horsepower.

mashinter

Great videos. Thanks.

I was at Watkins Glen for the '74 Can Am and got to watch the Shadows. This is the pace lap at the boot. They won easily.

Dr L-88

Thanks for sharing.............................I love the Can Am series and the old race cars. I have 3 old Can Am aluminum big block Chevy engines. A lot of history there. One of the greatest periods of American auto racing ever.

IGO200

hipocars-
I have the poster of that program as well as the one from Atlanta on my garage wall. I also have most of the Autoweek issues referencing the series. I'm quoted in a couple of those.
Actually I still have all my Team uniform gear. And, what is really important is that It FITS!!
You mentioned Peter Revson, "Revvie" tested our car at Riverside one week before he was killed in the F-1 accident at Kyalami SA. I worked the test with Tony Conner, one of the chief mechanics, and Lee. Revvie brought his girlfriend, Marjorie Wallace, who was, (I think) Miss Universe. I remember that they went into town and got McDonald's for all of us. He (and She) were really fun to work with. He was a fun guy and a GREAT driver.

Oh, and in that PR piece from the program- I dated that girl that's modeling the T shirt and Jacket there on the right for a couple years. Not that it matters much today........

BADBIRDCAGE

Absolutely cool. I was privileged to attend the six hour endurance and can-am at Watkins Glen, NY in 72. Great cars and great racing on a course where they don't only steer "left".

63Corvette

Great video. Thanks for posting. I attended the CanAm at the Glen in 1973, and 74. I also attended the TWS CanAm in 1970.
At the Glen in 1973, Mark Donohue wadded the 917-30K/L up in practice on Saturday. (There was only one) so they pun it in the truck untouched and went to the motel. HOWEVER, on Sunday morning..............Penske's crew rolled a spanking new "spare" 917-30K/L out of another truck and won the race with it. No one knew they had a spare (complete car)

gbvette62

Here's the same 1974 Shadow DN4, at Indy in June. It was quite an impressive car.





This former Denny Hulme 71 McLaren M8F Can-Am car, was also at Indy.





There were also two open wheel Shadows, participating, this 71 DN1 F1 car, and a 75 DN6 F5000. I didn't get any pictures of the DN6, which got it's right front suspension knocked off on Friday, and didn't run the rest of the weekend. Neither of the Can-Am cars competed in Saturday or Sunday's Group 10 races either, but I don't know why.

hedgehead

Attended the races at Laguna Seca in the early 70's, the noise, the smells the excitement, Damn that was fun.

jim lockwood

I see some Cup cars in the background. In my experience they are disturbingly fast for such porcine dinosaurs. How did they do up against the Can Am cars?

gbvette62

Group 10 is a real mix of cars. Cup and Busch cars; Can-Am cars from the 70's and 80's as well as Shelby Can-Am cars from the 90's; full frame GT-1 cars from the 70's and 80's and tube frame GT-1's from the 80's and 90's; Porsche 911 and 993's and the occasional Ferrari Challenge car, all fall into Group 10. A friend of ours has a Grand Sport replica, that he will run in Group 10 sometimes, when he wants to race on slicks. At Indy, he chose to race on treaded tires, so he raced in Group 5, with the Lola T-70's and Lotus 23's.

The competition was pretty good in Group 10. Every session, found something different at the top of the time chart. Thursday's first practice, was led by an 06 Ford Fusion Cup car, with a 1.39 fast lap. First round of qualifying on Thursday, found the 71 McLaren M8F fastest, with a 1.36 lap. Second round qualifying was won by another Cup car, this time an 03 Monte Carlo running a 1.33 lap, and Sunday's feature race was won by a 90 GT-1 Corvette, whose fastest lap was a 1.35. The Shadow's fast lap was a 1.40.

tuxnharley

60's USRRC and the Can Am here. Great times! I'm not sure racing has ever seemed as good since!

PS - you forgot the beer and the girls.............

jim lockwood

Ken Menella? I can think of only a handful of GS replicas allowed in vintage races (mine is one) and Ken is the most visible of the group.



Thanks. That's good information and it's about what I expected. Still, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around how quick those gigantic, heavy cup cars can be on a road course.

gbvette62

Yep, Ken is who I was referring too.

There was a second GS at Indy. It was a coupe that I hadn't seen before. Someone told me the driver was from Switzerland(?), and I think it may have been built by Duntov. I'm pretty sure I saw it in their garage.

I agree, I've seen the Cup cars, Busch cars and the trucks, all race at Watkins Glen and it's pretty impressive.

Still, I can't get use to them mixing it up with Corvettes, 911's, and Ferrari's, in vintage races though!