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  Shadow DN1 Cosworth      

  Article Image gallery (39) Chassis (2) Specifications  
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Country of origin:United States
Produced in:1973
Numbers built:8
Designed by:Tony Southgate for Shadow
Successor:Shadow DN3 Cosworth
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:November 28, 2013
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Click here to download printer friendly versionFollowing three difficult years in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup with the rather unconventional Shadow sports racers, Don Nichols completely restructured his Advanced Vehicle Systems effort ahead of the 1973 season. Former Lola designer Tony Southgate was hired, the team moved from the United States to England and expanded into Formula 1. Starting with a clean sheet, Southgate quickly developed all-new Shadow racing cars for both F1 and Can-Am.

The F1 car was the first order of business as the World Championship kicked off first, at the end of January. Southgate followed conventional lines for what was his first F1 design. The sheet aluminium monocoque had a traditional coke-bottle shape and used the readily available Cosworth DFV V8 engine as a fully stressed member. Liveried in the team's familiar black colours and sporting Universal Oil Products sponsorship, the all-new DN1 featured a long nose and a very tall airbox.

Despite the team's best efforts, the first cars were not ready until round three of the championship; the South African Grand Prix held early in March. George Follmer and Jackie Oliver were tasked to drive the car, which struggled for outright pace at Kyalami. Follmer did manage to grab sixth and the team's first World Championship point at their debut. A third Shadow appeared at the next round, driven by Graham Hill and finished in the colours of his fledgling Embassy Racing team.

There were some flaws in Southgate's designs, which reflected his inexperience with DFV-engined cars and affected the DN1 drivers throughout the year. The main problem was that the monocoque was not quite stiff enough and did not cope very well with the inherent vibrations of the high-revving V8 engine. Follmer and Oliver did manage to score a credible nine points, which was enough for the Shadow team to place eighth in the constructor's championship.

Shadow built a total of eight DN1s as several big accidents required replacement chassis; Hill only used one of these with a ninth as his best result. Two cars were pressed into service for the opening Grand Prix of the 1974 season, while a new car was readied in the factory. Dubbed the DN3, this was an improved version of the DN1 with many of the flaws ironed out. Shadow nevertheless, once again ended the year eighth in the standings.

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  Article Image gallery (39) Chassis (2) Specifications