Shadow DN3 Formula 1

Price: Sold

Shadow DN3 Formula 1 for sale

Vehicle Information

Year: 1974
Make: Shadow
Model: DN3 Formula 1
Mileage:
Engine: Cosworth’s DFV Engine
Transmission: Hewland TL200 Gearbox
Exterior Color:
Interior Color:
Location:

Photo Gallery

Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Shadow DN3 Formula 1

Contact Information

Offered By: William I'Anson Ltd
Contact:
Phone:
Email:

Vehicle Description

The Ex – Jean-Pierre Jarier, 3rd in the 1974 Monaco Grand Prix

Shadow DN3 Formula 1
Initially formed in 1968 as Advanced Vehicle Systems and rebranded to Shadow Racing Inc., run by the mysterious person that was Don Nichols, the team soon became known for running in the iconic black livery. Nichols, an American WW2 Army veteran and military intelligence operative chose the logo of a cloaked spy silhouette for the Shadow outfit. With ambitions of competing in Formula 1, Nichols recruited Tony Southgate to design the first of his single seater cars, announcing the plans in late 1972.

With backing from oil company UOP gained with the exposure of the radical Shadow Mk1 CanAm car, the first of Tony Southgate’s Shadow Formula 1 cars was dubbed the DN1. Somewhat less extreme than the CanAm Mk1 which featured a monocoque so low that the driver’s feet operated the pedals sideways and 10” diameter front wheels, the DN1 used an open top aluminium monocoque, mated to Cosworth’s 3-litre DFV engine and a Hewland TL200 gearbox.

Suspension was double wishbone front and rear, with the car cloaked in a svelte, low body with high airbox, and of course finished in black adorned with UOP logos and patriotic stars and stripes on the airbox. The DN1s raced in the hands of Jackie Oliver, George Follmer and Brian Redman for the Shadow team, with Graham Hill also running one of the cars in his Embassy livery.

With the DN1s suffered from reliability issues linked to vibration all season, Southgate designed the DN3 for 1974. Continuing on the general principles of the DN1, the DN3 featured a stiffer monocoque, wider track, longer wheelbase and improved aerodynamics. With the issues of the DN1 appearing to be solved, the DN3 showed results from the start, with a second row qualifying position at the first Grand Prix of 1974 in Argentina.

DN3-2A, the car we offer today, debuted at the Race of Champions in March 1974 with Jean-Pierre Jarier, although it did not race after an off in qualifying at the Brands Hatch circuit. Two weeks later, DN3-2A was back out with Jarier at the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami, but the team withdrew after the tragic loss of team mate Peter Revson in testing ahead of the race.

The Shadow team bounced back however, and a fortnight later were present at Silverstone for the International Trophy running a one car team with Jarier in DN3-2A. Jarier qualified 10th fastest in the mixed F1 and F5000 field, before going on to take a sensational 3rd place finish for the team, no doubt lifting spirits. Next was to Jarama for the Spanish GP in late April, where Brian Redman joined Jarier in a new car. Jarier, with DN3-2A, set 12th fastest time in qualifying before retiring from the Grand Prix just ten laps from the end. At the Belgian GP in May, Jarier qualified DN3-2A 17th and worked his way forward through the race to get as far as 6th place and into the points, only to retire a handful of laps from the finish.

Next came the Monaco Grand Prix, arguably the most revered of all the races on the calendar. Jarier, in DN3-2A again, set a superb pace through testing and qualifying, clocking the 5th fastest time of Friday, securing a place on the third row of the grid. With the grid position directly in front of him vacated by Depailler due to a problem leading up to the start, Jarier took full advantage of the extra space afforded and slotted into 3rd place at the first corner.

Peterson got past Jarier only to then clip one of the barriers and spin the Lotus 72, resulting in contact with Reutemann’s Brabham. This allowed Jarier to retake 3rd place and with Regazzoni’s Ferrari holding up teammate Lauda’s similar car, Jarier was able to stay in touch. Regazzoni then spun at Rascasse, so Jarier climbed to 2nd place. Peterson caught Jarier once more, and successfully passed him with Jarier dropping back to 3rd. Lauda’s Ferrari then went off song and stopped some time afterwards, so Jarier rose to 2nd again.

With the high degrees of steering input required at the Monte Carlo circuit, Jarier knocked the ignition switch, turning off the engine momentarily and Scheckter found his way past in the Tyrrell. Jarier didn’t lose too much ground however, and maintained the position through the second half of the race to take a stunning 3rd place finish for the Shadow team at the Monaco Grand Prix, scoring vital Constructor’s Championship points. It was a result which would prove to be the standout event of the Shadow team’s Formula 1 career.

Following the Monaco success, the team travelled to Anderstorp for the Swedish GP at the beginning of June. Here, Jarier set his best qualifying time in the spare car, but elected to race his regular DN3-2A. Starting on the fourth row, Jarier had a strong race, finishing in 5th position. Two weeks later was the Dutch GP at Zandvoort, where Jarier’s DN3-2A featured revised suspension and brakes. Jarier qualified 7th, lining up on the fourth row once more, but dropped to the back of the field a few laps in before ultimately retiring with clutch issues.

At the French GP on the fast and flowing Dijon circuit, Jarier qualified DN3-2A in 12th and was classified 12th in the Grand Prix. Next was the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, and with his regular DN3-2A, Jarier qualified 16th but retired from the race when a suspension mount worked loose. On the Nurburgring Nordschleife for the German GP, the pairing qualified 18th but rose to finish 8th in the race. The following Austrian GP yielded similar results, with Jarier and DN3-2A qualifying a distant 23rd but managing to score an 8th place finish.

In Italy for the Grand Prix at Monza, Jarier and the Shadow team found a fresh turn of speed with a qualifying result of 9th in DN3-2A, although he retired with engine failure after 19 laps of the race. For the North American races at the conclusion of the 1974 season, Shadow took DN3-2A for Jarier and a sister car for team mate Pryce. At the first of these, the Canadian GP at Mosport, Jarier qualified DN3-2A in a superb 5th place, starting on the inside of the third row. In the race, drive shaft failure put Jarier out while running in 7th on the 49th lap.

The final Grand Prix of 1974 was the U.S. GP at Watkins Glen, and Jarier was right on the pace from first practice with DN3-2A, but wasn’t able to improve his time through the later sessions so lined up 10th on the grid. In the race, Jarier rose to 9th before loosing time and dropped right back but climbed up to a 10th place finish to conclude the World Championship season, with DN3-2A surviving the year in one piece.

With the new DN5 debuting for the 1975 season, DN3-2A wasn’t raced during that year but did go to South Africa as Jarier’s spare car for the first two Grand Prix. Shadow eventually sold DN3-2A to Roger Springett for 1976 along with another DN3 and a DN1 which he planned to use in the British Shellsport Group 8 series. Running under the Team PR Reilly banner with to the backing of ‘Nobby’ Reilly, the DN1 was used along with the other DN3, while DN3-2A was initially not raced.

It is at this point that the identities became muddled, something which has been researched by Allen Brown of Oldracingcars.com and conclusively explained in the dossier which accompanies the car. The DN3-2A chassis plate found it’s way on to the other DN3 which Springett used first, but it can be easily identified as not being the DN3-2A which was used by Jarier because of visible identifiers such as a roll hoop with bolted stays. Jarier’s DN3-2A always had welded roll hoop stays, which is seen on Springett’s second DN3, this car, which came to carry the plate DN3B-5A at this time.

Springett’s team readied the second DN3, this car, after Mike Wilds crashed the first DN3 at Mallory Park, badly damaging the monocoque. Wilds went on to drive this car, with its welded roll hoop stays, DN3B-5A plate and DN5 welded dashboard roll hoop at the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, but did not qualify. Subsequently, Wilds raced the car in three Shellsport G8 rounds, taking 2nd place at Snetterton.

Allen Brown has been able to identify that the second Springett DN3 as his car, with its welded roll hoop stays and DN3B-5A plate, it must be Jarier’s DN3-2A from 1974. Only two other DN3s featured the welded roll hoop stays and they are accounted for, ruling them out from being the second Springett DN3.

Springett then sold all of his Shadows to Phil Bennett in late 1977, and Bennett went on to race this car in various Formula Libre events in 1978 and 1979, taking victory at Croft. The car was rented to Vivien Candy in August 1979 to use in an attempt on the Eire land speed record. Candy made the record attempts on a three mile stretch of closed road near Cork, where speeds of 184mph and 179mph were reached, only for the official time keeper to not realise they were not practice runs, and not record them. With increased winds, the top recorded runs came in at 168.380mph setting a new record but down on the speeds reached earlier that day.

Bennett reached a deal with Brian Redman, and this car still carrying the DN3B-5A plate changed hands. Redman did not race the car and kept it at his farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales before selling it to Jonathan Bradburn when he emigrated to work for Carl Haas in Chicago. Bradburn took the DN3 from Redman as part of a deal towards a Gulf-Mirage BRM, and he then advertised DN3-2A with DN3B-5A plate for sale from September 1980 under his company name of Bradburn and Wedge.

John McCartney bought the car from Bradburn, and proceeded to rebuild it, having it checked over by Peter Denty after which it was sold to Mike Harrison, a historic racer. Harrison raced the car with the HSCC and when the new series for 3-litre Formula 1 cars came about, he entered John Brindley in the DN3 for Snetterton in 1983, where it finished 2nd. Harrison subsequently advertised the DN3, and it was bought by Rod Tolhurst. Tolhurst often had John Narcisi drive his cars, and they took the DN3 to Mallory Park and Oulton Park but with limited success. Tolhurst advertised the DN3 through Roger Hurst in early 1985, and then under Hurst’s Lenham Racing Cars Ltd moniker in November 1985. From here the DN3 went to Bill Hall and Roger Cowman, who in turn advertised it in early 1986, selling it to George Stauffer of Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Stauffer retained the DN3 until late 1991, at which time Dave Swigler bought it from him and the car moved to Florida. Swigler had a small collection of racing cars, and in 2011 the DN3 was acquired by the current owner, still wearing the DN3B-5A plate. With the DN3 being in very good complete but out of use condition, Scott Drnek of Virtuoso Performance in California was tasked with bringing the car up to racing condition. The restoration work was guided by a remit of wanting the car to be reliable, fun to drive and historically accurate.

The majority of components, including the bodywork, were found to be in good condition. Certified crack testing was undertaken on stressed components, new bag tanks were made, engine rebuilt, gearbox rebuilt by PDS in England with more user friendly and readily available internals, new seat belts and fire system were fitted, and the restoration was finished in 2014. At this point, new ACCUS FIA HTPs were granted, and remain valid until 2024.

Having raced in the U.S. at events like the Rolex Reunion at Laguna Seca and also the Mexican Grand Prix support races, the engine in the Shadow currently has three race events and one test day worth of running on it. A new fuel bag tank has just been fitted and certified crack testing carried out once more, valid for two years in FIA events. Always maintained with no expense spared at Virtuoso Performance in the current ownership, the DN3 is now in the U.K. for the first time in 30 years.

The performance capabilities of the DN3 were demonstrated in 2018 at the Rolex Reunion Masters F1 U.S.A. rounds, where the current owner’s son qualified the DN3 in pole position, ahead of the ever fast ground effect Ligier JS11 of Matteo Ferrer, who won the FIA Masters Historic Formula 1 Championship this year.

Benefitting from the exhaustive historical research by Allen Brown, complete with the accompanying dossier, this car, DN3-2A, has a continuous history from leaving Shadow in early 1976. It can be positively identified thanks in part to the welded roll hoop stays present throughout it’s life and also the DN5 dashboard roll hoop which was fitted to comply with regulations for the 1976 British Grand Prix. Today it still wears the DN3B-5A plate which has been on the car since 1976.

Rare in completing a full World Championship Formula 1 season unscathed, and with the same driver throughout, DN3-2A scored the best Formula 1 result for any Shadow, taking 3rd at the 1974 Monaco Grand Prix. As such, it makes the car a stand out choice for the upcoming 2020 Monaco Historic Grand Prix, along with FIA Masters Historic Formula 1 and Masters Historic Formula 1 U.S.A. Surely one of the most evocative high airbox Formula 1 designs, what better than to take it back to Monaco?

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