THE SECOND CAREER OF THE SHADOW MK 1
(Update Februar 2021)
After a long period of storage, the last car (Chassis Nr.70-4 Mid-Ohio version) was sold in 2006 to Dennis Losher in California.
Since the original Firestone tires and its original tire sizes were absolutely no longer available, he found the following racing tire sizes from Hoosier, which came closest:
- Front: 8.0/18.0-10 on 10” x 9”(wide) wheels
- Rear: 13.0/23.0-13 on 13”x 14”(wide) wheels
He entered the car at various events including the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2008.
In July 2009 this car was sold to Porsche’s former head of design Harm Lagaaij in Germany :
Since its first publication in Road and Track 1969, he had always been fascinated by the innovative and radical concept of the first AVS Shadow Mk 1.
Although the car went through quite a lot of unsuccessful modifications for 3 races in 1970, he was always convinced that the original configuration should be shown again. He therefore decided to restore the car back to the Track Test Configuration of Riverside (late 1969) and Laguna Seca (early 1970).
With the support of Shadow founder Don Nichols, he started a complete restoration with the goal to prove that it could have worked in its period :
- Water/Oil coolers as original behind the rear wheels.
- The original rear wheel opening covers (“spats”) were remade. This is aerodynamically crucial to make the cooling work.
- Installation of the high mounted wing as in the track tests of Laguna Seca. However for demos it can also be taken off to show the car as it was in the earliest track tests.
- All new Inboard exhaust headers and manifold, as original.
- All original bodywork panels. The original wide rear air scoops (“ears”) can be mounted for demos or removed for racing events, because they don’t influence neither the cooling nor the aerodynamics.
- Original overhauled engine (494 cu.in) and Hewland LG 500 gearbox.
- 3 Pedals: clutch left, brake/throttle right. The car originally had 2 pedals: brake left, throttle right and with a manually operated clutch lever on the left. This meant that most of the gear changes were done w/o clutch operation and often led to confusion for the driver. For the restoration it was therefore decided to go for a conventional 3 pedal layout to improve safety and reduce the strain on the gearbox, but it could be converted to two pedals.
- New and improved front brake discs and calipers in the original sizes.
- Detachable rear sub frame to enable gear ratio changes in an easier way.
- Change of the colour of the car from red to black to refer to the first prototype of 1969. As a matter of fact, black became the most well known colour for all future Shadow racing cars.
- Sort out the geometry problems of the front and rear suspension.
- Improve the cable operated gear linkage system.
- Improve the fitting of all the original bodywork panels.
- Improving the "constant flow" Kinsler fuel injection.
- All new electrics.
- Top quality restoration.
After 4000 hours and numerous technical drawings for the missing parts, the Shadow Mk 1 was ready to be demonstrated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2010.
After this successful introduction another 1000 hours were invested to make it race ready for serious circuit racing.
Since then many thousands of hours were invested to make the car even better.
By placing electric (sucking)ventilators on the inside of the the radiators, improving the airflow ducting to and through the radiators and always (!)mounting the original rear wheel covers (spats), the cooling is now finally very good.
Thanks to a stiffer front roll-bar, front wheel negative camber and front wheel toe-out, the car is now easy to drive, it handles well, the pace has been improved from race to race and has a great potential for even faster lap times.
An official FIA certification in the form of a HTP (Historical Technical Passport), valid till the end of 2026) has been given to the car, so it can race at international races.
The car has been demonstrated successfully at Goodwood 2010 and 2013 and raced at several historic CanAm events in 2011 - 2018, which means that it is now reliable, fun to drive and, as always, is a great crowd puller (see photos 8,9 , 10 and 11).
It is therefore ideal for concours events, demos, real racing at vintage events or a unique car for a car collection.
It is therefore ideal for concours events, demos, real racing at vintage events or a unique car for a car collection.
For more pictures click here ( _ ) !!!
There are also quite a number of original reports in magazines like : Road&Track (august 1969,may 1970+1971), Autoweek (july 1970),etc.
The following photos show the Shadow Mk1 as it was in 1969 / 1970 compared to how Harm Lagaaij restored the car.
SUMMARY
All the AVS Shadow Mk 1 chassis were initially built to the earliest configuration of 1969, but for the races they unfortunately went through various unsuccesful iterations, which deviated from this original concept. Harm Lagaaij however was convinced that its original configuration should be shown again and therefore decided to restore this chassis back to its origines and also solve all the problems of its period. The result is spectacular and competitive, which proves that its radical and innovative concept works and now can be shown to the public as a unforgettable part of CanAm history !
In June 2018 the car was sold to Shadow collector James Bartel in the USA . He plans to show his Shadow collection at several vintage race events.
Harm Lagaaij (Lagaay)
Born in Holland. Raised in Ecuador, Venezuela, Brunei, and Holland. Studied at the Institute for Automobile Technology (IVA) in Holland.
His design career started at Porsche AG in 1971, where he was involved in the design of 911 and 928 and he was responsible for the design of the 924.
In 1977 he moved to Ford, Cologne, Germany and became manager of the Advanced Design Studio. The projects he worked on were Fiesta, Escort, Sierra and Scorpio. Together with the Motorsport Division he was responsible for the Sierra Cosworth.
In 1985 he became Chief Designer of BMW Technik (subsidiary of BMW AG) and was responsible for the design of the BMW Z1 roadster.
From 1989 onward he headed the Design Studio of Porsche AG in Weissach, where all Porsche models are developed. Additionally he oversaw car and product design projects for outside clients.
Under his leadership the 968 and 928 GTS were developed and the 911 went through the successful evolution of 993, 996 and 997, including all of their derivatives. The Boxster Concept Car and its production versions, including Cayman, were also important design achievements. Furthermore the Cayenne and the spectacular Carrera GT were also products of his great team.
Lagaaij´s career culminated with the 997, which together with the Boxster have been recognized by numerous awards of design.
He is a regular jury member at the Concours d'Elegance of Palace 't Loo, Goodwood, Louis Vuitton, Villa d'Este and Amelia Island.
Harm is also a vivid motorcycle rider and an active historic racing driver for more than 35 years (Elva Mk7, Costin-Nathan BMW, BMW Monti, Chevron B8, Elfin ME5). He restored the Shadow Mk 1 and has raced and demonstrated it at many historic events in Europe. In june 2018 he sold this unique CanAm car to Shadow racecar collector James Bartel.