‘If she would just ease her grip a smidge it really would be perfect’…
Seems to be the look on Jackie Oliver’s face. He and the delightful young lady are aboard Jackie’s ’74 Can Am Championship winning Shadow DN4 Chev. It’s the London Olympia ‘Speedshow’ on 2 January 1975.
By 1974 the heyday of the greatest motor racing spectacle on the planet was over, the Porsche roller-coaster effectively did that in 1972/3 as well as some poor decision making by officialdom which drove the likes of Jim Hall from the series. Sans Chaparral the show was never quite the same.
Longtime Don Nichols driver Oliver didn’t have an easy time of it in 1974 though, his teammate and ’72 Can Am champ George Follmer gave him a serious run for his money. Oliver won 4 rounds, George followed him home in 3 of them. Scooter Patrick won the other round in an old McLaren M20 Chev.
Road America 1973. Oliver DNS in the championship race after an engine failure in the sprint event. Compare and contrast the 1973 DN2 with the 1974 DN4 below. Donohue won in a Porsche 917/30. #47 is Ed Felter McLaren M8E Chev DNF and #51 is not on the results data-base i have if anyone can assist (unattributed)
New cars for 1974, the DN4 design (below) was fundamentally smaller than the ’73 DN2 (above) and built around fuel cells of only 45 gallons, the legislators reaction to the oil crisis of the time. Track, wheelbase and overall width were less than the DN2. Southgate used some DN3 F1 hardware in the DN4, ‘the last great CanAm car’, but the layout-aluminium monocoque, Hewland LG ‘box and ally-block Chev, which still gave a reputed 800bhp were all CanAm standard issue. Albeit a brilliantly executed one which was driven mighty well by a couple of Group 7 veterans in Ollie and George…
Credits…
J Wilds, nwmaracing
Tailpiece: The ole DN4 one-two. Oliver from Follmer at Mosport on 16 June 1974, they finished in that order with Scooter Patrick 3rd in a McLaren M20 Chev…
(nwmaracing)
primotipo... 