Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion

[duncan fox]

One of the F1 Shadows nearing completion. This was the JP Jarier car.

There are 3 in the shop at the moment.

This one should be extra good as it had Nick in charge with young Alan Dunkley helping (sleeping on floor) along with consultants Russell Greer, Steve Ross and David Arrowsmith keeping an eye on proceedings., a full Kiwi team.

I don't know how the Slades got any work done over that two week period . They made all of us Kiwis feel at home ...so we just moved in, heh heh

Both Nick and Bob were instrumental in helping me pry a near new 46 yr old 5 litre Toyota quad cam racing engine that was originally installed in the tiny tire car but never run out of the Don Nichols cave of treasures. This is for a customer project I am working on.

I talked with Nick and convinced him to approach Don and attempt to keep the trophies and other memorabilia together, as I believed that scattering it around was not in the best interests of recording Dons achievements.
Nichols AVS is one of Americas motorsport greats but doesn't seem have gotten the recognition it deserves.
Im pleased to say they have worked something out and Nick will continue keeping their accomplishments alive in the form of a small museum at the shop in Salinas .

[duncan fox]

I couldn't resist getting in the Mk 1 tiny tire thing and surprise.... it wasn't all that bad . A larger steering wheel (as they had later) would have sorted that dept. Don't know about the hand clutch though............
Very advanced design for its time ,makes me wonder what hallucinogenic drugs were involved.

[duncan fox]

I found some more photos on my tablet camera from my time at the Rolex.
First one is of New Zealander Tony Nicholson showing my friend the internals of a McLaren M29 transmission.
Tony and his son Colin were very friendly as usual even though they had much to do.
Tony has more knowledge on McLaren race cars than anyone I know, especially Can Am.
This is the site for Tony's fine business at Infineon Raceway. Take a look sometime.
http://robinautomotive.com/contact/index.htm

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(Ken Hyndman photo )

This was my 2nd year helping Tony. It was the F1's this time. It was kinda neat to have now worked on the very last true McLaren.We think very alike and share material and thoughts all the time. He and I are probably the two most anal McLarenophiles on the planet!!

It was good to meet up with you, I always enjoy your posts.

I have booked my place (and hotels) with Robin for both RA and LS next year . Big year, 2016 in Historics.

[Steve Holmes]

I couldn't resist getting in the Mk 1 tiny tire thing and surprise.... it wasn't all that bad . A larger steering wheel (as they had later) would have sorted that dept. Don't know about the hand clutch though............
Very advanced design for its time ,makes me wonder what hallucinogenic drugs were involved.

Duncan, why do you think the Shadow Mk 1 never really worked as well as expected?

[Rod Grimwood]

Steve I will try and get Nick to do quick bit on it, but what I picked up was that Follmer had big nuts and it was really a go kart with very little suspension and had a great big hunk of steel horsepower shoved up his spine.

[duncan fox]

Duncan, why do you think the Shadow Mk 1 never really worked as well as expected?

Steve,This car fits Dons quote "if I wanted ordinary Id have bought a McLaren" to a tee.

Firstly I believe the chassis was over powered, it was originally designed around a 600 hp 5 litre Toyota quad cam engine that didn't arrive until early 1970, halfway through the program by which time they were struggling with a whole host of other problems. The main one amongst the many was those tiny tires and the cascade effect they had on the overall design. They were affected by the track surface imperfections, they followed every nook and cranny and in order to keep them on the ground the springing had to be hardened. Result.....it wouldn't go round corners. Went like a raped ape on the straights though due to its low frontal area (not the 250mph hoped for), but then wouldn't stop. The brakes just were not up to it, the air brake in the original design had been banned due to the fia ruling on movable aerodynamic devises. The transmissions had to be modified to turn those small rear wheels 40% faster. Shifting had to be clutchless (unless you wanted to let go the steering wheel) the result of no room for an extra pedal in the foot well and the necessity to have a l/h hand clutch. Cooling was marginal always no matter where the radiators were.
Trevor Harris ideas were all sound but just too much too soon......



Vic Elford said it was the worst car he ever drove.

Newer versions used more current and proven thinking in their designs resulting in a championship in 74

Pete Lyons made the comment in period "racing rewards audacity while punishing excesses of it. And punish Nichols it did, almost bankrupting him.