Can someone tell me the exact story behind the Arrows/Shadow fiasco. Why was Arrows forced to build a new car in 1978? What went on?

Shadow was a team run by a nasty American, Don Nicoles. Basically Jackie Oliver and the majority of his Shadow team formed a Mutinee, and formed the Arrows team.

Initially the Arrows car was very close in design to the Shadow. Don Nicoles filed a law-suit against the Arrows team claiming that they had stolen the design of his car. (Probably true). He won this lawsuit and as a result obtained some sort of a court order that prevented the Arrows team from competing. Arrows than made a few minor design changes and introduced their new car.

I am sure someone else knows this story in gfreater detail than I do.

Don Nichols was nasty? Any details?

Arrows had missed out on the first race in Argentina and in Brazil had only one car ready, with Patrese the sole entry. But the real story is of course the supposedly 'stolen' design of the FA1. When Shadow and Arrows went their separate ways after the 1977 season Riccardo decided to follow Alan Rees, Dave Wass, Jackie Oliver, Tony Southgate and sponsor Franco Ambrosio to the new stable. Gunnar Nilsson was signed as its lead driver but due to his health problems from which he never was to recover the Swede wasn't able to take up his seat at Arrows. Prior to the split Southgate had just finished the DN9 design for Shadow and the new Arrows FA1 had more than a striking resemblance to the DN9... Don Nichols of Shadow had taken notice and took Arrows to court. The design was deemed to belong to Shadow and the court judged Arrows to have used drawings of Shadow copyright to produce the FA1. An injunction prevented the Arrows team from further using the FA1, but the court proceedings had given Tony Southgate sufficient time to produce the definitive A1 model. This car was used from the Austrian GP onwards. In the meantime the FA1 had a large part in promoting young Patrese into the limelight.

Rainer / 8W

Funnily enough, I had been thinking about this situation recently and how it compares to the Auto Union E type VS DAMW/ Sokol 650 saga on the '1939 /40 Auto Union 1.5 litre' thread. Just goes to show that things were a lot different then. Did they have copyright laws 60 years ago?

I think that all Shadow race cars ,F1 and Can-Am,are good
looking designs and worthy of copying ,either subliminally
or on purpose.


Shadow DN9B/Ford DFV
Elio de Angelis
U.S. G.P.
Oct.6,1979

Photo: GT Action Photo

With kind regards,
Gary Trobaugh

One of their attractions was a flair for taking a different path, especially in the Can-Am days.... any pics of the one with the tiny wheels, Gary?

Just for comparison: pics of 1978 ARROWS FA1 vs SHADOW DN9

Don Nichols - a nasty man? I think otherwise. Mercurial, brilliant, irascible, innovative - some times outrageous - all of these may fit. But never nasty. Is there an illuminating story here or is this just more Yank bashing?

[p][smallfont][Edited by desmo on 10-27-2000][/smallfont]

Thanks, des, what a fantastic little package for all that power!

Desmo who was the organ player?!

I almost forgot the Shadow-Arrows thing in the late seventies.
Does any of you have seen a better picture of the "Samson" Shadow DN9, No. 17 driven by Jan Lammers in '97 on the internet? The one with the lion with "dental problems…"
I only could find this one.

... sorry, I mean in 1979...

Try here...
http://www.crosswinds.net/~retro5/gp79/79usw17.jpg
http://www.crosswinds.net/~retro5/gp79/79esp17.jpg
http://www.crosswinds.net/~retro5/gp79/79mon17a.jpg
http://www.crosswinds.net/~retro5/gp79/79nel17b.jpg

Great! Thanks Flicker...

Don Nickols- a nasty man ? Nay.
He gave us the "Jackie Oliver and George Follmer Show"
in the Can-Am Racing. Races with Follmer,Oliver in
Can-Am Shadow DN4s against Jean-Pierre Jarier in the
Shadow F1 DN3 in the year of 1974 after the early end
of the Can-Am series.He gave us the big go-kart (Mk 1
Shadow Can-Am race car).
Don Nickols would let children sit in his race cars.


Shadow DN4 Can-Am 1974
Photo: GT Action Photo


Shadow DN4 Can-Am 1974
Photo: GT Action Photo

With kind regards,
Gary Trobaugh

One thing that struck me (30yrs on today!) is how was it that Arrows managed to get their FA1 onto the grid in Brazil, while Shadow took until Monaco (IIRC) to race their DN9 version of Tony Southgate's design? Was it simply that Shadow lost so many staff to the new team that they could not build the new car as soon as they would have done otherwise?

The only thing I've ever seen that casts aspersions on Don Nichols' character was one of the final chapters in Peter Bryant's Can-Am Challenger - where he suggests that Nichols had been plotting behind his back to go into F1 with a Tony Southgate car and that Nichols not mentioning his F1 plans was a personal slight...

Wasn't the Alan Henry quote (used later in the High Court case) from the Shadow's first test session "F**k me! It's an Arrows!"?

Wasn't that the comment (it's a Shadow!!) when he first saw the Arrows in the snow at Silverstone

Don Nichols was kindness itself when I wanted a Shadow CanAm print signed for our charity auction.

Anyone who was fortunate to listen to Tony Southgate at The Fressingfield Oily Rag Club last year would have heard chapter and verse on the Arrows/Shadow saga.!

And what a saga it was...............