1971 Shadow Mk. II - Chevrolet #101 (Can-Am)

Hot Wheels 1/64
1999 First Editions 20/26

Series: 1971 Can-Am Series
Team: Advanced Vehicle Systems
Driver: Jackie Oliver
Result: 14th

This Shadow Mk. II casting is based on the 1971 Can-Am entry by Shadow. The casting itself is actually called the "Shadow Mk. IIA" but I am not exactly sure if there even is a Mk. IIB in real life. I am assuming that this might be because they probably based this casting on the early season entries which was pretty much all black in color. A few races into the season, the Shadow team changed to a black and white color scheme but I am not too sure if they also changed anything to the car. The #101 car that season was driven by Jackie Oliver. Unfortunately for the Shadow team, their Chevrolet-powered was extremely outgunned by the also Chevy-powered cars from the McLaren team. The best finish for the team was a 3rd place in the 8th round of the season which also was the only race wherein they scored points. The Shadow team would continue to improve the following years and in 1974, they would win the Can-Am championship with Jackie Oliver still driving for them.

Can-Am cars I think are a rarity in 1/64 scale. In fact, I believe this Hot Wheels casting is the only licensed version that is quite easy to obtain. I believe there are some Summer and Yatming castings that depict some Can-Am racers but they are of lower quality and the liveries don't really seem to be real. This is my 2nd version of the Shadow casting already, the first one I have is from the Happy Birthday 5-Pack which is now absolutely battered.

I forgot to add, one of the Majorette releases of the Porsche 917 K, specifically, the psychedelic Martini #35 car could also act as a Can-Am car. I personally listed mine as the 1970 Watkins Glen 6 Hours entry but the Can-Am race held at the same track on the same weekend also featured that car with pretty much the exact same livery minus some stickers.