Without a shadow of a doubt, the Can-Am racing series was the most outrageous and exhilarating category in international motorsport history. And the crowd at the 2025 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival got to experience that craziness firsthand with a category of Can-Ams.
CLICK HERE to purchase tickets to the 2025 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival.
Renowned for its off-the-tap, unrestricted approach to sports car racing, Can-Am featured the fastest and most powerful vehicles and saw a wide scope for innovative engineering. Retaining a reputation of such legendary status, it is hard to imagine that Adelaide would ever be graced with the presence of Can-Am racers. However, at the 2025 Adelaide Motorsport Festival, not one but four Can-Am cars take to the track in a dedicated category.
After stealing the show at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed, three iconic Shadow Can-Am embarked on their journey to Adelaide, where we just saw them take to the Victoria Park track.
The MKI Prototype unique low-line design, adjustable aerodynamic wings and distinctive air intake - the prototype design for the Shadow Can-Ams that followed. Founded in 1968 as Advanced Vehicle Systems, Shadow Racing Cars made their mark on the motorsport world with wild race car designs and strategies in the 1970s, winning Can-Am championships and a Formula 1 grand prix with future Australian world champion and fellow Adelaide Motorsport Festival attendee Alan Jones.
Alongside the MKI prototype, the MKI Mosport made its on-track presence known, with reigning British Touring Car Championship winner Jake Hill in the cockpit putting on a show. The MKI Mosport is so low and sleek that it features an unconventional pedal box design with sideways-mounted pedals, making it a challenging car to get to grips with.
Rounding out the selection of Shadow Can-Am cars, the MKIII driven by Australian motorsport legend Craig Lowndes stunned crowds as its 850-horsepower struggled to be tamed. With its extraordinarily unique aerodynamic design, the MKIII looked menacing on track alongside its Shadow classmates.
Joining the cars was designer of the two MKIs, Trevor Harris (pictured top left), car owners James Bartel and daughter of Shadow founder, Penny Nichols.
Joining the Shadows was a McLaren M6B. Built by Bruce McLaren Motor Racing (now known as McLaren) in the late 1960s, the M6B raced in various Can-Am championships across the globe and made waves in Australia with John Harvey winning back-to-back Australian Sports Car Championships in a M6B in 1971 and 1972.
This particular M6B was used to build the prototype M6 GT by Bruce McLaren before being converted back to a Can-Am car and is driven by George Vidovic.