Goodwood Festival of Speed 2013: Can-Am innovation As part of celebrating the best of the past 20 years of the Festival of Speed, One of the significant vehicles that made its European debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2010 will be returning for this year's event. The innovative, low-slung AVS Shadow-Chevrolet Mk1 was described as "most radical Can-Am [racer] yet" by American magazine Road & Track on its launch in 1970, while its creator Don Nichol calls it "the two dimensional car." It's difficult to judge the car's diminutive size from pictures, but it's literally knee-high and wears 10in wheels at the front, with 12in rims at the rear, with the intention of reducing the frontal area in the interests of top speed. Nichol founded AVS (Advanced Vehicle Systems Incorporated) with the sole intent of winning the US Can-Am championship. The Shadow Mk1's driving position was cramped - the steering column was horizontal and the pedals were angled at 45 degrees. There was no room for a clutch so that was relocated within arm's reach and only used for starting. Behind the driver is an 8.1-litre, V8 big-block Chevrolet ZL1 engine with huge air intake trumpets. The unusually low design left little room for much else, and the suspension travel was severely limited, forcing the use of small wishbones and triple mini-springs. Work began in mid-1969, but the final specification wasn't ready until the 1970 Can-Am season opening race at Mosport. Despite a theoretical top speed of 250mph, the Mk1 was relative failure on the track and was prone to overheating.