A former US army man, Nichols lived in Japan, where he sold tyres and was involved in the development of Mount Fuji's race circuit. In 1968, he founded Advanced Vehicle Systems, which evolved into Shadow for Can-Am, where they were very successful and Formula 1, where Nichols became one of the relatively few Americans to see his team win in Formula 1; Alan Jones winning in 1977. The team also competed in Formula 5000, winning once in that series. After the Shadow spell, he moved back to the US. He remained involved with Shadow for the rest of his life and attended a large number of historic events, especially one that feature Shadow cars. Nichols fought on the Normandy beaches on D-Day, as well as serving in Holland, and also survived the Battle of the Bulge. After his health began to fail him, Don sadly died in 2017. Although Nichols somewhat relished the shadowy sinister background, in reality he was a generous man and a great racing enthusiast.

Biography last updated 23 Aug 2017