Designed by former BRM engineer Tony Southgate, the best finish achieved in a DN3 was Jean-Pierre Jarier's third place at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Peter Revson, a race winner for McLaren, had also joined the team and had use of the DN3 from the start of the season.

The DN3 showed immediate promise with Revson qualifying it fourth and sixth respectively for the first two races of the year.

However, he was killed in testing prior to the South African Grand Prix and Shadow missed the race.

Tom Pryce, who had made his Formula One debut earlier in the year with Token Racing, then took over for the remainder of the season.