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| Photo ID # | M03.15.16_033_COR_FLM_0475_1 |
| Car #: | #33 & #707 |
| Driver (s) : | Mike Corcoran #33 and Stan Ploski #707 |
| Location: | Flemington Speedway |
| Date: | Top photo (1971?), 2nd photo (4/75), 3rd photo photo, (5/76) |
| Photographer: | Top photo: Unknown. Middle and bottom photos: George Koyt |
| Photo provided by: | Top photo: Flemington Program 1982. Middle & bottom photos: George Koyt Collection. |
| Comments: |
Comment: The top photo is of the Big Donkey #707 with Stan
Ploski behind the wheel in what we think is 1971. The 2nd picture is of Mike Corcoran in the #33 in
April 1975. The 3rd picture is of Mike Corcoran in the #33 in May of
1976..... and the 4th photo is Mike Corcoran, and we're not sure of
the date, and not sure if this is the same car.... People who know a lot more than me (TBag, John Mc) have told me that one of the low nosed #707's became the #33 driven by Corky Corcoran. So the question is, could all 4 photos above be of the same car? One noticeable difference is that the blue & gold car has additional bars on the cage to make the side openings smaller, but other than that, sure looks like there's a lot of similarity to me. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There were many "Donkey's over the years from the mid 60's on up, and from what I'm learning, there were two different "low nose" Big Donkey #707's (the last of the Deasey coupes.) Gerald Chamberlain drove one in 1969. Stan Ploski drove one in 1970, and most of 1971. Sammy Beavers and others drove one in 1972 and possibly '73. I don't know which one is which... After the coupe, the next car out was a #707 Pinto which I think was a new car from the ground up and not a rebodied coupe. That was followed by a #707 Falcon bodied racer. I think the Falcon was the last Deasey #707 modified to run (possibly 1976) and included drivers Paul Deasey Jr, Paul Fitzcharles and others. The car pictured above is NOT the car that was on display at this year's Phillipsburg Mall show. I learned that particular car (owned and restored by Dave Lounsbury) is definitely one of the original low nosed "Big Donkey's" car's. I am pretty sure that particular car was driven by both Gerald Chamberlain and Stan Ploski. At some point, that car became the light blue/black roof #28 that was owned and driven by George Turner. According to the information that was on display next to the restored #707, the car was eventually bought by Johnny Pole, but never raced. The car was then bought by Dave Lounsbury in 1975, who renumbered it as #18 and who drove it as a sportsman (blue with a white roof.) The car then ended up in storage for many years at Jim Barclay's garage. Dave then purchased the car, and replaced the frame rails, and did a complete restoration to its original configuration - a butternut color #707. It's an amazing piece of history, and sincere thanks to all who were involved in saving the car, storing the car, and in all the hard work and expense of restoring the car. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So... is it possible that the #33 car above is the other low nosed "Donkey?"... and if so, what happened to this one after it ran as the #33 in 1976? |