PDA

View Full Version : Rare DONZI



olredalert
07-18-2002, 10:41 AM
-------Came across what I consider to be one of the rarest of D-boats yesterday.Was headed toward Browns Bar on Harsens Island at the north end of Lake St.Clair.Spotted an all black boat way off in the distance with the hatch up.Being the good samaritin that I am(sic)I headed over to be of assistence.Boat turned out to be a bench seat Criterion with no pass-thru to the forward seat.This rare DONZI Had every possible option Roy Farmer and John C ever dreamed up.I remember John Having one exactly like it,and am relatively sure it was his demo.Boat was in dusty but good condition and had a TRS/big-block setup.Nice set of stainless headers that the present owner had just installed as well.
-------Very nice guy who has almost never been on a computer,and knew nothing about the greatest DONZI group there is!Got me to thinking about how many other rare DONZIs there are out there that are basicly unknown.
-------Oh,to pre-answer the question on everyones lips;Its not for sale!!!!I tried,I really did.But I do have his number.Heh,heh.Told Jan about it and she just rolled her eyes and walked away.Are three DONZIs enough?What do you say,Scott?.......malnourished......feeble......ol red!

boldts
07-18-2002, 01:22 PM
Ol Red,
Were you lucky enough to have a camara with you? Wouldn't mind seeing that Donzi on Saturday. Yes, if the cards lay right, I'll be on LSC this coming Saturday with camara in hand! :D

Formula Jr
07-18-2002, 03:21 PM
http://www.donzi.net/photos/osaffell659.jpg
Criterion SS. 82-85.

olredalert
07-18-2002, 04:44 PM
Formula,

------Who owns the Criterion in your photo?Looks sweet!Your numbers on the Criterions built may well be correct but the inclusive dates have to be wrong.I was lucky enough to get a ride in John Cs personal Criterion in 1974-75.He used it to go back and forth to work from his house in Ft.Lauderdale to 188th St.The boat I saw yesterday was titled 1975 according to the owner.You have Criterions as being built from 78 to 81.
------As long as Im at it,the dates and,I believe,the production numbers are both wrong for Corsicans.I bought serial no.54 Corsican back in late April.It is titled as a 1976,but production was started in 1975.The original production dates for the Built-Rite seats were still on them and were Jan.1976.Allen Mowbray told the former owner of my boat that the last three Corsicans were built in 1975.If that is true then there only could have been 54,55,or,56 Corsicans built.As of yet I havent tracked down 55,or 56 so Im trying to convince myself that I have the last one produced.Does anybody out there have 55 or 56,or knowledge of them,or for that matter any Corsican above serial no.50?If we forget about the number manufactured for a moment,it is at least plain to see that Corsicans were made long after 1971 which is what the DONZI list states.
-------The El Pescadors are also not dated correctly on the list.Mine is a 1975.There is one down on Lake Erie that I have been in and worked(briefly)on and it is titled as a 1974.I also trecked down another one up in Port Huron near where I bought mine,and it is titled as a 74,and the list says they were not built until 76.
-------I hope you know that I dont bring any of this up to denigrate your list in any way.It is a great tool to have,and I can only imagine how much work has gone into it,but Im sure with all the work you have put into it so far,you would like to have it correct in as many ways as possible.Hopefully I havent stepped on any toes,as everyones toes on the board are important to me.
-------Not a toe fetishest........just.......ol red!

Scott Pearson
07-18-2002, 07:21 PM
I owned one some years back. A Criterion II is what its called. It had a BB with twin Gale Banks Turbos. They made 12 of them.

(NJ)Scott

Dalelama
07-18-2002, 07:56 PM
Scott,

Did you ever see the Criterion (walk thru) for sale ($12.5k)in Jersey... Tom's River.. I think? It's listed in BOATS FOR SALE.....

I was afraid to go look at it... I got enough toys (problems) :D

mattyboy
07-18-2002, 10:35 PM
extremely cool, that is some boat!!!

all I got to say is !@#$#@$%^&**^%$ bubba

Matt
Scott P how long you been around Donzi's???

Formula Jr
07-19-2002, 12:08 AM
Th@ks Ol'Red. I've s@ved your info for this winter's upd@te. right now I need @ new Keybo@rd :D

Scott Pearson
07-19-2002, 05:33 AM
Dale,
Havent seen that one yet. Is it still in boat trader? Tomsriver is 10 min. from me.

Matt,
I guess its been awhile..... :D

(NJ)Scott

Ed Donnelly
07-19-2002, 07:14 PM
The Criterion in the picture is owned by Ed Donnelly in Canada (thats me) It is a 1985 Criterion S.S. This boat was built with several extra options for John Chisholm just before he sold Donzi

Lil Grizz
07-21-2002, 01:31 AM
not that i know anything about How donzi numbered their boats but is it possible that the corsicans ans therefore many other models were numbered by some other standard? Is it certain that corsican #55 means that 55 were built? For example Saleen auto (mustang tweakers) has two models the s-281 and the now discontinued s-351. within these lines are variations. The base 281 starts at 01 and numbers to production capicity. the 351 also starts at 01. but there are many versions of the 281 such as the cobra variant. the last 1998 cobra edditon was #173 but there were only 41 of those built total. the rest of the 173 were the regular 281.

Now that i wasted all this space My point. Is it possible that 0-56 or whatever were not all corsicans? could some of these hull numbers be given to regular 18 footers and the corsicans are scattered throughout the line? If so the total number of corsicans built would be much lower. its always seemed fishy that donzi could have actually built over 50 corsicans in the short time they were supposoedly in production when you factor in the other boats that were built as well.

On a side note the boats title isnt necessarily indicative of the year of the boat. I have come across many a boat that was titled as both newer and older than it actually was especially with the older boats. Some people just take a guess at the age and put that down when the boat gets retitled. Some states dont even title boats and when the boat moves around owners you get to fill in the blanks with any info you want(some states). I have seen a 1994 14 foot bayliner jet titled as 1996 donzi 19. Boat titles are nothing like car titles, ya gotta look at the stamp on the hull (if there is one still there).

olredalert
07-21-2002, 05:37 PM
------My 69 Corsicans serial number has a specific C in it to note that its a Corsican.Its a short 5 didget no.My 76 Corsican has a 12 didget no. and Im not quite sure how to break it down yet,but something in the serial no. is Corsican specific to only Corsicans.I believe that X-18s and other models have a similar breakdown.
------My best guess is that Scott B can come through for us and give us the real skinny.If other board members with knowledge in this area are around a little input would be very welcome!
------Most Corsicans were built in the first two years.This fact is provable by looking at the delivery date of my early boat,no.32.The other 25 were spread out over 7 years.So over half were built in the first two years.I wasnt around the factory much until 1970,but I can tell you that the little factory on 188th St. could push out some boats.They had archaic methods compared to today but Roy Farmer was very good at what he did and the Cubans were good workers.I used to marvel at how fast some of the fairly standard DONZIs were completed.Some special order stuff was a different situation,and those sometimes languished for long lengths of time................just........ol red!

olredalert
07-22-2002, 10:13 PM
Lil Griz,

------Am wondering what serial no. method was employed on the Griz Corsican?Also would love to hear from other C-boat owners in reference to the serial no. quandry.
------Also,does anyone out there know of a Corsican delivered with any engine other than Holman-Moody Ford of some sort?Thanks in advance..........curious........ol red!