One of a Kind Rides: Junior Brogdon’s Phony Pony

By Danny White

The Junior Brogdon “Phony Pony” Mustang was a one of a kind ride in many ways. Brogdon decided to go funny car racing after a successful stint in AHRA Super Stock racing. The car he built was a little different -- it was one of the few funny cars that were actually dragsters in disguise.

Other pseudo funnies included the Austin and Grassi Barracuda, the George’s Corvette Shop “Long and Lean” Corvette, and Don Garlits’ “Dart II.” The “Phony Pony” had something on all the others, an extra engine! Junior ran the “Phony Pony“ with an extra small block 289.  He raced the car with a couple of different combos: blown-single, injected–single, and injected double engine Ford small blocks.

The powers to be did not accept the “Phony Pony” as a funny car. Brogdon had to race in open events and any match races he could find. Racers and even spectators did not like the funny car / dragster combos. Racers did not think the "Phony Pony” was a real funny car. Spectators did not think it was based on a real car and thought it was just a slow dragster.

The “Phony Pony” was cursed with bad luck and frequent breakage. The best times we could find for draglist.com were 8.36 seconds at 165 mph. A regular Mustang funny car replaced the “Phony Pony” in 1970. Junior Brogdon finished his career in Pro Stock in the late seventies.

Text by Danny White

Photo by Mike Ditty