Click Menu to select Home Eh V8 - return to my Eh home Technical Stuff Club Cars Edz Car Other Cars For Sale (closed) Other Sites of Interest News and events Holden Car Clubs Utes Panel Vans Prototypes

 

 

• The Real No1 Holden - JP 480

• The History of the 48-215

• 'Australian Legend turns 50!' ('98 Anzac Weekend - Canberra Times)

• 'Classic Holden stands out in London!'

• Golden Holden Oldies - The 48-215 FX Holden: 1948 - 1953

• A look at the 48/215 and FJ History

 

 

Will the real Holden No1 please stand up?

(Click any picture to get a larger version! Currently for sale on Ebay for US$250,000)

When the nation paused in November 1998 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Holden the car that started it all was languishing unloved and partly dismantled in a Melbourne repair shop.  The car that stole the limelight on that historic occasion, described by the company itself as the first Holden, was not in fact the 'first' at all but the car that was first off the production line in November 1948.

While Holden's 'Number One' has spent a pampered life being trailered around to dealers and carshows and receiving regular maintenance and restoration, the 'real' Number One has led the mundane life of a normal Australian car transporting dads to work, mums to the shops, kids to school and families on their annual holidays.

The 'real' Holden Number One was a prototype, hand-built in Detroit in 1946, 2 years before Holden's so called 'first' car, but sadly ignored when the Company broke out the party hats, blew up the balloons and lit the candles on the Holden birthday cake.  Now thanks to two early Holiday enthusiasts, father and son Graeme and Gavin Strongman, the 'real Holden Number One has been restored to pristine condition and is ready to claim its rightful place in Australia's automotive history.  After a complete and authentic restoration over a period of 12 months it was shown for the first time at the Melbourne International Motor Show in March, and will be seen at shows around the country in the coming months so all Australians can see the car that began the Holden story.

The car was the first of three prototypes built in the US in 1946 for the purpose of test and development by Holden engineers in Australia.  It was used for testing after arriving here early in 1947 before, incredibly, being sold to an employee who used it as family transport, just like any other car.  Holden Number One looks much like any other 48-215, until you look below the shiny blue surface and see the welded seams that criss-cross many panels, and the tiny hammer marks where the body was hand-formed.  If you look closely inside the nose of the bonnet you'll see the holes, now filled in, where the letters 'G', 'M', 'H', were once fitted because this car was built before the Holden name was agreed and it was simply badged 'GMH'.  The evidence of similar holes, since filled in, can be seen inside the boot lid which also carried 'GMH' badging.  Look inside the lower lip of the front guard and you'll see where it has been modified to round off the front lower corner. Compare the profile of the guard to original photos of the car and you'll see the corner was sharper.  Look closely at the firewall and you'll see a vertical weld running down the centre showing that it was made in two halves and then joined.  Mounted up on the left hand side of the firewall is the identification plate that marks this car out as 'Body No: 1' and identifies the manufacturer as 'General Motors Corporation', not 'GMH'.  Deep in the engine bay, down on the right side frame rail you'll find a small telltale tag welded raggedly in place that simply says: 'Car No. 1.  There's no doubt about it, this is the first Holden ever built, and Holden has admitted as much in a letter to the Strongman's.

So what is the car Holden owns and promotes as Number One and what is all the fuss about recognising this car as the first Holden ever built.  Holden's car is the first production Holden built, one of the first 10 cars built on the Fisherman's Bend production line and the car inspected by the then Prime Minister, Ben Chifley, on Monday, November 29,1948.  Its heritage is clear, but it's not the 'first' Holden, that title belongs to the car now owned by the Strongman's. (Zoom in on the floorpan and you can see the welds - Ed)

Prototype Number One was built in Detroit in August 1946. The first of three, they were shipped to Australia in December 1946, finally arriving in Melbourne on New Years Day 1947. It was first registered on February 12 1947 with the number JP 480.   The car's original papers list its owner as General Motors-Holden's Ltd of Fisherman's Bend and its make as a Chevrolet.  Its useful life as a test mule over, GMH offered it for sale to employees, something that wouldn't happen today for fear of a law suit should something go wrong with the car. Arthur Ling, then foreman of the panel shop within the engineering department, successfully applied to buy the car and in February 1952 became its owner.  Then registered ZW 234 and with a new engine replacing the prototype engine, Ling recently said that although "it hadn't been used for some time it was in pretty good condition" and he used it as family transport.  While he owned the car Ling replaced the original cloth trim with dark blue leather, having bought an experimental trim set through Holden's salvage department.  With the new FJ on the way Ling decided to sell Prototype Number One and it passed on to family friend, Bill Vickery, a retired marine engineer in the seaside town of Lakes Entrance.  Vickery, like Ling, used the car for family transport until he too decided to move up to a new FE Holden in 1956 and traded it in at Kelly Brothers Holden in the Gippsland town of Morwell.   (Check the smooth kick panel! - Ed) Note the smooth panel next to the bonnet hinges and the slope on the metal - a better design than the final. The inside front edge of the bonnet - check the welds. You can also see all the hammer marks if you look carefully.

Gavin Strongman stumbled on Prototype Number One in 1998 when he called on a mechanic to borrow a tool for another restoration project.  While there he spotted a grey motor and gearbox and asked what they were from. When told they were from the first Holden he scoffed, believing as most did that Holden owned the first car.  The mechanic insisted, telling him that the real Number One was a handbuilt prototype owned by Des Kelly, a retired Holden dealer.  Strongman eventually met Kelly and heard how the former dealer had accepted the historic car as a trade-in.  (In the picture you can see a funny little bracket welded on - it is suggested that this is the bracket where the car was supported on the measuring jig as seen in Norm Darwin's Book - 'The History of Holden since 1917, page 162. - Ed)

At first Kelly didn't realise the car he'd traded was the historic car it turned out to be but once he did he made the decision to keep it.  Occasionally, when requested, he would take it to car shows, but he chose to leave it in the rather used state as he'd traded it.  After he lent it to a fellow Holden dealer to show it at the Sydney Motor Show and he 'kindly' repainted and retrimmed it, Kelly decided he would have to have the car restored.  'We had quite a big panel shop at the dealership and I approached the foreman with the idea of doing the restoration," Kelly recounted.   "He also lectured at the Yallourn TAFE and said he'd like to do it as a project with his students.  I told him that was okay but I didn't want it touched unless it was going to be done properly, and he agreed that he would supervise the project."

Three or four years passed and, the foreman having left his employ, nothing was heard of his prized car so Kelly decided to check on its whereabouts. He approached the college but nothing was known about the Holden or the project to restore it. Somewhat alarmed he searched the grounds and found it lying in an open shed, to his dismay completely dismantled.  When repossessed by Kelly it was a rolling body shell with rust covering most of the panels, the remainder of the parts contained in two big boxes.  He immediately had the body primed to protect it from further damage while he decided what to do. "It was beyond me to restore it at my age, so I knew I would have to pass it on to someone else who was interested in doing it," he said.  "A number of people looked at it and said they were interested in buying it but I saw the work the Strongman's had done on their cars and knew they'd do a good job of it."

It was in this partly dismantled condition that the Strongman's first saw the Holden and at first Kelly was reluctant to talk about selling the car, but the Strongman's persisted.  "It took about six months before he told us we could have the car," Gavin said. "Once he told us that, there was no way we were going to let him go without agreeing on the deal."  (Check the pic - the hinge has a serial no on it - Ed)

In February last year the Strongman's finally trailered the car to their workshop to begin the restoration.  They first dismantled the car completely, back to a bare body shell and stripped off the primer.  They found a little rust in places and the evidence of a few hard knocks that had been repaired using filler so Bendigo panel beater David Allen was called in to do all the body work.

He fully refurbished the body, repairing the rust and all the minor knocks, and hung 211 the panels, adjusting the panel gaps to within a whisker of perfection like no other Holden has ever been before.   Allen also applied the metallic Seine Blue paint mixed by DuPont, the original supplier of the paint, to match the original colour found on a small patch when the fuse box was removed.  While Allen slaved over the body, the engine went to Richard English at the Speed Pro Engine Centre where it was stripped and rebuilt using components supplied by ACL Engine Components.  According to English the engine was in such good condition that it could have been re-ringed and reassembled had it not been for some damage caused by a water leak corroding one of the bores.  A stripdown, by the Strongman's, found the rear axle and gearbox in as new conditions and they were reassembled with new bearings and seals.  The suspension, meanwhile, needed nothing more than repainting, while the nuts, bolts and washers were all cadmium plated.

The interior trim proved a challenge as the car had originally been trimmed in a grey Bedford Cord. Armed with the trim number the Strongman's traced it back to its US source and found that it was a Pontiac trim material and, more importantly, could be bought in the US.  However, it only just arrived in time for the trimmer to complete the interior before the Holden went on show at the Melbourne Motor Show. Kelly and Ling were among the thousands who watched as Number One belatedly had its moment in the limelight and both were thrilled at the work done by the Strongman's.  "I think they've done an exceptional job," Kelly said after viewing the finished car. "I don't think anyone would have gone to the lengths to ensure its authenticity that they have."  "I think it's wonderful."

(Article care of Unique Cars, May 2000.  Additional photos care of Graham Pryce and Eddy Hoek - FX FJ Car Club of Canberra)

 

The History of the 48-215 Holden (FX)

On December 20th 1943, the then Managing Director of GMH, Larry J. Hartnett called a meeting of his top five engineers and outlined a study he wanted made on a completely manufactured car in Australia, rather than just a body and sheet metal activity. Mr Hartnett (later knighted for his services to Australian industry) saw the war coming to an end and he believed Holden's to be in the best position to manufacture and distribute an all-Australian car. He believed that a car manufactured in any country very definitely reflected the economic factors of that country, its material availability and the like. Sir Laurance drew analogies to the English, German, Swedish and USA cars, all of which reflected the peculiarities of the countries in which they were built.

Mr Hartnett expressed the view that he felt the present US vehicle was 'a bit too grandiose' for Australian needs and the English cars a bit too far the other way. The meeting established the very basic criteria for a proposed Australian car, desirable features noted were 30 mpg, lightweight, comfortable over long distances. Particular interest was given to materials usage, possible tax and registration levels to be introduced post war and the types of steel which could be produced by BHP.

The study also concerned itself with estimating the expenses of the Australian income earner, by calculating family budgets the finance chiefs came up with a sum of £3.2.0/family/week to run a car. The engineers were also directed to look specifically at the Renault and also the DKW design generally.

As this study was put in motion yet another investigation was commenced. In early January 1944 a report on "Design Invention and Scientific Thought in Australia" was started. This report was prepared by a number of top GMH men, it was completed in February 1944. The report was originally planned to fill a General Motors Overseas Operations questionnaire on what each overseas divisions countries natural and industrial resources were. The questionnaire was expanded into a local report and the content included a rundown on achievements, training being carried out, Research and Testing facilities and factors affecting car design in Australia.

From the report comes an insight to the forward planning that was going into post war efforts. Larry Hartnett was slowly pushing GMH engineering towards a completely built local car. He had directed the engineers to investigate Australian public likes and dislikes, he particularly stressed seating comfort, Mr Hartnett considered that "real engineering skill" and it was an art to obtain satisfactory seating - he wasn't wrong.

At this time there was also activity on an Australian experimental car, it was initially kept secret from New York in case they got the wrong idea. The car in question was constructed using a Willy's powerplant and integral construction. The car was originally planned as an exercise to provide the hardnosed experimental experience for an Australian car sometime in the future. However by early 1945 the GMH team had acquired a GM Detroit Styling sketch to suit their 103" wheel-base.

Further work was done on the styling in Australia concurrent with the 1/4 scale clay models, a seating buck was constructed to provide a layout of legroom and controls.

The Australian Styling was eventually approved on lst January 1945 and the car was then constructed and completed in early 1946. This car was coded Project 2000.

In late 1944 the GMH management had completed their reports, the final result of the resources study was a 76-page bound volume on 'General Motors in Australia', the study was presented to the Overseas policy group in September 1944. At this stage GMH had not broached the subject of an Australian car with the GMH group, this was done just after the war ended two months later.

Larry Hartnett meanwhile had not let the grass grow under his feet. In the first half of 1944 he had met with J. K. Jensen, then chairman of the Secondary Industries Commission and discussed what could be done with the huge manufacturing and technical establishment Holden's had established through the manufacture of munitions. Further meetings with the Government heads indicated they wanted an "Australian Car" to absorb the vast amount of technical skill available.

Mr Jensen (later Sir John Jensen) had developed a keen sense of understanding of the Australian industrial scene as Secretary of the Department of Munitions, his knowledge on both the practical and political aspects of industry made him an ideal ally to the car manufacturers. It was the Secondary Industries Commission which provided the major thrust to have the "Motor Vehicles Agreement Act 1944" and the "Motor Vehicle Engine Bounty Act 1939" repealed.

The Bounty Bill had been passed 8th December 1939 and was aimed at providing an incentive for Australian companies (they had to have 2/3rds of the paid up capital owned by British subjects resident in Australia) to manufacture automobile and truck engines and chassis in Australia. The bounty was to be paid as follows on each 20,000 units. For the first year of production a bounty of £30/engine, second year £25/engine, and third £20/engine.

The Agreement Act was passed on May 9th 1940, it effectively gave the Australian Consolidated Industries sole rights to produce engines and chassis in Australia. The Bill caused quite a furore in parliament at the time, the biggest criticism being ACI had no experience in Auto Manufacture. In the middle of the trouble, the then Minister for Trade and Customs, Mr John Lawson, resigned his post and became ACI's legal advisor.

As the war closed, the Curtin government began to worry about the huge numbers of service men returning home and the vast work force which would become free as munitions were scaled down. GMH turned to the manufacture of stainless steel sinks, toys, filing cabinets, carpet sweepers etc. while waiting for Chassis. On September 20th 1944 the leader of the Senate was requested to state the GovernmenUs Policy on local engine and chassis manufacture. The Policy was subsequently released and in summary said that the Government would repeal the Bounty and the Agreement Acts, en-courage car manufacturers to submit proposals for local production of a complete car, and failing the receipt of suitable proposals, would set up a Corporation to do the job themselves.

Consistent with their word on the 8th March 1945, the Government began the process to repeal the Bounty Bill and the Agreement Act. This was perhaps pushed by the fact that on January 5th 1945, GMH had submitted a proposal to the Government via Mr J. K. Jensen.

One of the proposals requirements was that the Acts be repealed. The Prime Minister (The Hon. J. J. Curtin) replied on February 3rd, 1945 and a month later on 22nd March the announcement of GMH's proposal was made to the Australian Press. The Motor Vehicle Engine Bounty Act (1939) and the Motor Vehicles Agreement Act (1940) were finally repealed on the 14th May 1945.

With Holden's already underway and well started on their car project, the other companies began to think about getting into the act. Lord Nuffield (head of the Morris Company) in a frank interview with an "Age" correspondent on 4th June 1945, talked about his plans for spending 41 million pounds on setting up an Australian Manufacturing plant. He said that he could see no hope of the enterprise being commercially profitable. "I predict some people are going to lose a packet of money building cars in Australia" he said, "and I shall be among them. I am only going on with it because I want Australians to use British cars rather than those of foreign competitors". He went on to say that one reason was that it was uneconomical for Australia to build her own cars, and two, that the right car for Australia was a small or medium sized English car of 8 to 10 hp. How wrong he was on the last two points.

Even while the Government was talking about encouraging the production of an all-Australian car, GMH was pursuing their own plans. Early in November 1944, a meeting was held in the General Motors Detroit office, in attendance was the GM Chairman Alfred P. Sloan, the President Charles E. Wilson, Larry Hartnett and a selection of top GM brass. This was in fact the GM Executive Committee and boys from down under had come to sell a massive expansion program aimed at providing GMH with the facilities to produce a complete car.

The Australian team put on a hard sell campaign and were rewarded with a "OK go". Three weeks later the GM Finance Committee met to approve the investment, they however turned down the appropriation request saying "If you want to go ahead you will have to find the funds in Australia". A disappointed Australian team returned home .Wondering how the hell they would come up with the £3 million. They need not have worried, with the Prime Minister, and the Secondary Industries Commission Chairman backing, the Commonwealth Bank put up a £21/2 million loan and the Bank of Adelaide added another £1/2 million loan.

With the project approved the GMH team began in earnest, the basic specification had been developed out of Project 2000. The approved car was designated Project 19525 in the US and Project 320 in Australia. Project 320 was rapidly accelerated while Sir Laurence was in the US getting the approval. The Chevrolet Research group under Lou Thomas had been experimenting with a number of light car projects before the war. These projects, designated 195Y13, 195Y15 and 195Y17 were established as a specification, the 195Y17 was a larger car of 112" wheelbase and 174CI. This specification actually came close to being used prior to the war. GMH had put two studies on the manufacture of an Australian Car, the first in early 1940 was based on a 107" wheelbase car of traditional American proportions, the second, in July 1940 was for a much larger car of 111 1/2'' wheelbase. Both the reports found their way to the Detroit Engineering staff where they quickly realized the similarity to their 195Y17 specification.

At the time the American engineers made a number of suggestions on the Australian specification for what was then code Project 2200.

This car showed a strong resemblance to the large English cars of the time with the exception of the front and rear. The rear is evidently GM however the front is a little radical for the era, perhaps it was fortunate that some American styling influence was Incorporated on the first Holden.

One may wonder what GMH was doing in the first nine months of the war if they had time to play around with a future car; firstly Holden's was American owned and the USA was still neutral at that point. This was not the real reason however; the Australian Government took nine months to ask industry to join the war effort and manufacture munitions and materials.

Leading this task was GMH's Managing Director, Larry Hartnett. He was appointed to the position of Director of Ordinance Production in June 1940; from this point on GMH was a major contributor to the war effort, and GMH shelved Project 2200.

By the time the Australian Car was revived it had shrunk down to the smaller Chev projects. Holden's were fortunate, Lou Thomas not only had a specification for the larger light car, but he had actually built two experimental cars for the 195Y13 and 195Y15 specifications.

One was a 4-cylinder, and the other a 6-cylinder. The projects aim was to establish if a 4 cylinder could perform as well as a 6-cylinder, the reports indicate that the 6-cylinder was superior, even though both cars had the same capacity, torque and weight. As it turned out the specification was almost spot on with the Holden proposal. Mr Hartnett made the decision to go with the Chevrolet project specification but making minor changes to suit the Australian requirements. The final specification called up the 6-cylinder components, except for the 4-cylinder independent front suspension. The Holden modifications included stretching the wheel base 1", reducing the tread 2", raised the rear axle ratio from 4.125 to 3.889 and increased the curb weight by 160 lb.

The revised specification provided Holden's with a car which had a higher top speed (80 mph vrs 75 mph), and better performance figures, in fact the Holden car was equal in performance to the 1940 6-cylinder Opel Kapitan and surpassed the Willys, Vauxhall and light Ford of the era.

Things moved quickly once the specification had been accepted; by January 1945 the Styling art work was approved, on March 23 the clay model was commenced, this was completed on September 18 1945, and approved 3 days later by the GMH team. The team included GMH Engineers and Draftsmen on site in the US to draw up the Holden car.

With the Styling complete, work started on the first of the three American Prototypes, 12 months later on 30th August 1946 the first car was out of Fisher Bodies Experimental Build Shop. Cars number 2 and 3 followed on October 3 and November 14, 1946 respectively.

The mechanicals were installed and the prototypes shipped to Chevrolet and then onto the Mllford Proving ground where number I was put through all types of performance and safety checks. This testing went on until December 4, 1946 when the 3 cars and 22 American technicians boarded the Wanganella and sailed to Melbourne. The ship berthed on Saturday December 28th, 1946.

Meanwhile, since early 1944, the GMH Engineering team, under the direction of Mr I.A. Pointer, had been working steadily on their project 2000, in addition to this car their activity consisted of comparing Chevrolet and Vauxhall for weight, converting a Chevrolet coupe utility from conventional to integral construction, stripping and rebuilding a DKW and dyno testing a Willys engine.

With two years experience under their belt, the Holden's team was well prepared to begin the task of proving the Australian Car design was right for Australia.

With the American-built prototypes on site in Australia, two further experimental cars were commenced at Woodville, these prototypes were built using a high content of Australian materials. The first Australian built prototype was completed on August 22, 1947, by this time-the second American car had completed in excess of 30,000 miles of durability testing. The car went onto total 60,000 miles, the equivalent of 20 years ordinary motoring.

In those days, before the Lang Lang proving ground was even thought of, durability testing meant running the prototypes over public roads.

The route was as follows--
Travel up Salmon St., Port Melbourne, along the beach front and St. Kilda Street into North Road. Up North Road to Wellington Road, to Rowville. Turn left into Scoresby Road, to Ferntree GUlly Road, then right to Upper Ferntree Gully, to Belgrave, Kallista, Monbulk, Fairy Dell, Emerald and back through Clematis, Selby, turn left round to Belgrave South, then to Lysterfleld to Hailam, then by the Princes Highway to North Road. Travel down North Road, to St. Kilda St., turn right into St. Kilda Street, and travel along the water front to Willlamstown Road, then down Salmon Street, to GMH Plant at Fishermen's Bend on the corner of Salmon and Lorimer Streets. In the 1940's the speed limit on the Princes Highway was 70 mph.

A novel engine/transmission test at the time was towing a Bedford Bus up Wheeters Hill. This type of effort continued until Holden's built the Proving Ground in 1958.

To ensure the cars were produced, GMH spent £750,000 on new presses and a paint shop. £1,200,000 was spent on new buildings at the Fishermen's Bend plant for the manufacture of engine trans-mission and other mechanical items.

On April 5, 1948 the first pilot 48/215 was rolling down the line and on 29th November 1948, the first full production Holden was completed. Like all new cars there is something which unexpectedly fails, in the 48/215's case it was the rear springs, they snapped just rearward of the front spring eye, these original springs were encased in sheet metal turn plate gaiters, the replacement units had the covers omitted and the second spring extended up under the eye.

The first 48/215's ran Canadian cast blocks and Scottish forged crank shafts, the Australian cast blocks came into being at Engine No. 1002, January 1949. These Canadian blocks were popular with the racing fraternity as they could be bored to 3 ¼' + .040.

By November 1951 GMH had produced 50,000 vehicles, the 50,000 unit rolled off the line in Birken-Head Adelaide on November 20th. At that stage Holden's had a backlog of orders to the sum of 90,000 cars and 70,000 utilities.

In early '48 and again in early '51 GM Holden's sent engineers into the field to check on the 48-215's service record, the first trip went into Queensland and the second into the Cooma-Mt. Kosiusko area where the Snowy Mountains scheme was just getting underway.

In January and again October of 1952 Holden's sent an engineer Mr Les Colechin, to observe operating conditions and product problems between Townsville and Mt Isa. A report made at the time wrote "The Holden car has established a reputation for usefulness in these 'out-back' areas not shared by any other recent production model passenger car of its size and weight".

This did not mean however that the Holden was without problems, cracked dash panels, spring and wheel bearing failure, and cross members suffering from road obstacles presented the GMH engineers with unique problems. The GMH designers today run their new models over -the Australian outback roads prior to release, the Flinders Ranges being the most popular destination, (they have the best creek crossings).

October 29, 1953, saw the new face-lifted FJ model, while some mechanical Improvements had been incorporated in late 48-215's the FJ specification shows that wider rear springs, new telescopic rear shocks, wheel bearings, and an adjustable differential were the major mechanical changes.

On August 27, 1954 the then Managing Director of GMH Mr E. C. Daum, announced a £7¼ million expansion program, this was aimed at lifting GMH's output to 300 units/day or 72,000 a year. The main area of expansion was the erection of a new Dandenong plant.

Following this, on July 19th, 1955 Mr Daum announced a further £2½ million expansion program, mainly at Dandenong where the Nasco building cost £1,507,000.

The FJ ran till July 1956 when the all new FC models were introduced. Up until that stage 290,371 early Holdens had been produced.

Introduction Dates 48/215 & FJ.

48/215 Sedan November 1948
48/217 Business Sedan July 1953
50/2106 Coupe Ute January 1951
FJ 215 Standard Sedan October 1953
FJ217 Business October 1953
FJ225 Special October 1953
FJ2106 Coupe Ute October 1953
FJ2104 Panel Van December 1953

Manufacturing the 48-215

Basically the first Holden was manufactured in two locations, the Woodville plant in South Australia and the Fishermen's Bend Plant in Victoria. Assembly plants were located at Pagewood NSW, The Valley Brisbane, Mosman Park, Perth and Birkenhead South Australia.

The production rate started at 10 per day and had increased to 100 per day by February 1951 following the introduction of the coupe utility, the following year, in October 1952 the rate went up to 150/day then to 200/day in December 1953 when the panel van was added to the FJ range. Year by year production figures are as follows:

Year	48-215	FJ
1948	163
1949	7,724
1950	20,190
1951	25,249
1952	31,918
1953	35,158	9,043
1954		54, 793
1955		63, 206
1956		42, 225
TOTAL	120, 402	169, 969

The principle areas of manufacture were The Fishermen's Bend plant, which then covered 50 acres. This comprised the foundry, which had been built to manufacture the grey marine diesel engine during the war. The foundry produced grey iron castings used to produce engine blocks, heads,
transmission cases, differential centre housings, steering boxes and brake drums. From 1953 onwards 150 tons of iron was poured each day. Also located at the 'Bend' were the shops which built the complete drive line, this included machine shops, gear shops, heat treatment and assembly lines to completely assemble front suspensions, rear axles, engines and transmissions. Five million pounds had been invested on machinery in the engine shop alone.

The transmission gear shop covered 56,000 sq.ft. and except for bearings, transmissions were entirely built onsite. To produce the differential pinion gears a Fischer profiling lathe was purchased, this was the first of this type in Australia, its unique feature was that the chip swarf carried the stress and heat, not the part. The axle assembly united pressed metal parts sent from Woodville with machined parts made at the bend.

The second major manufacturing area was the Woodville plant, established in 1923 to produce bodies for Holden Motor Bodies Pty Ltd the plant had turned out almost 1/2 million bodies by 1950.

In addition to producing the 48-215 body, Woodville also built Chev, Vauxhall, Pontiac and Bedford bodies. Not all bodies were welded together in Woodville, a vast number of components were sent to the assembly plants for onsite assembly. The Woodville plant was then the largest body building and metal pressing organization in the southern hemisphere covering 66 acres and employing 5000 workers.

The hub of any body shop is the tool room. At Woodville huge dies were made on giant Keller profiling machines, these machines produced the steel dies from plaster or wood models. The Woodville press shop produced over 1300 separate parts. Woodville was also the site of a huge trim fabrication shop and paint shop.

Vehicle assembly took place at Pagewood, the valley, Birkenhead, Mosman Park, Woodville and the Bend.

Body assembly was however only done at Woodville, Pagewood and the Bend.

Two final non-vehicle plants also played a part, Disco in Port Melbourne produced spark plugs, electrical components and electrical harness and the National Automotive Service Co (NASCO) located initially at Fishermen's Bend and later Dandenong, maintained the huge stocks of Holden spare parts.

(Reproduced from CHAPTER 7 p135-142 History of Holden by Norm Darwin)

 

 'Australian Legend turns 50!'

 

The first Holden rolled off the production line half a century ago come November '98. Kevin Hepworth explores the company's history.

"Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars..."

AUSTRALIANA one and all, but only one - the Holden - can lay claim to true icon status.   After 50 years on the road next November, the name - which was born with a l9th-century saddlemaker's determination to succeed in Australia and a post World War II belief that anything was possible in the Lucky Country - is going as strong as ever.   Love it or hate it - and there are plenty who will debate the merits of both sides of that argument - there is no denying that Holden is the car Australia took to its collective heart.

From the time Prime Minister Ben Chifley reportedly declared "She's a beauty" as the first 48-215 rolled off the production line at Fishermens Bend, Holden was going to make it. In this quaintly rounded egalitarian chariot was the proof that after comporting itself with honour in two world wars Australia could match anything they could do overseas.

Before the General Motors Holden decision to produce an "all-Australian" - in truth, 70 per cent Australian - motor vehicle, Australia's roads were populated by a variety of imported chassis and engines dressed in Australian-made bodies, most of these made by the Holden Motor Body Builders company.

Don Loffler, author of She's a Beauty, a book soon to be published; detailing the birth of Holden and the history of the first two models (the 48-215, or FX, as it became popularly known following the release of its successor the famous FJ), is an eloquent spokesman for those who love the marque with a passion.

"I have loved Holdens ever since I was a child," Loffler explained. "I was nine years old when the first Holden was released in 1948 and I loved it from day one. "It is an interest I have retained all my life and over the years I have collected quite a bit of material about the vehicles and in recent years I have seriously started to research the story.

Loffler's fascination with the cars has turned up some interesting anomalies surrounding the history of the make where legend has come to be regarded as fact over the decades. "I suppose one of the most interesting things that people believe to be true but which is not is that the car Ben Chifley unveiled on November 29 [1948] was . .. Holden No 1," Loffler said. "The actual unveiling inside the factory used one car and the photo opportunity outside the factory later in the day used another:"

Loffler said the first car off the line had been part of a 10-car production run to "clear the line" some months before the launch and those cars had been driven extensively before November in a testing regimen. "With the need to have cars available in dealerships around Australia immediately after the launch the company really did a fantastic job to have the number of cars off the production line that they did at that time. It was a very successful launch."

Holden No 1 is still owned by the company and has been on display in the Holden Museum, but Loffler says it is being restored at Fishermens Bend in preparation for the next 50 years.While Holden may be celebrating the golden anniversary of rolling out its first car, the ancestry of the motoring manufacturer stretches back to the mid-1800s.In 1852 17-year-old James Alexander Holden landed in South Australia having left his native Staffordshire in search of fame and fortune. By 1856 he had set up shop in King William Street, Adelaide, as a leather-worker and saddle-maker, and business boomed.By 1879 J. A. Holden and company had survived an unsuccessful short-term merger and James Holden introduced his son Henry James to the business and changed the name to J. A. Holden and Son.In 1908 Holden and Frost, as the company was then known, moved into minor repairs to car upholstery and began manufacturing hoods and side-curtains. Within five years the company was building complete motorcycle sidecar bodies and in 1914 it produced its first complete custom-made car body using laborious carriage-building techniques.

That small step, spurred on by a 1917 war-time government trade restriction that only one complete car could be imported for every three chassis, moved Holden and Frost to buy out Adelaide motor body builder F. T. Hack Ltd and gear up for greater production. In 1917 that meant 99 bodies made - mainly for Dodge and Buick chassis.

By 1923 Holden's Motor Body Builders were churning out nearly 13,000 bodies a year, prompting the acquisition of land at Woodville for the site of a massive new plant which, by 1924, so impressed the GM Export Company (Aust) that the American giant dropped plans for its own bodybuilding plant and signed a deal which guaranteed the entire output of the Woodville plant would go to GM.

With Holden's two factories churning out more than 34,000 units in 1925 the future couldn't have looked rosier, but that confidence in expansion was to come back and severely sting the company as the Great Depression took hold through the early 1930s.

The situation was so grim by 1931 that the entire Holden Motor Body Builders operation was bought by the GM Corporation to form General Motors-Holden.

After his appointment in 1934, GM troubleshooter Laurance Hartnett fought off a total shutdown by turning a $1.5 million profit in 1935 and Holden was up and running again. By the following year there was serious talk of producing an Australian car from the wheels up.

With the end of World War II in 1945 Holden had a full-scale Foundry and the capability to produce engine blocks and other mechanical components on site. The dream of an Australian car was all but a reality - and that reality finally came in November 1948 for a public that seemed to have been waiting for just such a day:

With 112 cars produced by the end of 1948 Holden was swamped with orders, and thousands were backlogged by the start of the next year. Such was the response that the company began advertising the car as "worth waiting for" - and wait the public did.

The 50,000th car rolled off the line in 1951. By then there were massive expansion plans and production had reached 100 units a day. One year on and annual sales had hit 32,000 and the legend which was to become Holden was established.

The successor to the 48-215, the FJ of film and song - hit the streets in 1953 and by 1956 the company was celebrating the completion of its 250,000th unit. Ten years after Ben Chifley declared "She's a beauty", the 500,000th Holden rolled off the line and just four years after that the magic 1,000,000 passed into history.

As the decades rolled by Holden remained "Australia's car" with generations of father-to-son loyalty building the bond.

As the challengers came and went Holden's quest for the heart of a nation drifted into motor sport and legends were made. Leo Geoghegan Bob Jane Bruce McPhee and Barry Mulholland paved the way and were followed by the man whose name has become synonymous with racing Holdens - Peter Brock.

Brock made Bathurst raceway his spiritual home and the top of the mountain his altar, and the Holden faithful came to worship. Holden still races, and most successfully, with a new pride of young lions, but the glory days when the car on the track was not very different from the one in the garage, and Holden and Ford faithful would come to blows over the honour of their cars, are past.

The cars Holden aficionados care passionately about now are those of the glory days.

Graham Pryce, organising member of the FE-HR Holden Owners Club of the ACT, can't quite put his finger on just what magic the older Holdens wield - but magic it is."I like the new Holdens but. . . they just don't seem to have the same character as some of the older models, and I really don't know why," Pryce said. "I have always had a soft spot for Holdens - Mum and Dad drove them and my first car was an EH." As global car manufacturing produces increasingly homogeneous models, those who care little look back to when a Monaro could not be mistaken for a Charger and a Torana XU1 was a little car with a big heart. And if it was Australian it was Holden.

(Canberra Times, Panorama, April 25, 1998)

 

Classic Holden Stands Out In London

Paul Shaw is one of a kind among London motorists.

The expatriate Australian drives what is almost certainly the city's only FJ Holden. Operator of the Kensington group of companies in central London, Paul made a special trip home to Australia in 1993 to buy an old Holden he believed would be a distinctive marketing tool for his businesses.

Paul's companies provide accountancy and business services primarily to Australians and New Zealanders living in Britain. Not only do his clients love the sight of the 1954 FJ Special but Paul says he is stopped virtually every day by Britons wanting to talk about it. "It's always an instant topic of conversation, whether I'm going to and from work, at the supermarket, or whatever," Paul said. "A lot of people know straight away that its an FJ Holden, perhaps because so many English people have been to Australia. I get lots of little messages left under the windscreen wipers - complimentary notes, people curious about the car, and I got one from some Aussie guys saying they had a Ford and challenging me to a `drag'. They signed themselves `The Lygon Street Toughies'."

At 40, and engaged to be married in Sydney (his home town) late this year, Paul describes himself as "a Holden boy". He allowed himself two weeks during his trip to Australia three years ago to find the old Holden of his dreams. He inspected eight before settling on the pristine FJ Special he found in Melbourne. "I immediately had it shipped to Felixstowe (on the coast of Kent) and got rid of the BMW convertible I'd been driving," Paul said.

Paul's FJ has done only 94,000 miles (150,000 km) in its 42-year life. "I live close to work so I only do about 3,000 miles a year - around London and occasional country trips," he said.

The FJ was the model that cemented Holden's position as Australia's most popular car. Holden built 169,969 FJ sedans, utilities and panel vans between 1953 and 1956, including export packs to New Zealand.

While Paul Shaw's is believed to be the only FJ in London, there are known to be at least two others in England - one at Margate in Kent and another in Jersey. Since 1988 there has been a Holden UK Register, a club based in Surrey which now has about 40 members.

Four classic Holdens recently took part in the Norwich Union RAC Classic Run in England, which celebrated 100 years of the British motor industry. Supported by Holden in Australia, the four cars were Paul Shaw's FJ together with FE, FC and EH models owned by British motorists.

(source - http://www.autoweb.com.au)

 

Golden Holden Oldies

The 48-215 FX Holden: 1948 - 1953

Fifty years down the track, it may seem difficult to imagine the real sense of excitement and strong feelings of national pride that accompanied the release of the first Holden in November 1948. Even then, as Prime Minister Ben Chifley launched the car 'made in Australia, for Australia', nobody guessed what a runaway success this plain and practical sedan would immediately prove to be. Australians took the Holden straight to their hearts, commencing a love affair that continues to this day. Demand so far outstripped supply that the waiting list stretched through 1949 and beyond. (Taking advantage, some black marketeers sold their places in the queue for £100 or more).

Although its official model code is 48-215, the first Holden is widely known as the FX. Plans for its development moved into gear in 1944, when the Federal Government asked manufacturers to submit proposals for the production of an Australian car; a move aimed at accelerating post-war industrial growth. General Motors-Holden's (GMH) - its technical and manufacturing expertise advanced through wartime mobilisation - accepted and completed the challenge of building the nation's first successfully mass-produced car.

Adapted from a US design, the first Holden was nevertheless a uniquely Australian car. As author John Wright explains in the upcoming official Holden 50th anniversary book, the essence of its success 'was a combination of virtues particularly applicable to the Australian environment...Its roomy interior provided ample space for mum, dad and two or three children. It had an outstandingly good power-to-weight ratio and a smooth overhead valve six-cylinder engine. Strong performance and exceptional fuel economy were the happy consequences. Beneath the occupants a rugged suspension dealt competently with what passed for roads in immediate postwar Australia.'

GMH, while publishing a booklet of testimonials entitled 'Holden Owners Give Reasons Why Holden is Worth Waiting For', worked hard to lift production rates, which rose from an initial 10 units a day to 100 per day in 1951, when the first Coupe Utility was launched. By 1953, when the fleet- and taxi-orientated Business sedan was introduced, the rate was close to 200 per day.

The Holden boasted 'Aerobilt' body construction, a relatively new engineering principle that combined body and chassis into one all-steel unit, increasing rigidity and reducing weight. With a top speed of over 80 mph (130 km/h), it could cruise all day at 65 mph (105 km/h) - at a time when it was rare to see any car travelling at over 70 mph - and it took steep hills in its top-gear stride. The 48-215 would typically return overall fuel economy figures of 30 miles per gallon (9.4l/100km) - a staggering result for such a lively performer and particularly welcome in an era that encompassed petrol rationing. Within a few short years, the dependable Holden had also built a reputation for rugged reliability and ease of servicing that endures into modern times.

One of the first new cars to be built anywhere in the world following the Second World War, the Holden made automotive history, gaining GMH market leadership by 1951 - a feat that would have been accomplished as early as 1949 if supply had matched demand.

(Today, the family Holden is still Australia's most popular car. Sales figures for March 1998 show that the chart-topping VT Commodore was instrumental in maintaining Holden's six-month run as automotive market leader.)

As John Wright notes of the first Holden '...there could be no denying its excellence, its profound appropriateness for the Australian market. The marketing phrase 'Australia's Own Car' gained an extra dimension; not only was the Holden Australia's own in the sense of being created specifically for this country, but it was the car Australians chose to make their own; the car more of them wanted to own; they made it their own.'


48-215 HOLDEN FACTS:

Base price at introduction: $1,466/£733 (inc. sales tax)
Total number built: 120,402
Models: Sedan, Business sedan (introduced 1953) and Coupe Utility (introduced 1951)
Engine: 2.15 litre/132.5 cu.in. OHV six-cylinder
Power Output: 45kW/60bhp

source http://www.autoweb.com.au ? (I think)

 

A look at the 48/215 - FJ HISTORY

(written by Rob Hampstead - July '99) 

A dinky-di Australian icon, the famous FJ is perhaps the most fondly remembered of all the early Holdens. Today, the sight of its big, bold, familiar front grille has the power to transport nostalgic baby boomers back to that fabulous era when the fifties stood for rock 'n roll and not your age group.

The bond could go even deeper, according to social historians, because many of those boomers may well have been conceived in the back seat of an FJ Holden. The first car that many ordinary Australians had ever owned, it sold in unprecedented numbers and offered an equally unprecedented degree of mobility, freedom and privacy. The FJ became an enduring symbol of the Aussie way of life, serenaded in song and awarded the distinction of the title role in a feature-length movie.

Essentially a face-lifted version of its predecessor, the FX or 48-215 model, the FJ's main external distinguishing features were a torpedo-style tail light and the horizontal, American influenced chrome grille with twin port 'nostrils' - a distinctive Holden characteristic that is deliberately echoed in the strong hood design of the most recent VR, VS and VT Commodore models.

In tune with the times, which saw post-war austerity overtaken by the growth of the consumer society, the FJ ushered in the first deluxe Holden, the Special, which added a pampering touch to the brand's straightforward virtues of value for money, durability and impressive performance. Instantly popular, the Special sported more bright metal body decoration, including tiny tail fins with built-in reflectors, and offered such enticements as leather trim, armrests, cigarette lighter, rear passenger assist straps, chrome window winders and gee whiz two-tone colour combinations. "From every angle," read the sales brochure, "Holden Special is a graceful beauty.---

Headlined 'Australia's Own Car' and splashed with golden wattle, the brochure also extolled the virtues of the more spartan Standard model, praised for its 6 passenger roominess, family-sized luggage compartment and PVC upholstery '...a recently developed plastic coated material with exceptional durability and a finish simulating antique leather.' The Business sedan was aimed at the commercial market and 'specially equipped to meet the particular needs of business and country users whose vehicles are engaged in heavy work or are located in arduous country.'

A Utility was also offered, and the first Holden Panel Van made its debut two months after the FJ's October 1953 launch. Utility-based, with an extended roof and an extra upper tailgate, the Panel Van found ready acceptance in a booming market, which saw eager consumers snap up the new Holdens at record rates and entrench GM-H in the number one sales position.

By 1954, FJ Holdens were being produced at assembly plants nation-wide at the rate of 250 per day - not nearly enough to satisfy demand. The same year, however. GM-H took the decision to ship FJs to New Zealand 'in the national interest', beginning an export drive that by 1956 saw Holdens on the road in Thailand, Malaya and North Borneo.

GM-H celebrated the production of the 250,000th Holden, an FJ, in January 1956. It had taken the company just over seven years to produce its quarter millionth car - and the magic million mark would be reached only six and a half years later.

FJ HOLDEN FACTS

Base price at introduction: $2046/£1023
Total number built: 169,969
Models: Standard sedan, Business Sedan, Special Sedan, Panel Van and Utility
Engine: 2.15 litre/132.5 cu.in 0HV six-cylinder
Power Output: 45kW/60bhp @3800 rpm
Transmission: Three-speed manual gearbox, synchromesh on 2nd and 3rd. Column mounted shift lever
Dimensions (basic sedan): Length 4408mm; Wheelbase 2616mm; Width 1702mm
Fuel tank: 43 litres/9.5 gallons

 

LET'S COMPARE AGAIN (From: MOTOR MANUAL, June 1955)

 

 

(In the usual spirit of the Internet, even though I have used some of this material without permission, I try to acknowledge the original source where possible, in the hope that this will not offend the copyright owners. Sometimes, it is lucky I did, as a number of sites have disappeared shortly after I copied the information. Please acknowledge the source if you copy it. I stand to make no profit from these pages and have published them purely out of my enthusiasm for the cars. If this is unacceptable to any of the copyright holders, I will gladly remove, rewrite or replace the pictures or information. The comments on this page are mostly the authors - they are not those of the FX-FJ Car Club of Canberra inc or any other person - unless stated.)

 

 

 

 

Let us know if this page contains pornographic, copyrighted, or hate content. 250Free proudly supports TheFreeSite.com