1955 Holden FJ Panel Van

Description

The Holden was Australia’s first commercially successful automobile, launched to great fanfare in November 1948 with the styling heavily influenced by prevailing American and European design trends.  Boasting advanced monocoque construction and a sturdy, sufficiently powerful OHV six-cylinder engine under the curved bonnet, the new Holden 48-215 (or FX as it has become known) proved perfectly suited to Australia’s rugged driving conditions of the day.  The Holden underwent its first and only facelift in September 1953, the new FJ featuring a new chrome grille inspired by contemporary Buicks, hubcap design and jet-age tail lights.  Holden expanded the model range, adding a more upmarket Special Sedan with better equipment levels while a panel van (body style 2104) joined the line-up a couple of months after the FJ’s release.  The first 100 per cent Australian panel van, the FJ’s extended roof line was met with an upper tailgate and added another level of versatility to the commercial range.  The new panel vans proved popular with all manner of tradesman, along with services like the mail, roadside services like the RACV, who purchased a fleet of the new FJs in 1955 to replace their Ford Prefects.  By the time production of the FJ ceased in 1956, more than 250,000 first generation Holdens had been built and the famous ‘Humpy’ had written itself into the history books.  Celebrated in films, music and popular culture generally, the FJ has become a local icon and with good examples becoming hard to find, original cars are quickly being snapped up by collectors.