FB-EK Holden: The Weighting Game

The lone EK Holden shared by Ron and Bruce Marshall in the 1962 Bathurst Six Hour Classic was one of few FB-EK models to be seen in competition, conspicuously at a time when Holden was dominant in the Australian car market.

Most Australian-made Holdens boast a significant motor sport heritage, from the original 48-215 in 1948 to the final VFII Commodore in 2017. However in the early 1960s there was a noticeable lack of contemporary models - the FB and EK – competing. And the main reason for that? They were too heavy.

The first 48-215 or ‘FX’ Holden proved to be a motor sport natural as its relatively light unitary body construction and ‘grey’ six cylinder engine resulted in a kerb weight of 2230 pounds (1013kg). The facelifted FJ model that followed in 1953 was only 8.0kg heavier which was more than offset by an increase in engine power from 60 to 70bhp.

The new-look FE launched in 1956 rode on a 2.0-inch (50mm) longer wheelbase and slightly wider track. Some of the FE’s mechanical improvements included more powerful 12-volt electrics, a front anti-sway bar and a drop in wheel diameter from 15 to 13 inches for lower gearing and centre of gravity. The only glaring deficiency from a racer’s point of view was the FE’s substantial 44 kg increase over the FJ. The face-lifted FC of 1958 added another 19kg.

Bruce McPhee in his famous lime green FE was one of few Holden racers to successfully tackle the hordes of 48-215s and FJs under new Appendix J touring car rules introduced in 1960, even though the FE’s kerb weight was more than 50kg heavier. The then-current FB Holden’s weight handicap was more than double that figure.

In the outlaw world of 1950s touring car racing, illegal weight reduction was rife and remarkably inventive. However, a heavier car just meant more illegal weight loss that had to be hidden, so the most popular Holden racers throughout that decade remained the 48-215/FJ.

By the end of the 1950s, though, the top guns had developed their ‘Humpies’ to such extremes of lightness and engine performance as to raise safety concerns. As a result, governing body CAMS introduced national touring car rules (Appendix J) in 1960 which with tighter restrictions on modifications brought some much needed law and order to what had become an outlaw class. And there was a prestigious Australian Touring Car Championship title to go with it. 1960 also saw the first running of an annual 500-mile race at Phillip Island for showroom-stock, mass-produced ‘series production’ cars.

FB-EK Holdens were a rare sight in Appendix J touring car racing. This is John Buchelin’s EK getting a solid workout at Warwick Farm in 1964, which was the last year of the Appendix J rules. Looks like lowering blocks on the rear axle were the hot set-up!

The timing of these two developments could not have been worse for the new-for-1960 FB Holden. The venerable grey six saw a slight capacity increase from 132.5cid to 138cid and an extra five bhp, but the kerb weight ballooned by another 38kg. The mildly facelifted EK in 1961 made no effort to trim some fat. And the new-look EJ, the last of the grey-engine Holdens which followed in 1962, was no better.

So having started in 1948 with a car which earned global praise for its strong yet lightweight unitary construction, by 1960 Holden had allowed its waistline to expand by 241 pounds or more than 109kg. For competition use, all that extra weight (which was mostly sprung weight) brought not only an obvious weight handicap but also increases in tyre wear and dynamic weight transfer which was most undesirable in handling terms.

The 1961 Armstrong 500 attracted a much smaller field than the inaugural event in 1960, due to a credit squeeze and recession which hit the local car industry hard. Although thin on quantity the ’61 field was thick on quality, with the first clash between Falcon and Holden.

1961 Armstrong 500

There were no Holdens entered in the first Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island in 1960, which was surprising given the huge popularity and dominant market share of ‘Australia’s Own Car’. At the time General Motors had a global ban on direct factory participation in motor racing, but its dealers could do what they liked.

As a result GM still claimed victory in the large car class and first-across-the-line honours (no outright winner was recognised in those days) thanks to the UK-designed Vauxhall Cresta, which in Australia was being assembled by GM-H from CKD kits and sold as an upmarket premium-priced model through selected GM dealers. Frank Coad and John Roxburgh in a dealer-entered PA Cresta created history by being the first winners of a race that would after three years move to Bathurst and become a national sporting icon.

So why wasn’t even one example of the then-current model FB Holden on the starting grid for this pioneering event? According to various reports, three FB Holdens had been entered by prominent Melbourne Holden dealers with illustrious racing backgrounds, including Bill Patterson Motors, B.S. Stillwell and Stan Jones Motors. However, all three were withdrawn prior to the race, reportedly because of incurable engine oil surge discovered in pre-race testing.

There was only one EK Holden in the 1961 Armstrong 500 and for a while it had the upper hand on its only XK Falcon foe, with none of the chronic oil surge issues which had forced the pre-race withdrawal of a multiple FB Holden entries the previous year.

Such engine issues had largely been cured by the unbridled modifications allowed during the ‘outlaw’ Humpy era in the 1950s, but the Armstrong 500’s showroom stock rules had exposed some humbling weaknesses in Holden’s venerable grey motor under the stresses of competition use.

However, that all changed for the second running of the race in 1961. The competing classes based on engine capacity were reduced from five to four, comprising Class D (up to 1000cc), Class C (1001-1600cc), Class B (1601-2600cc) and Class A (over 2601cc).

Class B included not only the Bob Jane/Harry Firth Mercedes 220SE, which would claim both class and first-across-the-line honours, but also an XK Falcon and the latest EK Holden. This was the start of the Ford versus Holden war that would rage for decades, as noted by Bill Tuckey in reviewing the 1961 clash in Australia’s Greatest Motor Race.

It’s hard to imagine this skinny-wheeled XK Falcon had covert factory involvement, but Ford could well have been using the 1961 race to test the waters before committing to its successful works-backed attack in 1962 with the new 170 Pursuit XL Falcon.

“There was a significant first – the first Holden to compete in the race. Admittedly there was only one and it was a private entry, with not even a dealer in sight. But the staff of the GM-H proving ground at Lang Lang actually prepared the car – even experimenting with the technique for freezing fuel to increase tank capacity, which Ford was to try 19 years later at Bathurst.

“In the EK Holden – in which GM-H at least had an indirect interest as we have seen – were Ian Strachan, John Lanyon and David Catlin. Ken Harper, Sid Fisher and John Reaburn were in the XK Ford Falcon, which was widely suspected of being a covert Ford Motor Company entry.”

The battle for the over 2601cc Class A and unofficial ‘outright’ honours was expected to be fought out by the hot V8 Studebaker Larks driven by David McKay/Brian Foley and Fred Sutherland/Bill Graetz and the Vauxhall Velox of reigning champions Frank Coad and John Roxburgh.

Practice on Saturday showed the lone Jane/Firth Mercedes 220SE in Class B had the potential to cause a major upset for first-across-the-line honours if the cards fell their way. The EK Holden and XK Falcon, the only other cars in Class B, were very close on times with the Falcon lapping in the 2 min 53 secs and the Holden in the 2 min 54s.

Note how heavily taped the EK Holden was at Phillip Island in 1961, in an attempt to minimise damage from chunks of bitumen being thrown up by other cars on the disintegrating track surface. All competing cars also had to be fitted with rear mudflaps for this reason.

How the boys at Lang Lang managed to cure the chronic oil surge in the EK’s grey motor, which had forced the FB’s pre-race withdrawal the year before, is anyone’s guess. Special oil additives (STP, Molybond etc) have been suggested, as well as Harry Firth’s trick of lowering the oil pick-up in the sump. In any case, the problem seemed to be licked.

It was hot and windy for the start of Sunday’s race, when the field departed the grid in four class groupings separated by 10-second intervals. True to form, the Class A hot-shots thundered into the distance as early Class B leader Jane pitted with a flat tyre on his 220SE after only two laps. Under the rules he had to get out and change it himself, which took more than five minutes to complete and put him two laps behind the leading Studebaker Larks and Vauxhall.

However, during the next eight hours or so, Jane and Firth fought their way back into contention with a masterful display of driving that balanced high speeds with mechanical sympathy to preserve the car and its vulnerable tyres on such a treacherous track surface.

This tactic, combined with the fast and efficient pit stops that Firth teams would become renowned for at Bathurst in the years to come, resulted in the Mercedes pair not only gaining a stranglehold on Class B but also overhauling the Class A Larks and Vauxhall to be the unofficial outright winners. Behind the German car, the battle for second in Class B between Ford and Holden had become a ferocious fight.

The Strachan/Lanyon/Catlin EK Holden at full speed past Phillip Island’s open pit area during the 1961 Armstrong 500. Note the large letter H taped to the front of the car, which hinted of Holden’s arm’s length involvement in the car’s preparation during GM’s global corporate ban on motor racing.

“Mainly because of John Lanyon’s exuberant driving, the Holden slowly got ahead of the Falcon and began to open up a gradually increasing gap as the race wore on,” Tuckey wrote. “The Mercedes was well out in front of the class, but this was Holden versus Ford stuff. It was on this day that The Great Race tradition of losing or winning the race in the pits took shape, as the Falcon and Holden crews worked like dervishes to fling their cars back into the fray, with the Holden team doing it faster every time and cementing their lead.

“Then on lap 133 as John Lanyon was coming out of Siberia corner the left front wheel parted company with the car; Lanyon stopped it on the brake drum, stole one wheel nut from each of the other three wheels to fit the spare and hurried back to the pits. But their race was shot.

“They cannibalised a tender vehicle for a new brake backing plate and after 40 minutes were ready to get back into the race – although they had already been told that they would be disqualified for using spare parts not kept at the pit counter. The crew had considered sending the car out driveable but brakeless, because it couldn’t lose third place in class, but they heroically decided to go out and show the crowd some racing.”

So the XK Falcon finished second in Class B. And the first Holden to compete in The Great Race, despite its crew’s never-say-die efforts, was disqualified. Firth and Jane would return in 1962 and again claim both Class B and first-across-the-line honours, only this time in a more powerful XL Falcon. The only Holden in that race, a privately-entered EJ model (released in July 1962), finished fifth in Class B and a full seven laps behind the winning 170 Pursuit-engined Falcon.

While Holden racers looked forward to the release of the EH the following year, with its new generation of more powerful ‘red’ motors, FB and EK Holdens were still seen in various forms of competition.

The first and only Bathurst Six Hour in 1962 had an interesting mix of touring cars and production sports cars competing across six price-based classes. Here the Firth/Jane XK Falcon leads one of several MGAs through Hell Corner. The brake-locking XK would later come to grief at the same corner, where it ended up on its roof.

1962 Bathurst Six Hour

Although none competed in the 1962 Armstrong 500, one EK took part in the first and only running of the Bathurst Six Hour race at Mount Panorama on the NSW Labour Day long weekend, only three weeks before the third and final running of the annual ‘500’ at Phillip Island.

The Bathurst Six Hour was an endurance race for series production sedans and sports cars. When viewed through motor sport’s rear view mirror, it was really the Australian Racing Drivers Club proving to CAMS that it could seamlessly take over the running of the Armstrong 500 from 1963 due to the deplorable and unsustainable state of the Phillip Island track surface. And that’s exactly what happened.

Even so, the Bathurst Six Hour attracted an interesting mix of sedans and sports cars, competing across six price-based classes or ‘divisions’ comprising Division A (Touring Cars up to £900), Division B (Touring Cars £901-1050), Division C (Touring Cars £1051-1250), Division D (Touring Cars £1251-1700), Division E (Sports Cars up to £1500) and Division F (Sports Cars £1501-2000).

The Smith/Maher Austin Freeway clearly outclassed the EK Holden at the 1962 Bathurst Six Hour, finishing on the same lap as the McPhee/Mulholland Class C-winning Mini Cooper. The Freeway, like the Mini, finished 16 laps ahead of the lone EK.

Like the Armstrong 500 there was no official recognition of an outright winner but the sizeable number of media people and spectators that attended certainly recognised Leo and Pete Geoghegan as the Division F and ‘outright winners’ in their Daimler SP250 sports car.

Reigning Armstrong 500 champions Firth and Jane were leading Division C (Touring Cars £1051-1250) in one of Ford’s ex-East African Safari XK Falcons, until Firth was caught out by the car’s locking drum brakes on lap 39 and rolled at Hell Corner.

Division C was won by a Mini Cooper with Austin Freeways in second and third. The Grant/Marden FC was the highest placed Holden in fourth, albeit six laps behind the winning Mini. The second Holden, an EK shared by Ron and Bruce Marshall, finished sixth in class and a further 10 laps behind the FC.

We can't help thinking someone dressed in black (to blend in with the oddly-placed background) threw a handful of sand out the back to simulate some rear wheel-spin in this perfectly-staged publicity shot for the Canadian Hell Drivers. Special effects 1960s style!

Canadian Hell Drivers!

In 1962 the EK Holden performed in a very different role thanks to an Australian tour by the world-famous Canadian Hell Drivers. With the enthusiastic backing of GM-H, the stunt-driving team was supplied with a fleet of EKs, at least one of which was fitted with dual steering wheels to assist in performing one of their enthralling stunts.

The Canadian Hell Drivers were big news in the 1960s, as their global touring included performances in front of packed houses in the UK, USA, South Africa, Mexico, Japan, Hong Kong, Kuwait and the Phillipines. They typically used stock standard versions of popular makes and models in each country, to provide relevance for local audiences and give the supporting manufactures the biggest bang for their bucks.

Up, up and away! The most dangerous stunt performed by the Canadian Hell Drivers was this finely-timed cross-over jump. The EKs must have taken a fearful pounding when landing from leaps like this, yet Holden claimed the fleet it supplied to the stunt team was stock standard.

The Hell Drivers in their boldly sign-written EKs thrilled Australian crowds at various showgrounds with a display that included about 30 different feats, including high speed tight formation driving with mere centimetres between the cars, 180 degree reverse-flick spins and ‘bicycling’ for about 100 metres while delicately balanced on either the left-side or right-side wheels (hence the twin tillers).

The grand finale was one EK making a 15-metre long leap from one ramp to another while another crossed beneath it. This was a particularly dangerous stunt which had claimed the life of Earl ‘Lucky’ Teter in the 1940s when his car fell short of the landing ramp. The Canadian Hell Drivers returned two years later to perform their thrilling stunt show, this time in the latest EH Holdens.

A rare sight indeed. The first and only time an FB Holden competed in ‘The Great Race’ was the first running of the Armstrong 500 at Mount Panorama in 1963. The raised radio aerial makes us wonder if McCumisky and Brailey were listening to their favourite tunes on Bathurst’s famous scenic drive.

1963 Armstrong 500

Surprisingly perhaps, after the EK's lack lustre performance in the 1962 Bathurst Six Hour, a lone FB Holden was optimistically entered in the first Armstrong 500 held at Mount Panorama in 1963. In Class C (£1001-1200) the FB shared by Phil McCumisky and Lex Brailey faced no less than a quartet of Ford’s potent new Cortina GTs and six of Holden’s new EH S4s, which would also be fighting for line honours (an outright winner was not officially recognised until 1965).

As you would expect, the venerable grey-engined FB was clearly outgunned by the latest Ford and Holden ‘Bathurst specials’ which ran away with Class C. Reigning champions Bob Jane and Harry Firth in their works-entered Cortina GT were also the first car to complete the 130-lap distance, one lap clear of the Morgan/Sachs EH S4 with the McPhee/Ryan Cortina GT in third.

The lone FB at least had a reliable run, finishing ahead of two troubled S4s and the Geoghegan’s retired Cortina GT in claiming eighth place in Class C. However, a sobering reminder of its speed was that it finished 15 laps behind the winning Jane/Firth Cortina.

FB-EK Holdens were also seen in long distance rally events. This EK was one of 31 Holdens entered in the 1964 Ampol Trial, in which the latest 179cid red-engined EH sedans proved highly competitive.

On reflection the FB and EK Holdens were destined to never be shining stars in competition use, as they were released during a time of great change in Australian motor sport and particularly touring car racing.

The  dawn of the 1960s brought with it much tighter controls on touring cars competing under new Appendix J regulations, while the advent of the Armstrong 500 and its strictly showroom-stock rules ensured the FB’s and EK’s shortcomings were exposed on the race track.

It was not until the release of the EH S4 in 1963, with its all-new ‘red’ engine in 179cid form, that racers finally embraced the latest model Holden again. And GM-H would never have the luxury of being so complacent again.