1954 Holden FJ Special Sedan

Description

Launched in November 1948 to great fanfare, the Holden was Australia’s first commercially successful automobile and featured styling influenced by contemporary American and European design trends. With its relatively advanced monocoque construction and a sturdy six-cylinder engine under the curved bonnet, the new Holden 48-215 (or FX as it was also known) proved perfectly suited to Australia’s rugged driving conditions of the day. In September 1953 the Holden underwent a facelift to become the FJ, the new model boasting a toothy new chrome grille, hubcaps and jet-age tail lights. Under the skin the FJ remained largely unchanged, utilising the same ‘grey’ motor displacing 132.5-cid, developing 60 horsepower at 3800rpm and plenty of torque (100lbs/ft at 2000rpm), allowing for a class leading standing quarter-mile time of just 20.4 seconds according to Wheels magazine. The Special Sedan, coded 225, was a new addition to the range, adding such luxuries as a cigarette lighter, armrests in the front doors and extra chrome trim around the window frames, door handles and on the rear wings, along with the option of two-tone paintwork. 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.