FX / 48-215 - FJ Page
 
The good old 50/2106 FX ' Coupe utility ' an Australian First .This one lives in a small display at a place called 'Avondale' just outside Beverly in Western Australia . There is also a fine example of an FX sedan in the town itself in the old servo just up from the aircraft museum  .
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Released : November 29 1948 .
Built 120,402  .
Engine : 132 Cu in 6 Cyl
G/box 3 speed manual colum shift
Firstly , lets clear up all the confusion over the 48-215 / FX debate . I have heard some amazing stories about the 48-215 name but I have it on good authority that this is the real story .
Its very simple really , the original idea was to name the vehicles by there year of production and body style  number . The '48' meant it was made in 1948 and the '215' referred to its body style  as the Standard Sedan . All the body styles were given a number , the Standard Sedan was the 215 , the Business sedan was a 217 and so on .The only other model available in the FX was the 'Ute ' (Short for Utility ) . This was released in January 1951 and its body style number was 50/2106 .The Business sedan was introduced July 1953 and was aimed more at the Fleet and Taxi market
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The Introduction of the 48-215 (referred to as the FX from here on in )  Holden was a very important part of Australian History . Launched as " Australia's Own " after years of American and English domination the FX took Australia by storm . Advertised as a car designed for Australian conditions , with a powerful 6 cylinder engine it went on to become a Classic as we know it .
It had Vacuum operated windshield wipers that slowed to a painfull pace when you accelerated and when you decelerated they flew across the windshield so fast they often pulled more RPM than the engine .
The electrical system was 6 Volt but in later years most people converted there FX-FJ to a 12 volt system . The reason was that in some states it was a law that you had to leave the rear parking lights on all night if the vehicle was parked on the side of the road and the 6 Volt system worked hard to do this . You may notice a small switch on the rear guards of some FX-FJ's ...and thats the reason !
The 3 speed 'Crash Box' as it was known had 3 forward and 1 reverse gear . There was synchromesh on 2nd and 3rd but 1 st gear had none ...hence the name 'Crash Box' . Unless you had mastered the art of "Double Clutching" then you had to come to a stop before changing into 1st gear otherwise risk tearing all the teeth off the gears .
The 15 inch wheels were stopped by 4 wheel hydraulic drum brakes . Suspension on the front was double wishbone and independent springs with shock absorber dampening . The rear suspension was was semi elliptical leaf spring setup with shock absorber dampening .
Inside the Dash had 1 large dial in the center which was the speedometer with 2 smaller dials to the bottom and side of the center . One was the fuel gauge and the other was an AMP gauge )(See the FJ section below for a picture ) . The gauges had a white background with black print . The interior trim was available in Leather or wollen body cloth and in 1951 a PVC material was introduced .
The 48-215 was available in 4 colours , Convoy Grey , Seine Blue , Gawler cream and of course ...Black .
More to come :

 
 
 
The FJ
 
Released : Oct 29 1953
Built 169,969
Engine : 132 Cu in 6 Cyl
Transmission : 3 Speed manual colum shift
 
The FJ was very similar to the FX in a lot of ways and yet was different enough to be classed as a new model .
The FJ also saw the introduction of 2 new models . The FJ/2104 Panel Van and the FJ/ 225 Special Sedan . A station wagon made it to prototype but never saw the production line .
The FJ came with a new grille , a choice of 12 colours and 2 tone paint , new style hub caps , a "Torpedo" styled tail light (It was round as opposed to the squarish tail-light of the 48-215 ) . The 6 Volt electrical system was retained while on the dash board the gauges now sported white lettering on a dark metalic finish background .

the 'Dashboard' of the FJ

A fold down internal sunvisior was fitted to both sides of the car . The Special sedan was the 'Luxury' model in the line-up . With features like Leather trim , interior light that activated when the doors opened , rear passanger assistance straps and a cigerette lighter among the list of internal features, the exterior came in for it share of improvments . Vast amounts of chromework was added to places like window surrounds and door trims , a chrome bonnet ornament , chrome fins on the rear gaurds all went to make the FJ a 'Special' vehicle .
Mechanically the car remained fairly untouched . In 1954 the differential was modified and in 1956 'Tubeless' tyres were fitted . The width of the tyre was increased also .
More to come