Geelong All Holden Day highlight – FJ custom coupe

What was an annual attraction on Geelong’s automotive event calendar for 15 years, the Geelong All Holden Day returned in 2025 after last being held in 2019. A COVID-enforced hiatus, then some other hurdles, prevented the event’s comeback, but when it did this past October, the response was massive, with more than 450 cars attending, some of which came from interstate.

Amongst the big field of cars, there were plenty of custom builds, but of those, few were as well done or as comprehensive as this FJ.

While Lance Simmers’s ‘Draggin Coupe’ (featured with JUST CARS In 2018) may be the first vehicle that comes to mind when FJ two-doors are mentioned, it wasn’t the first to be built and certainly hasn’t been the last. Over the years, many have produced their own interpretation of the coupe that Holden never offered, to varying degrees of success and aesthetic appeal. Same goes for convertible conversions on early Holdens. 

The two-door FJ featured is reminiscent of the Draggin Coupe, but in this instance, the reduction in height comes from a roof chop, rather than sectioning the body. 

Aside from the two-door conversion and roof chop, other body mods on this FJ included a one-piece front-tilting bonnet and guards, de-seaming the rear guards, repositioning the fuel filler and removing the trim for the front and rear glass.

Custom tail lights blended into the rear guards were reminiscent of the eFiJy concept from 2005, but the centre tail light and boot lid handle was FJ authentic. Up front, a 1950s Buick ‘gunsight’ ornament had been added to the bonnet.

Resisting the urge to add big rims seen on so many builds, the custom body sits over a set of classic Center Line Convo Pro alloys in a conventional 15-inch size.

The powerplant for this cool custom is unknown, but we’ll assume a Chevy V8 of some sort, based on the bowtie logo on the steering wheel and bowtie-shaped rear-view mirror. The gear shifter confirms a six-speed manual transmission, though, with some other features pointing to a C2000s Commodore perhaps being the donor for the driveline.

The full custom interior retained very little that could be recognised as FJ, aside from the central speaker grille and glovebox. The FJ instrument binnacle had been widened, shortened and extended forward to fit a custom gauge set, while a modern steering column held equally modern indicator and headlight stalks. The mix of floor (clutch, brake) and pendant (accelerator) pedals was an unusual touch.

A centre console housed the shifter, handbrake, cupholders, controls for power windows and a touchscreen infotainment system. Door handles appeared to be of Toyota origin, with an unknown donor for the roof console.

Front bucket seats trimmed in leather incorporated screens for the rear seat passengers. With the roof chop, these luxury seats appeared to fill the cabin. The rear bench seat incorporated a fold-down centre arm rest and was trimmed in the same style as the front buckets.

As JUST CARS was unable to locate the owner on the day, we’ve detailed only what can be seen, but there’s sure to be a bunch of elements regarding this car’s build that are unlisted here.

Along with an abundance of attention, this FJ deservedly received the Meguiar’s Sponsor’s Choice award, with other sponsor awards provided by Shannons Insurance, Repco, Rare Spares and Barwon Tyre & Auto.

For JUST CARS’ report from the 2025 Geelong All Holden Day, click HERE