Welcome to Issue No. 123
The 11th FE-FC Holden Nationals from April 14-17 is being staged by the FE-FC Holden Car Club of Victoria and show organisers are expecting to draw a record number of entrants, eclipsing the 81 cars that entered the 2005 FE-FC Nationals at Jindabyne in NSW.
Following the immortal FJ in July 1956, the FE was the first Holden manufactured at GMH's Dandenong assembly plant and the first Holden to be fully tested at the company's then new Lang Lang Proving Ground. Featuring a much more modern, angular design than the original 'humpy' Holden's, the FE model also ushered in the first 'Station Sedan' or wagon style body for Holden for the Australian market. Just as Toyota have played a major role in providing transport for the recent Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, the FE Holden had a major role in the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, where many of the then brand new cars were used as support vehicles during the Torch Relay and as courtesy cars for officials and Olympians. The FE-FC Nationals will be run over four days starting on Good Friday and finishing on Easter Monday. On Monday, entrants will leave Phillip Island for a tour of Holden's Lang Lang Proving Ground, revisiting the facilities where the first FE prototypes and pre-production models were tested in late 1955 and early 1956.
Last month also saw the National Museum of Australia in Canberra unveil a rare, unrestored FJ Holden as the centre piece of an exhibition - 'Australia's Own Car: The Holden'. It was owned by Tharwa woman Molly Goodall, who clocked up just 53,000 miles driving between the family sheep farm and Queanbeyan. The FJ Special is set among a range of objects, including the original FJ design drawings, that explore Holden's special place in the Australian experience. This is an exhibition that will certainly interest Holden enthusiasts in particular.
Vehicles of another nature have also been attracting plenty of attention recently. As a lead up to the Formula One Grand Prix, Ferrari and Maserati, two legendary motorsport marques, staged a free display in Melbourne. Maserati, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Stirling Moss guiding his Maserati 250F to victory in Albert Park, and Ferrari, which have won the modern incarnation of the Grand Prix in Albert Park no less than five times since Formula One returned to Melbourne in 1996, presented a million dollars worth of road cars for public inspection. Included was the latest Ferrari 430 and the outstanding Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. Maserati displayed the GranSport, its 400hp V8 sports car and the Quattroporte, the luxurious and exclusive Maserati sports saloon in its latest Executive and Sport GT guises.
As Monty Python would have said, 'and now for something completely different'. Last month in a little town called Bendemeer north of Tamworth was staged the 'Grey Fergie Tractor Muster'. Local tractor enthusiast Winston Doak organised a party to celebrate the famous tractor's 50th birthday in 2003, which saw 154 Fergies descend on the township. Three years down the track and Winston also organised the second Grey Fergie Tractor Muster. We don't have details of how the event went, but hopefully will give you an update next month.
This month we have a bumper issue for you, including a road test of the latest Nissan 350Z flagship sports car, and news that recent notices announcing the demise of the Holden Monaro may have been overstated. News from GM boss Bob Lutz is that we can expect to see a new Monaro in 2008 - the question now being whether it is manufactured in Australia or the USA. There's always something interesting happening in the motor industry!
