48-215
or FX 1948
The
48-215 was finally here and more importantly the Holden was all Australian
although it was tested in the USA and had developement changes there. By
the end of 1948 the total production was just 112 but the demand for the
home grown product was enormous and by 1950 Holden had increased it's production
to 80 units per day. Capable of 30 miles per gallon of gasoline and with
the ability to smooth out the rough roads around Australia the Holden became
the car everyone wanted. The racing boys enjoyed considerable success with
the FX as the weight was less than a ton and with a bit of tuning (a lot)
was capable of nearly 200 km/h (125 mph) out the reliable 'Grey motor'.
In fact in 1958 Leo Geoghegan won the Sedan and Sports Car events at the
Easter Bathurst race meet in a 48-215.
FX
FX
was a term used later in the Holdens life as when the 48-215 was on sale
it was simply refered to as a Holden. even when the FJ came into existance
it was refered to as the old model and the FJ the new model.
There
are numerous theories where the nick-name FX came from, the one about NASCO
(spare parts) using it as a reference so it would not be confused with
the FJ is the most probable. After a period of time people who came in
for parts would refer to the FX model as told to them by the parts people.
Canadian Block
There
were rumours about a special 'Canadian Block' that was built with thicker
walls that could be bored out further than the Australian blocks. These
engines appeared in the very early cars and were very sort after for many
many years after! It is believed that the term was derived from the
fact that the original dies made in Canada thicker cylinder walls but caused
some overheating, a new set of dies were made with thinner walls and were
introduced reasonably early into the production run!
As
early as 1949 there were changes on the drawing board to the grill as they
were made of many parts and were costly to manufacture. Even the 2-piece
front window was replaced in one American made model.
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This
was the most photographed prototype KY442 (the 2nd prototype). It
was a long wait for many Australians but finally it was here, Australias
own car! After WW2 there was a huge amount patriotism among Australians
and to actually build there own car was just about as good as you could
get. |
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