My unrestored 1959 FC Holden Special

[dnb]

Here are some photos of my pride and joy.
She is a nice clean and original old girl, and drives as good as she looks.
Over the years some bodywork has been done but a lot of the paint is still original. The body is Ascot Grey with a Wangarra Grey flash.The paintwork is showing its age in places with some crazing but overall is in great condition considering the car hasn't been restored.
A Vic Roads check shows the car was first registered on 28/07/59 to an East Bentliegh (Victoria) owner. It appears to have been in that family till 26/11/93, the reg was transfered over in Janurary 1986 to same post code. When I remember I'll call Vic Roads and ask if they can confirm this for me. From there it went to Arnold in Vic for 2 years than it came back to Moorabbin. It was registered to that owner for 3 days, perhaps a dealer or someone was made a good offer for her... Since than she has had 4 owners before i bought her in May 2006
The car still has original upholstery and has that old car smell ... Still has original engine and  number plates. Even has old Air Ride spare tyre in the boot.
The only thing that lets the team down a bit is the motor, engine bay is tidy but motor is showing its age. It runs well but has oil leaks   and not yet decided if to do gaskets, welsh plugs etc or go all the way and reco..













 
   

[FC0058]

dnb
Fine looking all original car, your paint is so original its worn down to the undercoat all over. ;D

Thanks for sharing your pride enjoy with us all.

Cheers Jim

[GEB1211]

Good job dnb,,,,

I myself are looking for my first FC,,,,

I'm a bit fussy as I can tell if I get one I eventually will want more, so I want the first one to be good !!

Congratulations and a very nice car,,,,,,

I'm green all over, lol,,,,

Geoff

[dnb]

Thank's Geoff, while this old girl isn't 100 per cent original she is still a really nice example. I replaced some door rubbers after I bought it and it's missing a couple of pieces of of trim at the bottom of the seats. I have numbers break and clutch master cylinders for it but not got to them as yet. The picts don't show the true story, still looks great on the road but does have its share of chips and scratches.
Darcy

[NosFEratu]

Nice looking car Darcy - you should be pretty happy with it. Enjoy it!

Kathi  8)
F4+ =^{^^}=

[dnb]

Thank's Kathi, I do enjoy the old gal..
Bit of a dilemma in some ways, as in its present guise it can't compete with restored cars, but I can't afford to do a full restoration at present and I think it would be a shame to do a cheap respray etc.
.

[GEB1211]

Hey Darcy,

(Got a 4yr old with that name, lol )

As a Fellow Victorian how did you come across such a Nice ole girl,,,,,,
And you dont happen to know of any others ??
I'm hopeful of getting my first FC someday,  as good as yours looks,,,

Cheers,
Geoff

[mcl1959]

Darcy the Vic club has new plastic trim for the bottom of the seats if you need these.

Ken

[dnb]

This is a photo of my FC wagon, I bought it off my father in 1967. The wagon came from Beachmere, a beach side town in Queensland and had been used to tow a dingy so was quite rusty. I can't recall now what I paid for it but it was not very much.  I traded it in on a 1958 FC Standard sedan that i kept for about 3 years. Sorry about poor picture quality, legs belong to younger brother..

[Sideplate]

Great ol car, looks like its time for a hot grey!!!!!

[dnb]

Been ther, many moons ago... I scanned the pic of the wagon and it looked fine, but it came out all funny...Wonder where I went wrong...

[customFC]

Nice looking wagon.
Looks just like my Dad's FC.
Regards
Alex

[Johns]

Ahhh two tone grey......

Looks like a nice car Darcy. As for your engine bay, comments aprt from the engine being the wrong colour, for an original engine bay it's very good.

As to condition, don't stress, just bring it up to scratch mechanically then use and enjoy it. After all she is nearly 50 :P

Cheers
John

[DN2168]

Great looking old girl there Darcy she is just wonderful.

Dean.

[dnb]

Thanks John, thats exactly what I'm doing, enjoying the old girl. underneath she is totally rust free, sub frame and floors all perfect. bottoms of the doors etc also perfect. So far as the body goes no rust or dints just a few scratches and bit of crazing only seen close up... The panel beater did a great job where I damaged the door and guard, hard to pick it..
Only mechanical work needed is one rear brake line was fitted wrong and has rubbed on the wheel, and some oil leaks need attention.
She does have a few grunts and groans due to tired rubbers but it adds to her character....
I got a bit lucky with this one me thinks...
Cheers Darcy

[Royal]

H i Darcy Dont mean to steal your thread but we are almost twins although mine is the earlier series to yours and has had a repaint, here is a photo when my daughter got married and she just had to use dads car

           Roy

[dnb]

Looks great, mine was my daughters wedding car last December, bur she wouldn't allow me to put a doll on it..

[DN2168]

How cool is that, 2 cars the same paint schemes & both used as wedding cars.

Dean.

[dnb]

Dean, I'm an indecisive old bugger at times, I'd tossed up fitting the sunviser I have to mine and decided against it, but Beachball has got me thinking again. His looks great with it on.

[Royal]

Hey Darcy
    If you look at both cars they seem too have a lot of factory extras fitted so maybe dealers optoined the good colours as floor models ;D, As for the sunvisor just fit it they make the car so much cooler and up here in Q.L.D. you certainly need that,
                             Roy ;)