Meet Toris and his FC...

[RET]

This is Toris' FC Special Sedan, which he's looking at restoring.

It originally belonged to his grandfather. Toris writes:

Richard,
The car has most of its original accessories. It belongs to my grandpa.
All i know is that my grand pa bought it in the late 50s or early 60s. My grandy is very old but i will try and get the info from him.
He was a soldier in the second world war. Will that help?
But i think he had it shipped here or brought by whatever means. Its in a real bad shape but i know its a baby non of us would want to loose in the family.
I will try to get more info on it. And if there is a way your club could help me restore, i'd be the happiest.
Or maybe i should join the forums.

Nothing about the story terribly unusual so far? Except for that unusual number plate, of course.

Here's the first email I received:

Hello,

I am a kenyan with a holden fc/fe that needs restoration. I need advice on the issue as to how i can get the spare parts or how i can send some pics  of it to you then you give me the right info.

That's right. This fixer-upper is in KENYA. Toris asked me to post the pics and hopefully can fill you in with more of the story as it's uncovered.

Here are some more pics of the car, and the rest of our discussion:

Hi Toris,

Thanks for sending through the photos. Looks like you've got a bit of work ahead of you there ;-)

It's definitely an FC Holden, manufactured in Australia between May 1958 and December 1959. Yours was manufactured in the second half of 1959. It looks like it was originally India Ivory over Granite Grey in colour, which means it would have had a Fall Red and Black interior. All FC Holdens had a 132.5cu.in. "grey" engine, 3-speed column-mounted manual gearbox (with no synchro on first gear), drum brakes all around and 13" wheels.

I can see from the photos that it has at least 3 original "accessories" (and there may be more inside). The sun-visor, the bonnet mascot and the grille-badge are all original Holden accessories. The first two are very common, the badge less so.

We have quite a bit of technical information about these cars on our website at http://fefcholden.org.au/techinfo
Also, we have a forum which is open to all, and I'm sure there would be many enthusiasts interested to know there is an FC in Kenya, and that you're looking to restore it. Can I post the pics you've sent? (You can do that yourself if you prefer.) You'll get a very warm welcome, be sure of that! The forum is also a fantastic resource for information about restoring these old cars.

The forum is at http://fefcholden.org.au/forum

Thanks for sending the pics through. Best of luck with the rebuild, and let me know what further help I can offer.

Hopefully Toris will join the forum soon, and I'm sure y'all will make him very welcome.

RET

[FE 4 ME]

It's amazing to think there are FE/FC's around the world, i hope he gets all the support and parts he needs to get it back on the road...

be interesting to know of anyone out there from a different country who has a FE or FC

i know Paul has both his FE and FC in Ireland
Now Toris in Kenya

anybody Else know of other FE/FC's out there in a different country ????

be interesting to know how far these great classics hit the corners of this Earth


"Have a Great Holden ( FE/FC ) Day !!!" :):):)


FE 4 ME

[graham_fuller]

Wow that's amazing.We will Help Toris all we can.
Cheers,
Graham

[customFC]

The things you find in the jungles of Africa!!!
Very interesting to see a FC surviving in Africa.
Holden did export FE's and FC's to Africa back when new, so it is likely a GM import.
I would be interested to know more about Toris as well as his Grandy's FC.
As mentioned, help is only a request away.
Regards
Alex

[Harv]

I spent a few years working in Kenya, lots of old Mercedes and Leyland trucks still working hard for a living. Most of the older sedans have died long ago, mainly mid-80's Toyotas and the odd Peugeot running around now. Saw a VB Commodore in Mombasa, and a HR sedan in Nairobi - couldn't catch either of them to get a better look. Cool to see Holden product still running around though.

[mickusmickus]

Always great to hear about other cars that have been overseas!!!

Mine was in PNG from 1977 - 1992.

MICK