FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

Image found on OldHolden.com. Good site with plenty to look at.

Now thats one ambulance I wouldnt mind going for a ride in :D :D

Thanks for the pic Craig.
OK ZULU, I know your looking at this post, so how about some pics of your Ambo. It doesn't matter that it isn't restored yet, I think it would be more interesting to see it as is. How about a pic of those rear barn doors at least. Now if you need to borrow a digi camera or you want me to come around and take some pics for you, let me know. I'd love to see it in person anyways!
Regards
Alex

Hi Alex, Mate the pics of the meat wagon (Ambulance) are sitting here in the computer, but I haven't worked out how to post them yet.
Regards Gary

G'day guys...
I'm also keen too see those pics of Zulu's ambulance.... but in the meantime I've found this pic and thought someone out there might be able to shed a little light on it....

(http://photo.starblvd.net/~hewart/5-4-4.jpg)

All I know is it was taken in Canberra. It looks to have all 4 doors too... making me think it's not really an ambulance, but it does have the stretcher in the back, and the same sort of number plates as the Customline ambulances... Any thoughts anyone...

Cheers
Les....

a clearer picture of the st andrews district ambulance

G'Day Les
Canberra used to be run and paid for by the Commonwealth Goverment of Australia,hence the "C" plate which used to be on all commonweath owned cars in the ACT no matter which department they belonged to.
Now with self goverment the ACT has normal plates the same as any other state. By the way I think Canberra still only has four ambulances now. Not much development. This car may have still been a special order vehcile as it would have been ordered by the Commonwealth straight of GMH. Maybe the rarest of all FC's ::)
John M

Hi Hewart, Alex is going to try & put some pics up for me from a cd, I'm hopeless.
The FC Ambulance I have has barn doors & alluminium cupboards in the back & only 1 back door, with a fold up attendants seat.
It also has black glass except for up front.
I am grateful to Craig & Hewart for finding these pics as it gives me a reference as to what the roof light/s should look like.
I would have to say though that an FE or FC Ambo would not be the preffered method of going to hospital.
If you required CPR, they would have to tip you out & do it on the side of the road!
Gary

Hey Gary

Heres a couple of pics of your ambulance that I have on my hard drive.

Cheers a-c

(http://photo.starblvd.net/airchief/5-1-2.jpg)
(http://photo.starblvd.net/airchief/5-1-3.jpg)

Those rear doors look awesome, Ithink I have a problem "I like ambulances and hearses" too much  ???

Hey Gary.
Sorry, did not realise you were waiting for me to post those pics. Now that I know, here they are.....
(http://photo.starblvd.net/~customfc2/6-5-4.jpg?i=1059177115)
(http://photo.starblvd.net/~customfc2/6-5-3.jpg?i=1059176965)
(http://photo.starblvd.net/~customfc2/6-4-5.jpg?i=1059176316)
(http://photo.starblvd.net/~customfc2/6-4-4.jpg?i=1059175467)
There are more pics showing some detail of the unique features built into Gary's car in my photoalbum check them out here:
http://photo.starblvd.net/customfc2?st=album&pg=5&ro=3&co=4
Regards
Alex

Thanks for posting those Air Chief & Alex, I've been waiting to share them.
Regards Gary  :)

Hey Gary.
How about some details on your ambulance.
Where was it from?
Where has it been?
What else do you know?
What do you need for your resto?
Regards
Alex

Well in order of questions, It was advertised on this site by a QLD member for the owner, in Beaudesert in QLD.

It operated out of the neighbouring town Boonah QLD

It left service in 1969 & was sold to a bloke in Boonah who in turn sold it to the local International Dealer, Dover & Sons.

When they finished with it it was saved from the wreckers by the chap I bought it of.

Before leaving the area with the car, I visited the Ambulance Station where it served and was rewarded with the historical records of it's life in the form of entries in the minutes of the Stations meetings.

It's first duty was to rush a bloke from a sawmill to Hospital.

What I need for the restoration are the roof light, which I am told is probably like the items in the pics in this thread, like a a small driving light, lens painted white, with a red Maltese Cross in the centre.

There are a couple of small holes and a wire in the roof where this would have lived.

The other bits will be period oxygen cylinder/s & fire extinguisher, ohh & about ten thousand large. ::)

Gary

i may be able to help you with some of those parts i restored a 1954 series 1 land rover fire engine a couple of years ago and i have some parts spare :
siren box inside car with pa mic and 6 differnt siren tones late 50s
100 watt under bonnet speaker for sieren box
red frederal signal revolving flashing roof light
i may be able to get the two red bumper lights and maltise cross from a guy in auckland who is restoring a customline ambulance
regards craig 8)

Hello Craig, Any help would be greatly appreciated, particularly the lights. Send me PM with any details.
How are things in the Land of the long White Cloud?
Gary

KEN , Would them front bucket seats in GARYs Ambo be the same type of bucket used in a PMG van, as we spoke about, and if so would they have been the same colour .  Gary I may have to make a trip to your joint to sus out them seats , so I know what Im looking for and to get a few photos of the seat type in it .

Wow Craig, that stuff sounds just like what Gary needs.....great job. Gary, don't let that stuff get away.
Here's a pic of an FC Ambulance from a book I have called " A Pictorial History of Australian Ambulances since 1880". It has some great pics, but they are small, so sorry for the quality of pic.
Regards
Alex

Here's another pic from the book. This one shows an FE sedan in use by the Bega Ambulance service.
Regards
Alex

Slim.
Here's some pics of the seat in Gary's Ambulance. They appear to be modified originals. Hope this helps.
Regards
Alex

Hi Zulu
If you need a siren, there's one from the 60's on ebay at the moment.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2421431683&category=1256
Hope this helps
Cheers
Tony

Slim, probably vey similar in construction as GMH would have started with an original bench and mofified from there as well.
Unfortunately the seat colour is not the same.
Garys van is Mesa Tan I believe whilst the PMG was a dark brown called Cordon Brown.
Ken

Thanks ALEX , That picture is very helpful , and KEN , would the PMG seat also have been a modified bench, Or an actual Bucket seat. As Im thinking it would have only had seating for one person, by the few pictures I have located. Im talking about a PMG van with entry from the passenger side only . Drivers door is rendered to be unopenable ! Any help is really appreciated .

Cant see how GMH would have fitted a bucket seat from the factory as there were none in production at the time
They would have been only able to use what they would have in the factory.
Hence a modified bench

Ken

Here's another pic of that Ambulance from Canberra.

(http://photo.starblvd.net/hewart/5-4-5.jpg)

I have a soft spot for old Holden's (as we all do) but it's always great to see one of these "rare" ones go to a good home in the hope of getting a new lease on life.... I guess though, even your everyday garden variety FE or FC is still "rareish", but you know what I mean....  Ambulances, army cars, vans and taxis etc....
Good luck with the restoration... looking forward to progress shots on that retoration.... ;D

Cheers...
Les...

Thanks for the pics Les, won't be starting resto on my Ambo for at least 18 months as I am busy with my 219 FC wagon resto.
However I will still be collecting data & bits for the ambo over this period.
A member recently alerted me to a period siren on Ebay, which I was lucky? enough to win. ::)
Also a NZ member is in touch with me re a suitable auto fire extinguisher & possibly some lights.
Regards, Gary  

Hey Les.
Thanks for the pics. They are absolutely fantastic. Where did you find them? Any more?
Gary.
Hope you find all you need for that resto. I can't wait to see it complete and on a club run. Need any help......you know where to find me.

Now Slim......
We want to see pics of that PMG van that you have. That car sounds equally as interesting as Gary's Ambo. Bring 'em on dude.
Regards
Alex.

G'day Alex...
Glad you liked the pics.... I've got a few more up my sleeve, but no more ambulance ones unfortunately.... :(

As for where I got 'em.... they were just sitting in various files at work .... I always reckon they should be shown and shared with people who would appreciate them rather than leaving them sitting in a folder doin' nothing....  Though I'm guessing all the really good ones have been lifted over the years (which is a shame) because there isn't as many left as there should be.... Most of the ones I've got access to are, what you'd call generic shots, that just happen to have a Holden or two in 'em, and only a few of those have FEs and FCs in 'em. I usually watch out for the ones with grey motor models in them and as you would know, I use them regularly in the SSEHCC newsletter. That's just my little way of getting them "out there" ;)

Cheers
Les....

Hey Les.....we appreciate seeing them.
Now I saw what you did with that FC van shot, and the parking station shot, so here's a request....
Could you please crop the above pic so that we only have the FE/FC in shot, and nice and big.....then a close up of the interior to see how it is fitted out......then I want to see the odometer reading....you get the picture.
thanks again.
Regards
Alex

Hey Alex...
Now there's a challenge.... I'll see what I can do....
Cheers...

Hey Alex...
Here it is... may not be as clear as I would like.... I had already cropped the pic in a little... this is the original...

(http://photo.starblvd.net/hewart/5-5-1.jpg)

... and here's the close up...

(http://photo.starblvd.net/hewart/5-5-2.jpg)

There you go... it even looks like it could be an FE. I think that's the horn ring I can see up front.... sorry the speedo is a bit obscured.. :P

Cheers
Les....

Hey les.
Thanks for both new versions of the pic.
Does that odometer end with a 5 or a 6?  ;D
Regards
Alex

I'd really like to think it was an FE, but with the turn of the wheels you could be looking at the bottom of the horn-ring there.

The die-cast on the guard looks like a spear to me, not Holden script.

I think it's an FC, more's the pity.

cheers
RET

Hey RET....
I'm not so sure about the turn of the wheel... I reckon I would have to turn my steeling wheel a bit further than that to get the bottom of it that far around.... not sure though! What you did though, is make me go back and rescan the other pic I had to see if I could get a better look.... you can see the wheel a bit clearer...

(http://photo.starblvd.net/hewart/5-5-3.jpg)

I even left the edge on to show that's how far the pic goes across... here it is ever closer.... you can almost make out the wheel centre too...

(http://photo.starblvd.net/hewart/5-5-4.jpg)

Still can't quite see the speedo clearly Alex, but I think it's a 6... :P

Cheers
Les...

Les,

I reckon those wheels are well on their way to hitting lock.

Can you get that close on the back door trims to see any detail?  If you can make out the basket-weave pattern at all then it's an FC.  If it's completely smooth then it's an FE.  Bit dark in there tho...  Maybe you can get that close on the front guard spear?

cheers
RET

Hey RET..
I had another look at the photos and scans, but it's too washed.... unfortunately that's about as far as I can go.... sorry 'bout that...!!

Cheers...
Les

Hi all.
If you look really hard at the first photo, then look at the second photo & compare the third photo & check out the reflection in the window of the building in the fourth photo, you may be able to se the rego stcker in the fifth photo & by that time you may have realised it is near frigging impossible to see anything that identifies it as an FE or an FC!!?? :o :o :o
But, like RET said, the trim on the front gaurd tells me it is an FC.
RJ

Bottom tailgate seals were different on FE & FC. FE had a divided twin seal FC had a much wider single cupped shape seal -  this one looks like FC

Leigh's wright on the ball it's a FC Station Sedan. Tailgate seal was different I should know l have a 219 Station Sedan.
       Cheers Tony Galea.

Garry
Just for interest sake I remember your ambo from about 25 years ago. It was in much better nick then and was still being used to haul stuff around for the machinery yard.  I think my brother and I even tried to buy it , but being 13 and 14 years old we had to settle for a unregistered  FC ute for 200 dollars.
I ts a pitty someone had a good pick  at all the goodies off the ambo.  I was in the mistaken belief that a bloke had got it and added a rear left door and a tailgate to it ,so its good to see it ,still alive.
I`ve also got a FC sedan sold new from the same town. :)

Hi Andykotzur, Just read your post re the Ambulance, I 'm glad you and your bro didn't get the ambo, otherwise I would have missed out!  :(
So your'e from Boonah? Love to see pics of your FC.
Regards, Gary