Are there more Specials than Standards?

[Ol_Girl_58]

Hi guys,

There has been a question niggling me for some time now, and it needs to be put to rest.  

Were there more standards (FE and/or FC) produced than Specials?        
I seem to see more Specials of both models than I do Standards.

This confuses me, as I would have thought that Standards would have been a more popular car than the Special, predominantly as it was slightly cheaper.

My reasoning  ()is this: At this point in time, Holden sells more Commodore Executives than Calais/Berlina, therefore there are more on the road.

So with this logic on board, wouldn't we see more Standards than Specials? Or weren't there as many produced?    

How about the demographic of drivers? Were those who purchased Specials older, middle-class, who were able to garage them, and service them regularly, thus prelonging the life of the Special?


The mind boggles.    

Any knowlege would be appreciated.  

Regards,

Ol Girl 58.

[mcl1959]

Ol Girl, way more specials than standards were built.  Will be able to reveal pretty close to exact numbers shortly with the conclsion of a major series of work being done at the minute.

Basically about 5 specials to every 1 standard were made.

Could go into a whole chapter on 50's car purchasing preferences, the baby boomers, fleet purchasing and class car sales, but briefly my research reveals;

The Special was marketed as a mid model car rather than a luxury vehicle.  The later Premier was aimed more at this market.

The standard was a cheaper model more akin to the SL

Regards   Ken

[SRVLIVES]

Standards were sold to those who didn't feel the need to flaunt themselves with excess chrome

[Ol_Girl_58]

Thanks Ken.

I'm surprised to know that more standards than specials were produced!  

I would've thought that Standards would have been more popular (read: cheaper/economically viable) with consumers.  

Is there any particular reason for more specials than standards being produced?    


Regards,

Ol Girl

[Sheriff]

Having been around, though young, in the era, the standard version of Holdens was generally purchased by Govt. departments, and companies as commercial traveller vehicles.  In the town I lived in at the time, I recall that only a couple of "standards" were owned by local residents as family cars.  Mike