A very special FC

[mcl1959]

I am offering this car for sale on behalf of a friend, but all correspondence will go through me.

This is a genuine FC armed forces business sedan
It has the genuine army build ID tag and is painted in army issue khaki green as per original

This would DEFINATELY be the only one of its kind in existence and a real find.

But there is more - the car has a huge supply of NOS parts which come with it to do a total restoration

Ther eis no rust in the car at all as it had underbody proof kote from new and is very straight with all original guards and doors in rust free condition.

Only bad news is that it as flared rear guards from the 70's.  But NOS rear quarters which are included.

NOS stuff includes rubbers glass, chrome, door skins, lights, mechanical components and numerous other bits and pieces.  

Asking around $10000 for the whole lot - I believe there is probably this much worth of NOS parts that come with the car.

Please give me a call to discuss if you wish.

Regards   Ken

[slim]

Hey Ken , sounds like a real find for some lucky forum user , Just out of curiousity, what is the Army Id Tag number, Ive never seen an army FC. Is it a 219 as you say its a Business sedan , Sorry to bother you .

[RET]

Slim,

Business sedan is a 217, rare enough in FCs anyway because they were discontinued during the FC's run.

It most likely has:
TRIM: S1-767
PAINT: 253 15296 (or possibly 253 5296)

Which means it was painted Deep Bronze Green (the army colour), and had the single-tone interior trim known as "Army Sedan".

FJ Army utes and sedans had a pile of unusual little features, I'd be intrigued to know if the FC had any.  FJ utes typically had a rear-facing seat (nothing fancy, basically a length of wood) in the back, hard up against the rear window, which itself had steel mesh protection.  There was also a rain gutter over the top of the front windscreen, which looks very odd indeed.

cheers
RET

[mcl1959]

No problem getting me started talking about tags, more problems trying to stop me once I've started.
Young Richard is right on the money here;

Tag is as follows;
FC-217-283 M
S1-767
253-5296
Chassis # FC 41529 M

According to records I have the FC 217 Army issue sedan had the following done at the factory
1) Delete tool kit
2) Add Fire extuinguisher
3) Add Ryco oil filter
4) Add Assist grips
And a very intriguing one-
5) Remove items as specified by Dept of Defence
I don't know what items these were, but it does not appear to have ever had a taxi bar fitted even though the captive nuts are in the door pillars.

Regards  Ken

[RET]

Young Richard?  Oh you sweet talker you  

Army FJ vehicles also had some really wack things like:
Speed and load ratings painted on the dash
An image of the gear shift pattern in some cases
Different blanks in the dash where the radio etc would normally go
A pocket built into the driver's side kick-board for a log-book.

I'm oh-so knowledgeable about this only because I've just finished reading Don Loffler's latest book "The FJ Holden", which has a whole chapter devoted to Army vehicles.  I can't claim Guru status as far as Humpies are concerned!

cheers
RET

[slim]

So whats the 219 , refresh my memory , That appears to be failing me.

[RET]

As explained here,

215 Standard Sedan
225 Special Sedan

219 Standard Wagon
229 Special Wagon

The 'standard' and commercial vehicles are all 21x, the Specials are 22x

In later models the Premier variants were 235/239

cheers
RET

PS - Maybe you have to lay off the Wild Turkey.  It must be gobbling up your memory

[graham_fuller]

Hey Ken,
Why isn't your rare friend doing up this rare car.
Cheers,
Graham

[mcl1959]

All I can say is that he desperately did want to do it up but recent illness and the realisation that mortality catches up with all of us has forced the sale.
It was bought from a Army surplus sale in 1964 by him and he used it as his daily driver for quite a few years before taking it off the road and into storage about 20 years ago.  Some work has been done but not a great deal.  Mostly the collection of parts.
He is quite upset about selling it and cant really face the prospect of the tyre kickers rubbishing his pride and joy and offering him $1000 for it.
Hence my help to try and find a genuine buyer who wants the car for what it is.

Ken

[4hammers]

Hi Guys.
With the ID tags on the ARMY FB utes I have found, they have an extra couple of numbers & letters in BODY number. i.e. FB 2106S4/*****M (Sorry haven't got the details right here :-/).
Also, the Post Office van Tag I have is the same. FC 2104S10-7215A
My question is, why were the sedans different?

The utes also had some very cool options, but mostly the same set up as the sedans.
Thanks,
Rob J

[craiga]

Ken,

Do you know anything about this car? I got the image from a website a while back and unfortunately can't remember the URL. It looks like an Army FC, not original I would guess because of the FE bonnet emblem and bumper over rider, but it appears to be in a Military Museum or similar.

Cheers,

Craig.

[mcl1959]

Rob - dont know why the ute tags are different to the sedan tags for army vehicles.
Craig - no I have never seen this car - I would love to find out where it is.
Anybody seen it in a museum anywhere - most likely a military museum I suspect.

Ken

[craiga]

Ken,

I found the website again. The car is described as an "Holden FC with FE bonnet staff car" and is in the Bandiana Army Museum in Albury NSW.

I can't believe I drove through there on the way to last years Vic All Holden Day and didn't stop to see it  :-/

Cheers,

Craig

[4hammers]

Hi.
Ken, it just hit me why they are different. The sedan doesn't actually have ANY body modifications. The ute has special brackets & a splash sheild for mounting the tarp over the back & a special rear seat. The panelvan also has quite a few "Body" modifications (No door & a single seat). Where as the sedan, being a "Staff Car" has no body modifications, only the interior trim. I assume no extra body stuff, means no use or reason for a "Special" body code.
What do you reckon??
Rob J

[mcl1959]

I think youre probably right, this must be why GMH use the 2 codes in the ID tag - one for body mods and one for trim mods.
I applaud your reasoning.

I must get me up to Albury to have a look at that car.


Regards   Ken

[Hewart]

Hey Craig...
What's the website where you found the pic.... and I guess... are there any more pics there...??
Cheers
Les...

[craiga]

Hi Les,

Website address is www.oldcmp.net, which had links to the image of the FC Staff car.

This Google image search http://images.google.com.au/images?q=Bandiana&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=20&sa=N&filter=0
brings up plenty of photos of old military vehicles in the Museum but this is the only one of the FC I could find.

This is the front of the Bandiana Military Museum.

Cheers,

Craig.

[normd]

Hey Craig
           Thanks for the "CMP" link , memories, I learnt to drive on a Ford Blitz when I was an 8y/o . Dad bought one "New" in 1946 for our farm and sold it when we sold out in 1970 with genuine 16,000 miles on the clock , If I only had it now . It was sold for $175. Enough to make you cry  :-/
  Norm

[cajerridoc]

Ken,
     Have you found a new home for the Business Sedan?