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Bye Bye Holden

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4 years 2 weeks ago #207307 by Southbound
Replied by Southbound on topic Bye Bye Holden
I've heard a rumor that HQ utes have doubled in value since Holden went AWOL.

Old Mate's FJ ute that I Posted in Where Am I


I'd rather have tools that I don't need, than not have the tools I do need.
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4 years 2 weeks ago #207311 by 600Dodge
Replied by 600Dodge on topic Bye Bye Holden
There was a pretty clean base model HQ ute at a carshow I attended yesterday,apparently one owner and advertised for $25000, most people laughed and walked away, the V8 ones seem to always sell for good money but the sixes don't seem to be what anyone wants.

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4 years 2 weeks ago #207314 by asw120
Replied by asw120 on topic Bye Bye Holden
I have heard the updated suspension FX's referred to as an "Air Ride".

Jarrod.


“I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us, I will stop telling the truth about them”

― Adlai E. Stevenson II

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4 years 2 weeks ago #207316 by overnite
Replied by overnite on topic Bye Bye Holden

asw120 wrote: I have heard the updated suspension FX's referred to as an "Air Ride".

Jarrod.


That is correct.

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4 years 2 weeks ago - 4 years 2 weeks ago #207318 by cobbadog
Replied by cobbadog on topic Bye Bye Holden
This ute looks very familiar in post 207215. From my dfading memory there should be a bullet hole coming from the ute section through the back of the cab and the bullet shot the driver, the son of the owner of the vehicle from new. The colour and the damage on the front guard is what majes me think it is this ute and from the western parts of NSW.

Cheers Cobba & Cobbarette
Coopernook, The Centre of our Universe
Working on more play time.
Last edit: 4 years 2 weeks ago by cobbadog.

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4 years 2 weeks ago #207319 by hayseed
Replied by hayseed on topic Bye Bye Holden

"Be who you are and say what you feel...
Because those that matter...
don't mind...
And those that mind....
don't matter." -
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4 years 2 weeks ago #207341 by cobbadog
Replied by cobbadog on topic Bye Bye Holden
WOW, I remebred something!
It was such a sad story on what had happened and amazing that it was resolved as it was. It would be a vehicle that only needs servicing and driven, you just could not change it to being a restored car once you know the story.

Cheers Cobba & Cobbarette
Coopernook, The Centre of our Universe
Working on more play time.

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4 years 2 weeks ago - 4 years 2 weeks ago #207378 by Roderick Smith
Replied by Roderick Smith on topic Bye Bye Holden
Murdoch papers are usually paywalled. I had downloaded the article as well as the photos, but hadn't posted it here.
Also attached: my last few stockpiled Holden photos.
Roderick

‘Teen boy was shot dead in my vintage FJ Holden ute in 1965’
Sydney 'Sunday Telegraph' August 4, 2019
When Sunday Telegraph picture editor Jeff Darmanin bought a 1955 Holden FJ ute to restore, he was shocked to discover a teen boy had been shot dead in the vehicle in 1965. The ute was then buried deep in a Gundagai barn for decades before being resold.
video When Sunday Telegraph picture editor Jeff Darmanin bought a 1955 FJ Ute to restore, he wasn’t prepared for the deadly ac...
A gunshot, the tragic death of an only child and a heartbreak that was hidden away in a Gundagai barn for almost 30 years.
It sounds like the plot from a crime novel but this true story came into my life when I bought a rare 1955 Holden FJ ute.
The FJ is part of Australian motoring history and something I’d always wanted to own. For me it symbolised the Australian dream, freedom and the coming of age in Australian manufacturing.
And, of course, it’s a damn cool car.
The 1955 FJ ute when it was bought from Peter Prentice in 2015. Picture: Jeff Darmanin
I bought it from Peter Prentice, who told me the vehicle was from a farm in the Gundagai area and had been kept in a shed for 30-odd years. He had bought the car with plans to restore it but it remained in his own farm shed for another 15 years.
The day we brought it home on a trailer was a special one for me. Just days later we connected some makeshift parts and had it running. I would spend the next three years hand- restoring this legendary Australian car and thought it would be great to track down some of its history.
What the 1955 FJ ute looked like under the bonnet before its restoration. Picture: Jeff Darmanin
Reaching out to the community of Gundagai I was surprised to receive a late-night call from Larry Foster. He remembered the green Holden ute being owned by the Gundagai Shire president, Owen Edward Hume Vincent.
Mr Vincent was a proud, well-respected, hardworking man whose family name has connections within the community, including a local sports oval dedicated to him. He and his wife Adeline also ran the Post Office and telephone exchange from their 1850s family-built home called “Stonelea” in Wambidgee, 30km from Gundagai.
The family would use the ute to collect the mail from the train station and return home so locals could come and collect it. The trusty FJ served the family well while also working on the family farm for 10 years. Mr Foster told me one day the ute was mysteriously parked in a farm shed and left for decades.
Shire President Owen Vincent and his wife Adeline lost their only son Geoffrey in a tragic shooting.
He told me Mr Vincent’s only son Geoffrey, then 19, took the ute for a drive with a friend and the farm dogs. He often took the ute out to check the farm and always had a rifle ready for shooting foxes.
At some stage during the day’s adventure a gun was knocked over in the rear of the car and a shot rang out. Geoffrey was hit and died in the cabin.
Mr Foster told me of the family’s overwhelming grief, which led them to park the ute in a hay shed, where it was totally surrounded by bales. But it was a memory and heartbreak that would haunt Geoffrey’s parents for the rest of their lives.
“So if your ute is the one previously owned by the Vincent family it would have a bullet hole through the rear of the cab on the driver’s side,” Larry suggested.
Shell casings, a pocket knife and a Malt tin were found in the rear of the FJ ute decades after the fatal shooting. Picture: Jeff Darmanin
The bullet hole in the rear of the ute driver’s cabin. Picture: Jeff Darmanin
It had been four years since I began restoring the vehicle but I do remember picking up bullet shell casings out of the rear tray area and repairing what I thought was a bullet hole with a flexible filler. Bullets and holes were nothing unusual for farm utes of that era as many were used as paddock bashers, only to finish their lives as target practice under a tree somewhere as they finally rusted their way back into the earth.
The moment I finished my late night call with Mr Foster, I raced out to the garage, flipped back the covers and looked behind the drivers seat. The bullet hole was there! I dug at my repair with a knife and revealed a perfect bullet hole, no doubt about it.
It took years for Jeff Darmanin to restore this FJ Holden ute. Picture: Jeff Darmanin
I messaged Mr Foster a picture of the hole and the ute. He replied with a surprised emoji! Had I really bought a car in which a young man had died in tragic circumstances? Could this car really be significant in the history of a town and the Vincent family? Mr Foster sent me an image of what he believed was the ute outside The Coolac hotel in 1965, parked under a tree with shearers drinking on the veranda.
I flicked him pictures of the words: “Coolac/Gundagai” that can be seen under the original paint on the driver side.
My resolve to dig further into the history only deepened and, with the help of friends, I managed to track down many locals and family members who confirmed the same story. Gundagai mayor Abb McCalister, Ian Bone, the current owner of Stonelea and others confirmed the story while Peter Coggan, another friend of Geoffrey’s, also remembers riding and shooting in the ute.
The FJ ute (far left) outside the Coolac Hotel in 1960s.
I eventually connected with John Vincent, the first cousin of Geoffrey.
Bizarrely I had worked with his wife Liz while I had been a cadet photographer at the local paper. John Vincent moved from Gundagai in 1959 and now lives only minutes from my home.
He and I met and he added even more detail to the story.
“Geoffrey was the apple of his father’s eye, the Vincent child destined to continue the family name and inherit the property. He ate tomato sauce sandwiches and loved shooting. It may have been the familiarity with these weapons that saw it loaded on a bipod in the rear of the vehicle,” he said.
From left: John Vincent (aged 16), his cousin Geoffrey Vincent (11) and John’s brother Robert (also 11). Taken at the Gundagai Show photo booth in 1957.
“The boys, Geoffrey and a friend, did indeed take the ute out with the dogs on the 23rd of January 1965 and it was late in the afternoon, they were stopped when the incident happened.
“Geoff’s friend was standing on the passenger side as Geoffrey whistled the dogs back into the ute. Geoffrey was halfway into the driver’s door as the dogs knocked over the gun and the rifle fired through the back of the seat and into Geoffrey’s kidney or lower chest region.”
This happened about 2km from the family home, which was itself a considerable distance from expert medical help. Poor Geoffrey had died in the front seat.
Jeff Darmanin and John Vincent (left) pictured in front of Jeff's FJ Holden ute. Picture: Sam Ruttyn
This happened more than 50 years ago but the accident is still raw to some family members, so I’ve decided not to reveal the friend’s name out of respect.
John Vincent confirmed the ute was buried deep inside the hay shed after Geoffrey’s death. He believes it’s highly likely it may have gone for decades without the new property owners even knowing the vehicle was behind those bales.
Mr Prentice, who bought the car from Gundagai, agreed, saying the family he purchased the ute from had no idea the vehicle was there until a month or so before it was sold.
Local librarian Cindy Smith helped uncover police and local media reports. Two days after the accident the Gundagai Independent’s front page reported: “Tragic death of Gundagai shire president’s son: Geoff Vincent victim of shooting accident.”
The Gundagai Independent newspaper report covering the death of Geoffrey Vincent.
The article suggested the accident happened at 7.30pm as the boys were returning from fox shooting and the dogs did trigger the loaded gun, which had its muzzle pointing towards the driver’s cabin.
As if this scenario wasn’t tragic enough, Owen Vincent was fighting his own medical battle and was a patient at Gundagai hospital. His only son Geoffrey was pronounced dead and the devastating news was delivered to him in his hospital bed.
The death report prepared by then coroner Ian Hickson said: “Geoffrey died from a bullet wound to the right lung received when a rifle in the rear of the utility accidentally discharged.”
Media reports went on to detail how Geoff was a likeable young lad who enjoyed his cricket and shooting. A game scheduled to be played that weekend was abandoned as a sign of respect.
The 1955 FJ ute now owned by Jeff Darmanin. Picture: Jeff Darmanin
I think things happen for a reason.
Why had I resisted doing a full restoration of the vehicle’s exterior?
Why had I not welded up the bullet hole in the driver’s cabin?
How fortuitous is finding the closest surviving relative only 10km from where I live?
For me every bump, dent and rusty scratch on the exterior of the FJ will serve as a reminder of a tragedy and a family’s pain.
Jeff Darmanin restored the ute to its former glory. Picture: Jeff Darmanin
I’m glad the ute was hidden and protected from the weather, surrounded by hay in the shed, and I will endeavour to drive it with the pride and respect it deserves, hopefully handing it onto my own son where it can begin to write another family story all over again.
I will get the FJ back to Gundagai and Coolac soon, revisit the pubs and places it had worked and share the yarn about the less famous Gundagai dog that created history over a beer or three with locals.
The car will be on display at the 34th All Holden day today at Hawkesbury Showground, Clarendon opposite the RAAF base with more than 850 examples of early and current Holden vehicles. Entry $5 with kids under 15 years free. This event has returned more than $1 million to charities. It is a family-friendly event.
< www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/teen-...2ceedb06e3a39e924d0f >

190804Su-Sydney'SundayTelegraph'-FJ.Holden at Coolac Hotel (now renamed Beehive Hotel)
190916M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-HoldenFB
190925W-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-stolen-Holden-ute
191011F-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-HoldenSandman.
741005Sa-a-b-Altona-cars -Holdens and rivals. (Roderick Smith)









Last edit: 4 years 2 weeks ago by Roderick Smith. Reason: replaced Coolac with a smaller version: the large one was too fuzzy.
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3 years 11 months ago #208006 by Roderick Smith
Replied by Roderick Smith on topic Bye Bye Holden
Papers went beserk with photos. I'll post only ones older than 1980.
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1931
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1935
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1948
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1953
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1956 [a preserved vehicle, with a nonoriginal turning indicator stalk]


Roderick

Fairfax is open access, so just the links.
< www.theage.com.au/national/government-sl...20200217-p541lt.html >

'Devastating': Holden exit hits Supercars, State of Origin and Magpies February 17, 2020. 36 comments
< www.theage.com.au/sport/devastating-hold...20200217-p541ok.html >

February 17, 2020 Holden's 164-year story: How a beloved Aussie brand turned to dust
< www.theage.com.au/national/holden-s-164-...20200217-p541om.html > [with about 30 photos]

17 Feb 2020 The man who saved Holden four times in 10 years, but was beaten in the end
< www.drive.com.au/news/the-man-who-saved-...-the-end-123254.html >

Murdoch is paywalled:
Cars we’re farewelling with the disappearance of Holden
news.com.au February 17, 2020
The axing of Holden marks the end of an era for Aussies everywhere. We look back at the car models that defined the brand.
video: Holden brand to disappear by the end of 2020 The USA corporation which owns the Holden name has announced the brand will disappear at the end of the year.
Revheads around Australia are in mourning today, following the announcement that the Holden brand will disappear at the end of 2020.
The company’s owner, General Motors (GM), said it would no longer make cars suitable for Australian roads – a decision that’s set to cost them upwards of $A1.5 billion and will see as many as 800 jobs lost.
The move comes just three years after local manufacturing ended with the shuttering of the Holden plant at Elizabeth in Adelaide’s northern suburbs.
The news has incited widespread nostalgia, distress and criticism among Australians, with many taking to social media to share the memories they associate with the brand.
Some were holden (hehe) back tears at the news, others took the chance to confirm their everlasting loyalty to the brand.
And then there were those who saw their chance to pour salt in the nationwide wound and air their grievances, asking the tough question playing in the back of all our minds: What will the mullet-wearing masses drive now?
We take a look back at some of the brand’s most iconic vehicles.
Holden enthusiasts have shared memories of their favourite models as GM announced the iconic brand would be no more
COMMODORE One can’t spell “Holden" without “Commodore” – which is what anyone who’s driven a Commodore will likely tell you (and not because they didn’t make it past Year 10).
Today’s announcement is another shocking blow to Australians who’ve got one of these parked on their front lawn: late last year, Holden announced it would stop selling the car.
Diehard Commodore owners aren’t surprised that Holden has come to an end this way, with many saying that the company “died” when they let go of their most iconic vehicle.
First produced in 1978, some say the car is associated with being “quintessentially Australian”.
And for others, the word “Commodore” is the surest way to conjure up an image of a partially balding man with a Southern Cross tattoo, revving his engine in the main street of town and hitting on the teenage girls working the McDonald’s drive-through.
BARINA. Another popular first car choice for Aussie teens everywhere, the Barina has been dubbed by some cruel critics as little more than a “glorified shopping trolley”.
This is the only Holden vehicle I have ever directly encountered, as it was my older sister’s first car.
With a very noticeable lack of functioning airconditioning and a heart-shaped muffler so deafening it alerted me to her arrival home when she was still on the other side of town, a ride in “Shaq’s” front seat often left you in fear that the doors would fly off if the driver accelerated over 40km/h.
ASTRA. For Astra owners, the disappearance of Holden is quite devastating. Judging from the widespread consensus of the model’s drivers, it actually was a pretty good car (even though to me, it sounds like a type of star). It’s also one of the few models still in production.
“My first car was a Holden Astra. She’s still running,” wrote one Twitter user.
“My 2004 Holden Astra is still going strong!” wrote another. “It’s taken me more than 60,000km across Australia and has never let me down.”
CAPTIVA “Just last week I came to the realisation my Holden Captiva was actually a ‘Craptiva’,” one driver of the model has written, in a touching ode to their SUV. The model had a solid 11 year run, produced in 2006 and being taken off the market in 2017. Vale, Holden Captiva.
GEMINI. Ah, the Gemini. Up until this very moment, I’d always associated that word with the horoscope – likely because this car encountered its entire production lifespan more than a decade before I was even born.
The “compact car” was produced by Holden between 1975 and 1986, and behind its wheel many a teenager of the 80s learned to drive.
Despite the fact the Gemini stopped being made 34 years ago, the announcement of Holden’s axing has prompted motorists to wax poetic about the car on social media, sharing fond memories from their time in the front seat and thanking “Uncle Don” for “sowing the seeds of hoonage”.
“My first car was a Holden Gemini,” one user wrote. “I put a huge stereo in the boot and contraband inside the door. We drove it on footy ovals. It pulled sick handbreakies. The car was so light I got blown across three lanes of the Westgate by strong wind. Good luck doing that sh*t in a Kia.” Now, doesn’t that just bring a tear to your eye?
1918 The beginning Holden's Motor Body Builders established in Adelaide. The company specialises in car bodies. Until 1924, it also built Fords.
1931 Merger Holden merges with General Motors
1935 The Sloper Holden produces its first ‘All Enclosed Coupe’ for Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Chevrolet chassis. Dubbed ‘The Sloper’ this uniquely Australian design is the forerunner of the hatchback
1948 The FX Holden launches first Australian-built model, the 48-215, aka FX. It cost 733 pounds (equivalent to 94 weeks wages) and established Holden’s reputation for reliability
1953 The FJ Holden launches the FJ – 1074 pounds (68 weeks of wages) – noted for its ability to cope with rough Aussie roads
1956 250,000 cars The 250,000th Holden (an FJ) is built and the tubeless tyre is introduced.
1963 The EH EH launched. Becomes best-selling Holden in 1964 with 250,000 units.
1966 The HR HR launched. Holden is first manufacturer to fit seatbelts as standard.
1968 Monaro debuts Holden launches the HK Monaro. Monaro wins Bathurst, Holden’s first win with Bruce McPhee and Barry Mulholland. Monaro named after the NSW municipality after engineers see it on a council building.
1971 The greatest Holden ever? HQ Monaro is launched. The HQ series is considered by many to be the best model the company ever built.
1972 Torana and Peter Brock Peter Brock wins his first Bathurst driving LJ Torana GTR XU-1
1976 Iconic advert Holden’s most iconic ad “Football, meatpies, kangaroos and Holden cars” is launched having been adapted from an international advertising campaign.
1978 The Commodore First Commodore, the European-designed VB is launched. Holden celebrates 25 years of continuous sales leadership.
1985 Engine change VK Commodore is the last model to feature locally-produced Holden six-cylinder engine. The following year, the new VL controversially uses a Nissan engine.
1991 A new leader emerges Toyota beats Holden and Ford to market leadership in Australia for first time.
2001 The Monaro is reborn Monaro reintroduced and eventually exported in low volumes to the US.
2002 The peak Holden market share peaks at 21.6 per cent. 2005 Exports record Holden's biggest export year. 60,518 cars were shipped mostly to the US and Middle East.
2011 Overtaken After 15 years as Australia's favourite car, Commodore sales are overtaken by the Mazda 3 from Japan.
2013 Beginning of the endHolden announces end of Australian operations.
2016 Last off the line The last Holden Cruze rolls off the Elizabeth, SA, production line.
2017 Factory doors close In January, Holden announces the Elizabeth manufacturing plant will cease operations on October 20 that year.
17.2.2020: General Motors announces it will end the Holden brand by end of the year.
RELATED: Car maker drops bombshell
RELATED: What Holden disappearance means for owners
< www.heraldsun.com.au/motoring/cars-were-...af18a19ce5ebc84eb1a6 > [with about 30 photos]
* The wrenching thing is that after such a life long relationship Holden was part of my personal identity (so much so my farewell caricature from Courier-Mail had me grasping a Holden steering wheel). It's almost like a little part of me is now gone. Vale Holden
* I had three Holdens; they all fell apart or rusted well before 100,000 km.
* Nostalgia just doesn't reflect reality in the end, does it? Look on the bright side, Australia still produces bananas.
* My first Holden was a beaten up (and souped up) Torana. My last was/is literally one of the last. She's a keeper. The wrenching thing is that after such a life long relationship Holden was part of my personal identity (so much so my farewell caricature from The Courier-Mail had me grasping a Holden steering wheel). It's almost like a little part of me is now gone. Vale Holden
* Holden enthusiasts have taken to social media to share fond memories of their favourite models, from the trusted Torana to the unforgettable Kingswood. bit.ly/2SR3Htb ‘This car is part of who I am’
* The announcement that General Motors will be retiring the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand will be felt deeply by the entire Holden family, our customers and our fans.
* What will the toothless tattooed mullet wearing masses drive now? Maybe, like Cuba they can drive 60 year old Commodores well into the next century.
* First car I ever bought, from a mate, was a white Holden Commodore. 'Twas old and weathered, but it felt like the quintessential Australian car and I was stoked to drive it.
* My first car was a purple Holden Barina I named ‘Betty’. It had no air-con but it did have hot pink car seats & me driving - what a sight in 40degC in western NSW.
* My first car, the luxuriously appointed Holden Gemini! Who else had one of these treasures? pic.twitter.com/cbm1FMwSsC









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3 years 11 months ago #208059 by Roderick Smith
Replied by Roderick Smith on topic Bye Bye Holden
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1963-ss.jpg
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1966-ss.jpg
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1968-ss.jpg
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1971-ss.jpg
200217M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-Holden-timeline-1972-ss.jpg

Roderick








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