CARPSPICS - If history & variety bug you please don't enter

[Kiwipaul]

I did not take this photo but the guy in it gave it to me to put up.

We both think it is a cool car.

[Kiwipaul]

Thanks The nerd we did not know what that was.

[Carps]

Based off a Citroen Traction Avante if my eyes do not deceive me. Nice looking 'special'.

[Kiwipaul]

Terry tryed to find out some thing about the car but gave by telling the guy that it is a nice car and I agree.

[Carps]

Saw this old thing out and about today, kinda looks familliar.

[Vonfat]

Saw this old thing out and about today, kinda looks familliar.

Yeah looks familiar but it couldn't be yours though.......it's got glass

Very cool Carpsaroonie

[angliadon]

It still looks good Carps

[Mopar Mick]

Looks very nice Carps.

What about a few details?

Bit of history.

Drivetrain.

Modifications.

I for one would be very interested as I'm sure so would others.

Mick.

[Carps]

The photo below appears earlier in this thread. On the left, next to an old roadster pick-up is a new Holden Special a car that would give me so much more as the years progressed, than just a fun drive around town.



That car served the family well and when a newer model was purchased some years later it stuck around and performed varoius duties, not the least being to teach a few of us kids how to drive. Driving lessons were usually undertaken in a large paddock that had been suitably cleared and roughly graded for the task.

By the time I was ready to get my first driver's license I had been living away from home for a couple of years and had also been very carefully driving a stock 1960 model Holden for about the same length of time. I chose that car because no young person of the day would have been seen dead in one and provided I was careful and stuck to the back streets, I should have been able to avoid being pulled up and asked to show my license. However, that's a whole other story.

With new driving license in hand the FB Holden was sold and I quickly finished the '34 Ford Hot Rod I'd been working on and that became my daily driver, for a while. Well, at least until Christmas Eve that year when it was left in the driveway at home, whilst I went out to party and still managed to get itself written off by a drunk driver, but that too is another story.

So, badly in need of a car and with bugger-all cash, there was only one thing to do. Drag the old FJ Holden out from the back of the shed and make it roadworthy.

Oofficially in my possession, it remained stock for about a day. First the rear end was replaced with one from a '64 Holden which did away with the dodgy keyed axles of the early model and provided better brakes and higher gear ratio for more appropriate highway speeds. It also allowed fitment of the 13X7" chromies fitted with those cool new-fangled Goodyear Polyglass wide tread tyres. In the pic below, it's the one in the middle.



Of course that done, the front end needed to be similarly updated, if for no other reason than to provide front brakes that actually worked and of course to allow the fitment of matching 13X5" chrome wheels and cool tyres, the first of many sets of both as it turned out.

So now I had me some halfway decent daily wheels, I could focus on finding a replacement for the broken hot rod.

Of course around the same time I also met a gurl I liked, as opposed to all the others I dated but decided I didn't like, but again that's a whole other story or is it part of this one? I guess only time will tell.

Suffice to say, on the first date with said gurl, the old Humpy certainly made an impression on her and I was surprised when she agreed on a second. No not for that reason, but because on the first, after a little showing off by me, the gearbox decided not to play anymore and dropped its innards in the middle of the busiest intersection in the city (St Kilda Junction - before the tunnel that's there now) and she couldn't drive, she got to push, whilst I steered the old humpy off the road.

Amazingly she came back for a third date. However, the Humpy was a bit spotty and I decided it needed to be made a little more respectable, lest her folks think I was one of those ratbag poor boys that nobody wouldn't want dating their daughter. After a little work with the red oxide filled spray gun, we both looked a treat....



In this condition I continued to drive the old gal all over the place and even with the stock engine it was OK thanks to a later model gearbox, the updated suspension & brakes and of course the 3.25 diff in place of the original 3.89 unit.



Meanwhile, finding a replacement for the '34 was proving difficult and I still lusted for a car that was just a tad cooler than a red oxide primered FJ Holden.

Soooooooo,................



I pulled the Holden to bits and started painting and detailing everything. At first I used the back of my best mate's dad's shop which was not being used at the time and I worked very hard every spare minute I could in order to get it back on the road quickly.



Remember the gurl?



Well, she stuck around even after the third date and helped out, so I decided to keep her.

Meanwhile my hot rod club-mates decided we'd enter all the club cars in the next hot rod show, finished or not. Dunno why, but that made me rethink detailing everything with just paint and so, I took some parts to the chrome shop.

That turned out to be a dumb move, because before I knew it, I had taken every nut bolt, washer and screw to the chrome plater, along with the brakes, steering, a bunch of suspension parts and all manner of brackets and other bits. Heck, I even transferred the shape of some of the cardboard interior trim parts like the kick panels, to metal and had them chromed.

Anyhow, it wasn't finished in time for that show show so it was cobbled together and displayed in grey primer.







After the show it was taken to another friend's garage, which turned out to be a little cramped for spray painting so I ended up shooting the Green Lacquer in his driveway, on the first windless day that came along.



By the next show, it was all shiny and ready to take some gold......





Hand rubbed and polished with a souped up original engine, we continued to drive it all over the place....









Remember the gurl? Well since I had decided to keep her, it eventually came to this............



And that created the need to buy a new house that we couldn't afford, partly because in the meantime after searching for a long time I had finally found this......



Also collected a couple or three of these......



My friends used to ask how come the FJ always looked so immaculate, even tho I drove it every day, hail, rain or shine? The answer was easy, as most weekends involved getting it up off the ground and cleaning it top to boottom. Every few months that job also included waxing underneath and polishing all the chrome as it was quite pretty (sorry bout the double exposure but these are the only shots I could find) under there. remember this was 1971/2 so the super detailed cars we see today hadn't yet evolved.





The good news was, that I now had a job that included a company car, so the old gal was finally able to relax and retire from daily duty.



However, we soon reached the point I was hoping we wouldn't get to and that was still being short a few too many bux for the deposit on that first home. The MGs had all been sold, the project cars too and all that was left was the half dismantled '33 Ford and the Humpy. We reluctantly agreed to advertise both cars and see what happened. The Humpy was better than most of it's kind, so it was put up for the exact amount we needed, which was about double the going rate for an FJ Holden at the time. The Ford was worth considerably more even disassembled and so we advertised it for what we reckoned it was worth.

The first call on that fatal Saturday morning was a young fellow who wanted to see the FJ. He arrived with his father who thought the car too expensive for an old Holden, so I opened the garage door to reveal it and the young fella almost wet his pants. I took them for a test drive, after which dad wanted to negotiate a lower price and I said NO! it's not negotiable, a take it or leave it deal. So they left. About five minutes later, they were back, the young bloke had convinced his old man the car was worth the money.

Here's what it looked like at that time........







Money changed hands and they drove off into the sunrise.

This was late '74 and we never saw or heard of the car again. I always feared it had met it's end against a pole or tree as had so many cars we knew of in similar circumstances, purchased by young blokes who had the money but maybe not the passion or inclination to really look after them and treat them well.

Fast forward to the week before Easter 2003 and I'm working late trying to get things done before my pal Don arrived from the US for his first visit downunder. Monday evening and I arrived home very late. The gal I dated all those years back was waiting there for me and says she wishes I'd called before leaving the office because our daughter is in the city dining with a friend and she will now need to drive into town to pick her up rather than have her riding home on the train late at night.

No problem, I'll drive.

We arrived to collect our daughter and her pal was going to catch a train to another outer suburb on a line with a questionable safety/security record, so I'm not about to allow a young lass to run that risk. I insist we drive her home and off we go.

Thanx to road-works, I can't access the freeway, so I take a route through the city which is also blocked by bloody roadworks and I ultimately decide to go the long way.

So here we are, driving through a suburb I've not been in for maybe twenty years, it's 11:30 p.m. on a Monday night and all is peaceful and quiet. As we drive along High Street in Preston (which looks like it may be a seedy part of town according to my pal Don - but that's also another part of the story) the digits FJ 555 in white on a totally black background flash bold in the darkness of my mind! I immediately think, "whoa, Damn those pixies, I must be dreaming!" and continue driving. Before I've gone too far that 'mental flash' gets the better of me and I chuck a U turn, driving very, very slowly back along the road to see if I really did see what I thought I had seen.

The bride questions my motive and I answer by saying I thought I saw something that might be important.

Alas I can't see it at all, then a loud exclamation from the seat next to me "THAT"S OUR FJ!" "Yup," sez me,"that's what I thought I saw."

There, sitting in the driveway of a small house located between two shop-fronts is our FJ and there's no question of that at all, because it appears not one bit changed from the pictures above and when we last saw it. Well, it was slightly changed, the louvred bonnet was gone, as too were the fog-lamps, but the rest was the same right down to the tyres which looked like they had never been driven on.

I overheard my daughter's friend tell her that her folks must have been really cool to have had a car like this, she just rolled her eyes.

Against the bride's advice I banged on the front door of the house. No answer, so I grabbed a pen and business card and left a note for the owner to call me urgently, before doing anything with the car.

Next day, I'm sitting in my office and hear my colleague outside explaining to somebody on the phone that this is Toyota and if I needed a Holden I'd go out and buy one. The penny dropped and I raced outside to grab the phone from her hand before the caller hung up. I apologised and started to explain who I was and my relationship to the car. The guy on the other end stopped me and said no need to explain, as he knew the story already, because his name is Ian and he's the kid I sold the car to all those years ago.

I transferred the call to my office, went back in and settled in for a long chat, coz I wanted to know everything about where the car had been for the last 27 or so years. Ian explained that a couple of weeks after he got the car he changed the bonnet, removed the fog-lamps and broke up with his girlfriend.

Apparently the break up was a bit stressful, so he decided to take a vacation. Packed his bags and headed overseas, never to return until that week as a reult of the passing of his father, who had placed the car on blocks the week after Ian left. He also made sure the car was kept dry and well maintained, even kept the registration paid up for most of the years of Ian's absence.

I was gob-smacked, the car had covered only a few hundred miles in all those years and still had the same air in the same tyres. So, I made an offer, which most might have considered insane for an FJ Holden at the time. Ian wasn't so sure about selling, as he'd decided to stay and was preparing to have the car made roadworthy so he could drive it. In fact that morning he'd delivered it to his local mechanic to be overhauled and made roadworthy again. I suggested he check the current prices for FJ Holdens and call me back, which he did within the hour. He asked if my offer was fair-dinkum and I said I'll be there whenever he wants, with cash or a bank cheque. The deal was consumated and I asked him to call his mechanic and tell him not to touch the car.

Next morning Don arrived from Los Angeles and we were instantly on a mission. I had the money in my pocket and we headed to Ian's to pick up the car. It was still at the garage. As we arrived, the self proclaimed 'world's best mechanic' asked which one of us was responsible for all the paint detail and chrome underneath, because he was the one who had just sprayed black muck all over it. His reason being that the chromed parts and steering would not pass for registration. He'd also removed the lowered springs and thrown them in the dumpster, I was devastated, but fortunately that's all he'd had time to screw up. Or so I thought at the time.

He did however give me a certificate of roadworthiness, which considering the age f the tyres I duly questioned, to which he responded that the tread was like new and the tyres age is not considered in the inspection process.

Paperwork done and an alegedly roadworthy car, I gave Don the option to drive the Humpy or the LandCruiser Wagon. He opted for the new one, asking how the hell he was going to drive it considering he'd never driven RHD before. I said, "Just follow me and do what I do and all will be OK."

So off we went!

About two miles down the road the Humpy develops a strange rattle and I stop to check things out. All appeared OK on the surface, until I checked the wheels, one is lose. We pull the jack from the 4X4 place it under the Holden and raise it off the ground, the right rear wheel falls off! Somebody has forgotten to tighten the wheel nuts! But wait! there's only one nut inside the Baby Moon wheel-cap, the stupid bastards have left four of them off all together!

I offered Don a couple of options, 1. wait with the car while I drive back and get some nuts, or 2.... He's already decided this looks like a seedy part of town, so he's going back for the nuts (I laugh coz this aint Los Angeles).

So Don has what I figure was a nerve wracking drive back to the garage, walks in and tells the guy that a bunch of wheel nuts are missing and a wheel has fallen off. To which the world's best mechanic responds by saying "you're joking." I'd have loved to have been there for Don's reply which I believe went something like, "I just got off a freaking plane and have never driven a RHD car anywhere before, let alone in traffic like this, so how the f*#* does that make you think I'd be doing it to come and have a *^#@ing joke with you?"

The guy got the message, grabbed a tub of nuts, some tools and came down to get things sorted out. He seemed somewhat quiet, which was understandable after Don told me the story.

Eventually we're sorted and on our way again. Out on the freeway the old gal is humming along just like I remember and I'm grinning from ear to ear. Until some woman in a Mazda won't let me get across into the exit lane. I've got the signals flashing and can hear the tell tale clicking and see the flashing repeater light one the dash. Off the freeway, I pull over just to make a cursory check and have a whinge to Don about the bitch in the Mazda not letting me across. His response being that maybe if I signalled, she might have been OK with it and let me across. So we check the signals, none of them work, despite the fact I have a certificate of roadworthiness that says they do.

We made it home and stopped at the bottom of the street, so Don could join me in the Humpy for the final and best part of the trip. As we rolled up the driveway the Mrs greeted us on the steps, with tears of joy in her eyes. Don must have looked puzzled or something, because I heard her say to him, "Don if that car could talk, the stories it would tell."

We parked it in the shed, shot the photo below and headed back to Geelong where the Street Rod Nationals were underway.



By the time we returned, it had puked all it's brake fluid and coolant onto the garage floor.

So up on stands it went where it sat for the next few years, before I got round to doing anything to get it back on the road, but I didn't care and it doesn't matter. FJ 555 was home where it belongs with it's family and there's no way I'll let it go again.



Afteranother of 'life's experiences' put me in hospital for a second time, I decided to do something out of carachter and took the car to a trusted friend to make it safe and driveable. At Col's place it had a complete going over, the engine was removed and flushed clean, seals, gaskets and welch plugs replaced, all the radiator and brake assemblies have been overhauled or renewed and it's got new wheels and tyres and much of the perished runbber has since been replaced. Otherwise, it's just like it was in the mid '70s and that is how it's going to stay.

Right now I don't care how long it sits between drives, but it probably wont sit too much longer because for some reason despite the heavier than I remember steering, driving it gives me a bigger buzz than driving the hot rod.



Maybe one day I'll change the upholstery, but it was the early '70s and it was either this or crushed velour which I hated and since it's a big part of the car's carachter, it probably won't ever happen..



Notice the chrome kick panels and pillar trim pieces.





No that's not one of my garden gnomes in the driver's seat, it's Bob K from the H.A.M.B.!

[/quote]

Some day I may also clean the black shit off the chrome parts undeneath and repaint everything the way it once was, but that's also not important right now.

Today I drove it around the old neighbourhood, where it was once well known, it was fun, so tomorrow I'll probably take it out again instead of working around the ouse or on the Ford.

[rog]

That's the third time i've read the tale of the fj, it never ceases to bring a smile to my face nor a tear to my eye. Well found Carps.

[Dave]

Gee Carps, great pics and story yet again, but are you sure that is not a fairy tale complete with photoshopped pictures? We all know that there were no early Holdens as part of the Australian Hotrod scene, just ask the ASRF!

[StreetRodBob]

By golly carps you were lucky to ever see the FJ again let alone buy it back!

[Mopar Mick]

Carps, what a "fantastic story".

It was obviously fate that led you back to Preston to find your J again.

It was meant to be yours forever.

Great pics and a wonderful story.

I'm so happy you and your FJ were re-united.

As you know, life has dealt Irene' and I a rather shitty hand over the last few years.

Thankfully, I believe we have turned that around and we are now on the way up again.

A feel good story like yours is "food for the soul".

Many thanks for sharing your story with us.

Mick.

[thunder427]

Carps,your story proves there is a God!!!,look forward to the book,"Careful What You Wish For",....got lost in the plot for a while, which was great,like taking a holiday in your head!!! I just love a happy endings....regards thunder427/MJ

[Carps]

Carps,your story proves there is a God!!!,

I'm not a religious man, but I believe there is.

The irony in your comment is in the reason the car was finally out and being driven yesterday.

A number of my hot rodding friends belong to one of the world's largest hot rodding clubs. They are known simply as the Christian Rodders and I was first introduced to them by my good friend the late Dave Lukkarri. Many of you will know of Dave for his blown Ardun powered model A bucket. There are chapters of the club in most states of Australia if not all and it was because of an invitation from the club, that this is where I drove my Holden yesterday................



Some of you may recognise the building the car is parked inside as a Church.

Every year the Victorian chapter of the club have a gathering of hot rodders at this church. It's not a religious event, just a bunch of hot rodders getting together to show their cars to others, share their experiences and the common bond that brings all car guys together regardless of race or religion. This year I was asked if I would bring my car and share it's story with the folks who come along on the day.

"Careful What You Wish For",.......

Don't need to wish since I've got that pretty much covered.

Funny thing life. Was talking with some buddies just the other day about their 'bucket or wish lists'.

I think I shocked them when I said I don't have a list, or even a bucket to put one in.

That discussion reminded me how lucky I've been, to be able to capitalise on the opportunities put in front of me and live out all my life's dreams.

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not mega wealthy and even though it would be nice to be able to fill a huge shed with a large number of cars, that's not something I've ever dreamed of doing, although I do have a list of the cars I'd fill that shed with in the event my numbers do come up. On the other hand I have been able to do pretty much everything I've ever dreamed of. I've been fortunate enough to be able to travel and see many car collections, private and public, around the world and it's often the owners who remind me that there's more to life than just collecting old cars. On my most recent trip, at one of the large events we attended, a friend of one of my friends asked how come I seem to know more people at this event than most of my 'Murrican buddies. I didn't get a chance to answer, as one of my long time friends told him to just stick with us tomorrow and watch what happens. Friends are like fun, they are wherever you find them and you never really have to look too hard, just say 'gudday' and they'll appear. The fun follows, but it's the people and friends that make it happen.

I love my cars, but without the personal friendships they have helped me make and the many like minded people I've met along the way, I think my life would have been wasted.