1959 Holden FC Special sedan
Words: Mike Ryan. Photos: Kate Drennan, unless indicated
Walk in to a new Mitsubishi dealership, walk out with an old Holden. That’s the story of this feature car in a nutshell. Sounds weird, right? Well, that’s because it is!
Western Australian couple Peter and Hazel Blake are the proud owners of the car featured here, which was a spur of the moment purchase almost eight years ago that has since become a much-loved vehicle, so much so it even has a pet name - Felix.
So, how did Felix become a part of the Blake family? Read on…
Act, Belong, Commit
While he doesn’t consider himself a true revhead, Peter does have petrol in his veins. As a youngster, he raced stock cars on both sides of the country, specifically Victoria’s Nyora Speedway and Bibra Lake in WA. He also competed in CAMS-sanctioned autocross and motorkhana events when these disciplines were big in the 1960s and ‘70s.
Back then, Peter prepared and repaired these cars himself, so had mechanical knowledge that would come in handy later.
In the years that followed, the classic car bug never bit Peter, but that changed in August, 2011…
“My wife and I went to our local Mitsubishi dealership to get our Pajero serviced and saw the FC on the showroom floor,” Peter explained.
The dealer had bought the classic ’59 Special sedan with the intention of doing it up but had decided to sell it.
“Jokingly my wife said, ‘Why don’t we buy it?’… and the rest is history!” Peter laughed.
Peter’s first car was a ’62 Wolseley, back when such a vehicle was just a second-hand car and not a classic. Until the arrival of the FC, no other classics, or indeed any sort of cars used ‘just for fun’, had occupied the Blake garage, but having done the grey nomad thing, and after recently downsizing into a smaller house, the time seemed right.
“I knew I would finally mature and settle down to the veteran scene in my dotage,” Peter laughed.
To ease their entry into classic car ownership, and partly inspired by the ‘Act, Belong, Commit’ WA advertising campaign (encouraging Sandgropers to get involved in local clubs and community events), Peter and Hazel joined the Busselton chapter of the Veteran Car Club of WA.
South to West
After purchasing the car, Peter got in touch with some of its previous owners and found it had spent much of its time in South Australia before heading west.
“The car was found in a shed after being owned by an old lady in Gladstone, some 200km inland from Port Pirie. Later, it was taken to Adelaide. The car was then purchased by a Christopher Ireland in SA, who did mechanical work and some paint and panel.”
Documentation provided with the car and Peter’s own research showed his FC Special was built in April-May of 1959 and was the 46th FC off the line at GM-H’s Woodville plant in SA.
Originally painted Seagull Grey, the car has had a least a couple of changes of clothes over the years. Peter says that, at one point, it was all white, but when he bought the car, it was in the Indian Ivory over Flame Red livery you see here.
The car was complete and solid, but looked like it needed some work… which proved to be a lot of work!
Adding the Shine
While the body was reasonably sound in terms of rust, Peter found it wore a variety of paint finishes, some of which had been pretty shoddily-applied.
“The body was a mixture of acrylic and enamel - and the flat black upper door sills had been done with a broom!” Peter laughed. “It was a challenge to deal with all the unknown combinations, so I finally decided to remove the bonnet, bootlid and doors for sand blasting back to bare metal and repainting.”
Pulling off those panels and stripping out the interior showed up the original Seagull Grey, which had been painted over in white in some places, left exposed in others. So, to unify the finish inside and out, areas like the sills and boot were repainted in appropriate colours for both the period and the car’s current white over red exterior combination.
Fortunately, the chrome bumpers and grille were in very good condition, so Peter saved some money there, but the stainless-steel trim needed attention, so all of it was removed and properly refurbished.
Similar attention to detail was applied under the bonnet. The motor itself appeared solid (more on that later), so all the fastenings were removed, then buffed and polished before refitting. This included what seemed like an endless procession of rusted 3/16-inch nuts and bolts that, with the engine in place, required the sort of reach-and-feel fingerwork when unfastening and refastening that Peter said would make a gynaecologist proud!
Inside, there was good and bad news. The headlining was good and didn’t need replacing, but the seat upholstery and door cards were tired, the lower seat trims needed replacing and the seats themselves needed respringing.
“An upholsterer rebuilt the seats, along with the door cards and arm rests, with all the vinyl either renewed or replaced.”
Peter was committed to not only doing this resto right, but having the finished result looking authentically ‘1959’, too. So, when the time came to rehang the doors, he looked for the correct windlace door seal material with the silver fleck, eventually finding the right stuff in the US.
Finally, to make the car safer and more practical for club runs, three-point seat belts were installed and electric wipers (from an EK Holden) fitted in place of the FC’s vacuum wipers.
Off with a Bang
Twelve months after the resto began, Peter had a fresh FC, ready for its first club run.
“The run went great,” Peter explained, “but when we arrived back ‘Bang!’ – a ring popped on top of the piston. We later found the busted ring was an original - pretty good to have survived for more than 50 years.”
A complete rebuild of the stock 138 six-cylinder grey motor was required, but given he planned to use the car on a semi-regular basis, it also gave Peter the excuse to fit hardened valve seats so the motor could handle ULP. That added around $3,600 to the rebuild, but the extra expense has been worth it, allowing Peter to fill up anywhere, anytime without hassles.
By now, the FC had acquired a nickname, too – Felix. Peter explained the name came from the connection between the cartoon character and the car’s model code Felix the Cat = FC. Reinforcing the theme, small Felix the Cat mascots grace both front and rear bumpers.
By the middle of 2013, with the resto done and the engine rebuilt, Peter and Hazel were able to enjoy time with Felix on club runs and auto events in WA like Motorfest.
The couple are generous with their car, too, allowing it to be used as a wedding car and for a hen’s night. It’s also been featured in WA newspapers and, more recently, was the ‘star car’ in a TV programme (see breakout).
“We love the car and love using it,” Peter enthused. “It always gets attention and photos, which makes us feel a little bit proud.
“It took a lot of work and money - we are just battlers - but we have produced something which takes us on club runs and is now an indelible part of Australian history.”
While other classics may be a part of Peter’s future, he says that, for now, he and Hazel are enjoying their time with Felix and plan to spend a lot more time together in the years to come.
FELIX’S FAME
In mid-2017, the WA chapter of the FE-FC Holden Car Club put the word out about a TV production crew that were looking for an FE, FC or similar to use in an upcoming programme.
Peter and Hazel answered the call, offering Felix up for the show’s producers. . . without any real idea of what they were in for.
“After some preliminary pics back and forth to assess suitability for camera crews and Go-Pro cameras to be in the car with the stars, arrangements were confirmed,” Peter explained.
“We trailered the car up to Perth ahead of the shoot day, Monday 16 October. We were kindly accommodated at the Pan Pacific Hotel and the concierge even kept an eye on the car that night.
“Monday morning duly arrived and so did the rain - pouring down! How was our pride and joy going to cope with a stranger driving around Perth with 3-on-the-tree, all day, in teeming rain? We were going to find out!”
Sworn to secrecy between filming that October and the airing of the programme in June, 2018, Peter couldn’t tell us what Felix had starred in back then, but we now know that the FC was the “transport” for an episode of the interview series Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery that airs on the ABC. And the star in the car was Dave Faulkner; former lead singer and guitarist of the Hoodoo Gurus.
The FC connection comes from the fact Faulkner’s father owned a similar era Holden (actually an EK) when Dave was a youngster and the Faulkner family were living in Perth.
Despite the rain, Felix performed faultlessly under the spotlight and Faulkner, despite zero experience driving a column-shift manual before the day, managed to bring the car back to Peter and Hazel in one piece.
“It was a shame it rained because we think the car really shines in the sun. But the show turned out well and everyone was pleased with the final result,” Peter said.
“The car was treated with the utmost respect, with not a mark left from all the filming paraphernalia or personnel. The production company was very helpful in all matters and we were happy we took the risk - it was great fun and a look into the people and procedures of the entertainment industry that we take for granted.”
