Holden FX 48/215 No 2 Found..

[csv8]

BEHIND a small white garage door at the end of a neat, geranium-lined concrete driveway in inner Melbourne sits a grey, nondescript sedan.

Bought for a song from the estate of a former Holden worker, the first clue that it was the missing link in the evolution of the modern Australian automobile was a number ''2'' stamped on a plate under the bonnet.

Aficionados thought the GM Prototype Holden No. 2, one of three shipped from the US in 1946 to develop the first Australian family sedan, was lost forever. But it was one of several old Holdens bought by Damon Donnelly's father, Peter, for about $15,000 two years ago in a job lot from a deceased estate.



Damon Donnolly discovered this rare 1946 Holden prototype among his late father's collection. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer
''We didn't know what it was,'' Damon Donnelly says. ''She's pretty rough. I don't know if she's been indoors all the time, but there's only a bit of surface rust, so she's in good condition.''

Another clue to this car's significance was that the rear vision mirror is up near the roofline - in the later production car it's halfway down the split windscreen. Also, registration papers show ''Chevrolet'' scratched out, and replaced with ''Holden''.

Then there are those squared-off front guards, which lack the graceful curve of what was to become the 48-215 or, more affectionately, the FX.

Underneath, the differential in between the rear wheels still has its set of adjustment bolts so engineers could adjust the gearing. Like Prototype No. 3, No. 2 was thought to have been long lost to the scrapyard.

Prototype No. 1, rebuilt after it was damaged by fire, is packed away in plastic at Canberra's National Museum of Australia, but will go on show in a couple of weeks. According to senior curator Daniel Oakman, so strong is the car's appeal that it is the most sought-after exhibit not on show, alongside Phar Lap's heart.

Unlike its now pristine sibling, No. 2 is no beauty. The paint is patchy and dull, and the hand-welded seams - folded over so the surfaces could be ground flush - jag across panels.


The Holden rarity is now on sale for $1.2 million. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer
The doors and bonnet are an ill fit, and the roof is pock-marked where it curves, revealing the laborious process in which its shape was beaten from a flat sheet of metal.

If the car is officially recognised as one of the original prototypes, it will be ''extremely significant'', Mr Oakman said.

According to Mr Donnelly, records that came with the car show the prototypes arrived in Sydney in December, 1946, and were driven to Melbourne's Fishermans Bend on New Year's Day, 1947, where the original New South Wales registration plates were changed to Victorian ones - JP-480, JP-481 and JP-482.

No. 2 still wears its original plates, although the "GMH" on the bonnet and boot lid were replaced with the more recognisable "Holden" at some stage. It has 76,000 miles on the clock.

''It's the first Australian car,'' Mr Donnelly says. ''Without this car we wouldn't have the Commodore across the street.''

Mr Donnelly's father, a collector of ''anything old'', died about seven months ago, and now the search is on for a new owner for the car. The asking price is $1.2 million, which would make it by far the most expensive ''Australian" car ever sold.

My comment..Now, thats a barn find!!!!