By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
IT’S hard to think of Russell King’s blazing- orange FJ Holden as sad and rusted-out, which is how it looked six years ago when he bought it as a nostalgic keepsake from his younger tearaway days.
Since then he’s rebuilt the car inside and out — with new doors and floor panels, a 1990s motor, gearbox and diff, and a searing paint job to replace its original baby-blue hue.
The FJ — recognised as Australia’s first locally-built and designed commercial car model — seems to retain its iconic status.
At last year’s Dandenong Valley All Holden Car Show, Mr King’s car drew a crowd and was duly crowned the ‘people’s choice’.
“But there are some new Australians who don’t know what it is. They say it looks like a new car,” he said.
Mr King will again take the short drive from his Heidelberg home for the car show at Greaves Reserve on Sunday.
The former spray painter did “99 per cent” of the work on the car himself.
He guesses his car ‘owes’ him about $30,000 in parts — but could be worth anywhere up to $50,000 on the open market. Mr King knows of a V8-fitted example costing $47,000.
“My car drives pretty well — a bit like an old car but it gets up and goes with the new cars. It gets up to 100 [km/h], no problem.”
He is part of a 100-member early Holden car club based in City of Monash; about 70 per cent of the members’ cars are “works of progress”.
He remembers his own first car, an FJ ute that was a “heap of fun” and occasionally collected a speeding ticket. His best mate had an FJ sedan.
This Sunday’s Dandenong Valley All Holden Car Show includes remote-control cars, other entertainment and food. It raises money for the Rotary Club of Endeavour Hills community projects and is at Greaves Reserve, Bennet Street, Dandenong, from 9am-3pm. Details: rotaryendeavourhills.org.au or Hans on, 0428 123 124.
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