Holden 48-215 1948-53

 

[FX Story]

Year of Introduction: 1948

Model Range:Sedan, Business sedan and utility

Engines: (132cu in) 2.15-litre 6-cylinder

Transmissions:Three-speed manual gearbox Colum shift

Claimed Maximum Power: 45kW ('3.3')

Performance:0-100 km/h: 20.0 seconds
(Contemporary test results)Standing 400 metres: 20.5 seconds

Total Production:120,402

(this info page came from http://users.wantree.com.au/~campbell/fx_fj.htm)

Firstly , lets clear up all the confusion over the 48-215 / FX debate . I have heard some amazing stories about the 48-215 name but I have it on good authority that this is the real story .

Its very simple really , the original idea was to name the vehicles by there year of production and body style number . The '48' meant it was made in 1948 and the '215' referred to its body style as the Standard Sedan . All the body styles were given a number , the Standard Sedan was the 215 , the Business sedan was a 217 and so on .The only other model available in the FX was the 'Ute ' (Short for Utility ) . This was released in January 1951 and its body style number was 50/2106 .The Business sedan was introduced July 1953 and was aimed more at the Fleet and Taxi market T

The Introduction of the 48-215 (referred to as the FX from here on in ) Holden was a very important part of Australian History . Launched as " Australia's Own " after years of American and English domination the FX took Australia by storm . Advertised as a car designed for Australian conditions , with a powerful 6 cylinder engine it went on to become a Classic as we know it.

It had Vacuum operated windshield wipers that slowed to a painfull pace when you accelerated and when you decelerated they flew across the windshield so fast they often pulled more RPM than the engine.

The electrical system was 6 Volt but in later years most people converted there FX-FJ to a 12 volt system . The reason was that in some states it was a law that you had to leave the rear parking lights on all night if the vehicle was parked on the side of the road and the 6 Volt system worked hard to do this . You may notice a small switch on the rear guards of some FX-FJ's ...and thats the reason !

The 3 speed 'Crash Box' as it was known had 3 forward and 1 reverse gear . There was synchromesh on 2nd and 3rd but 1 st gear had none ...hence the name 'Crash Box' . Unless you had mastered the art of "Double Clutching" then you had to come to a stop before changing into 1st gear otherwise risk tearing all the teeth off the gears .

The 15 inch wheels were stopped by 4 wheel hydraulic drum brakes . Suspension on the front was double wishbone and independent springs with shock absorber dampening . The rear suspension was was semi elliptical leaf spring setup with shock absorber dampening .

Inside the Dash had 1 large dial in the center which was the speedometer with 2 smaller dials to the bottom and side of the center . One was the fuel gauge and the other was an AMP gauge ). The gauges had a white background with black print . The interior trim was available in Leather or wollen body cloth and in 1951 a PVC material was introduced .

The 48-215 was available in 4 colours , Convoy Grey , Seine Blue , Gawler cream and of course ...Black .