Holden Standard

The Holden Standard was a mid size car built in the model years 1948 to 1968 by Holden in Australia as the first complete car of the make. Before the war Holden built bodies for chassis imported from General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, and after the General Motors takeover it feared losing market share to importers of complete cars. From 1940 it tried to persuade Detroit of a car tuned to Australian conditions, smaller, cheaper and more economical than the American models, with more ground clearance. The 195Y25, developed in Detroit from a pre-war prototype with an inline six, was unveiled in Melbourne on 29 November 1948 by Prime Minister Ben Chifley as model 48-215 and sold simply as the Holden. Its 2,171 cc inline six gave 60 bhp. A better equipped Special joined from 1954, and the FJ, FE and FC series followed.