196 Holden Special Sedan (1963-70)

Thanks Bruce, Believe me I know how you feel, coming from the West Midlands, and growing up in the 60's / 70's it seemed everybody worked in car manufacturing or parts supply, now we have nowhere near that, Terrible shame. BTW, a mate greatly improved his '64 PB Cresta by taking out that old straight 6 and dropping in a 350ci Chevy V8, NICE. CW.

Greetings Chris and All Thought I would include a couple of brochures issued by General Motors-Holdens on the Holden EJ. Please excuse the artists licence - the car was not as long as it appears here! Bruce (150) #510

Thanks Bruce, That wagon is amazing! Pity Dinky didn't model that too, was there a ute? CW

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Thanks Bruce, The panel van and Ute are really great, compared to the pick ups and car based vans we had in the UK at the time these are out of this world, our GM equivalent was the Bedford HA! Chris Warr.

Thanks Chris. I tend to agree with your comments. The windowless panel van was nice too, although trying to find one that has been preserved has proven too difficult! Anyhow, I think we need to go back to the beginning. In the beginning, well actually, a little later than 'in the beginning', but Meccano wanted to mark the 50th Anniversary of the presence of the company in Australia by producing a model vehicle that was unique to Australia. On examining the Australian motor builders, their choice was limited to three manufacturers, Ford with their Falcon, Chrysler and their Valiant, and General Motors-Holden's with their Holden. Of the three, only Holden was manufacturing a family sedan that was entirely (with limited input from Detroit) designed and built in Australia. Both the Ford Falcon and Chrysler Valiant were products of their parent company in the United States, with some modifications to suit Australian conditions. So Meccano then sought help from General Motors-Holden's with their product being entirely 'Australian Made.' The Holden EJ on which the Dinky Toys 196 is based, was released on 30 July 1962 in three body types, Standard Sedan, Special Sedan, (the 196 Dinky Toys) and the Premier Sedan. The Standard model was the base version

Wonderful! Thanks Bruce! Great lot of info there. I've had lots of American cars over the years, and am pretty clued up on them, but my knowledge of Australian cars is pretty poor. Something to work on! Anyway, I saw a Bayko house in the Meccano advert, and as I just happen to have one built, and a Holden....

Chris Warr. BTW; I'm a huge fan of Bayko, I've bought tons of it over the years, is it relevant to start a Bayko post here? Anybody interested?

Love that scene with the Bayko, Chris! I only have a tiny amount of Bayko (enough to make one small house), but I'd love to see some more of your Bayko.

Fred7A wrote: 'Love that scene with the Bayko, Chris! I only have a tiny amount of Bayko (enough to make one small house), but I'd love to see some more of your Bayko.' Cheers Fred, I'll get some pictures done, I'll put them in a new thread later. Chris Warr.

Greetings all Returning to the 196 Holden Special Sedan (aka Holden Premier Sedan!) the engineers, tool-men, and all those associated with preparing the die, performing the casting operation, etc, were light-years away from those making die-cast models these days, now mostly in China. We often read of the skills etc from the Chinese plants, but look carefully at the following picture. It is of a fairly recent model in the Trax (Australia) range, depicting the same Holden EJ that Meccano produced 40 years previously. Notice the quarter front side window vent and the three-quarter fixed rear window. With the Dinky version the frames for these two side windows are die-cast metal. The modern version is simply a silver transfer. Although giving credit where it is due, the modern version has realistic wheel rims, and perhaps the casting itself may be superior, nonetheless, this model has been made exclusively as a COLLECTOR'S MODEL, not as a TOY! And Meccano, and its skilled workers, was still able to cast the model with metal frames for the side windows. Cheers Bruce (150) #544 6 May 2015

Mr Moderator The above Post #17 is a real blast! I know I wrote more than just the letter 'G' for Greetings, or Good Morning, etc!! In fact this Post contained information on other vehicles made by Holden, and included many photographs of the Holden Utility, and Holden Station Sedan. So, until the rest of Post #17 can be brought back to the new website, the following are some of those missing pictures. Kind regards Bruce (150) 5 January 2016 #742

Even Post #20 is incomplete, as this one provided information on the prototype vehicle on which the Dinky model was based. It is essential for all of this Post be brought forward - apart from the fact that I spent many hours preparing the text and selecting suitable photographs to accompany the text. I cannot understand, or believe that some of that Post has been saved and the remainder not. But I can only hope that it was just a simple glitch and that all will be right in the end. In the meantime until every bit of this Post has been brought forward herewith are pictures of the later version of the Holden Special Sedan and the real vehicle for the benefit of readers interested in the 196 Holden Special Sedan finally in a colour scheme that was applicable to the real car! Bruce (150) 5 January 2016 #743