196 Holden Special Sedan (1963-70)

Thus may be a loaded question. There seem also to be luggage variations, from small suitcase in green or brown, to a larger case?, and finally green or brown trunks. Perhaps the latter came with the window box ?

At the risk of being accused of being a luggage fetishist, whilst it seemed that possibly the suitcase was upgraded to a trunk with the change to a window box (when the box terminology boot became a trunk and the suitcase became luggage and that whether luggage was green or brown might relate to the bronze or turquoise body colour, the photos in this post suggest no hard rules. Would the buyer be pleased to find a trunk in the boot, when the box states suitcase? Did someone at Dinky get their trunks confused? My Holden now has both (luckily the boot - trunk- is big enough) to cover the bases! With regard to the comment as to whether it is a Premier or Special,it seems Dinky felt that higher spec models had more kudos (for sales), and not just on the Holden but others, just as manufacturers show the base price of a car with a a top spec picture in adverts.

Townie, I think you will find the change to a trunk did not occur when the model was packaged in a yellow window box. That box was made specifically for the North American market, although my example packaged in a yellow window box does have a trunk, I have another example in turquoise and white in its usual end-flap box and that one has a suitcase. As for your final words, 'With regard to the comment as to whether it is a Premier or Special,it seems Dinky felt that higher spec models had more kudos (for sales), and not just on the Holden but others, just as manufacturers show the base price of a car with a a top spec picture in adverts', you are not correct with the 196 Holden Special Sedan for two reasons. The Premier model was in fact the top of the range, so why did Meccano call it a 'Special'? Secondly, the colour scheme selected was 'polychromatic' or metallic, a type of paint never used on the Special Sedan. And thirdly, I have written elsewhere in this topic, the front seats are individual which indicates it being a Premier. The Special Sedan had a bench seat. (Which was far better suited for one's girlfriend to sit up real close! Take it from me! As for the trunk, I think it the reason for the trunk/suitcase was a matter of availability, as either may have also been used as accessories with the Hornby-Dublo range. I have had several 142 Jaguar Mk 10 with either. Of course there is always the possibility of the trunk/suitcase being switched by a previous little owner, rahter than a collector!! Bruce (150)20200505/1209/0309

Chris Just adding something to my Post dated 23 March 2015. In 2017, production of cars in Australia by General Motors-Holden's ceased on 20 October. From then on Opel Insignias were imported from Germany. They were re-badged with Australian Design Rules before being shipped, so Australians were not even 'permitted' to stick the Holden badge on them! With GMH continuing with the Commodore nameplate, they assumed the Holden loyalty would continue. They made a very serious error of judgement, as sales of the 'new' 2018 model Holden (Opel) Commodore were dismal, in fact GMH requested the factory to cease sending more vehicles in 2019 due to an over-supply of Commodores that had not been sold. Talk about stupidity of the first order! Had the company imported the Holden Commodore's replacement, leaving it with its original nameplate, perhaps sales may have been better. However, on 17 February 2020, General Motors announced the name 'Holden' was being retired, and the company would move out of manufacturing vehicles with Right Hand Drive. (Not sure if the same applies to the Vauxhall factory in the UK.) GM considers the RHD market to be too small to warrant making any more vehicles in this style, leaving just LHD vehicles to continue. Ford has not as yet gone down that road as yet. Now we come to the best part of this Post! On 20 October 2017, the day the Holden factory closed, I took delivery of my first new Holden Commodore SV6. My car was manufactured on 20 March 2017, and the factory supplied me with several photographs of it on the production line. How nifty is that?! and here is 'Holly', It is such a terrible shame the factory is now a thing of the past, as this model, manufactured in 2017, has an incredible array of features; head-up display on the windscreen, automatic reverse parking if needed, satnav, blind-spot alert, rear view camera, reverse directional traffic alert, smart remote engine start, plus all the usual features. And it is a real pleasure to drive with a fuel economy of 9.3 litres per 100 kilometers, and all with a 3.6 litre V6 engine. And we no longer make them! A terrible shame. Bruce (150) 20200505/1208/0309

Thanks Bruce for the clarification on the upmarket colour and seats spec. Interesting that an Australian market car made it into the range, and whether it was dipping the toe in the water but no more, leaving the 1/43 market for Trax in the 1980s. Nowadays a casting could have doubled globally as Vauxhall, Opel, Pontiac or Holden, although GM have continued culling several brands. I remember speaking to a driver in Tottenham Court Road in the 70s who was driving a strange looking Vauxhall Viva - it turned out to be a Torano HB. Dinky never made the coke bottle HB of course just the rather boxy HA.

Great to see the old article with the Holden outside a quaintly British style Bayko house. I mourn the change by Trax to resin, having had some great Holden Wagons and Sedan Deliveries; I bought one new resin issue and sent it back as so poor.

A little late, but better late than never! Although this Topic, 196 Holden Special Sedan has been well and truly screwed during the transfer process from the old website to the new, Townie54's last Post, raises a question as to why the Holden made it into the Dinky Toys range. The supposition that it was a case of 'dipping the toe into the water' to test the market is not exactly correct. The 196 Holden Special Sedan was actually an anniversary model - marking 50 years of the Meccano Company having a sales presence in Australia. This is explained in the write-up by Mr Toyman in the Meccano Magazine, and I apologise if the original image on page 1 of this Topic may not have been as clear as it should have been. So here it is again, hopefully in a size that is readable! It was really quite a remarkable achievement to have obtained the appropriate plans and specifications from the Holden company in Australia and then to translate them into an accurate model of the real car. The Holden EJ was released to the public in July 1962, with its successor, the EH in August 1963. With the 196 being released in September 1962 indicates just how fast Meccano operated to get the model out in time for the Golden Jubilee. I am very sad that we now rely exclusively on our automotive needs coming to Australia by ship, thus leaving us extremely vulnerable should a country decide to blockade us. Having mentioned the Holden that succeeded the EJ modelled by Meccano, the EH, here are several images of the car, the noticeable difference being the rear, and a small change to the grille. And finally, one more in a similar colour scheme as used by Meccano with its Holden EJ Special Sedan, Tamar Turquoise and Ivory White: So there we have it. After the EH came a completely different design. The total production for the EJ was 154,811. The EH production was 256,959, indicating it was a much preferred car. Bruce (150) 14072020/1215/2253