Best selling car make and model 1964 ?

dimistyle said:
it was going to be our transport to Expo 88 before the turbo oil seal gave up before the long drive
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A mate and I decided to go to Expo 88 as a break from writing our Masters theses. Neither of us had a car we reckoned would make it from Melbourne to Brisbane and back so we rented a VL Commodore from Budget. 3 weeks, $38 per day, 7800 km (we didn't turn around until Townsville). No breakdown problems, quite a change from the older Holdens we were used to driving.

Roger
 
dayofthejackal said:
Not really a French car question but does anyone know the answer or where to look for the answer to the question : what was the best selling car by make and model in Australia in 1964 ?
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One of the early 1965 editions of Wheels may have the numbers. The archive was made available for free a few years back but all the links I have are now dead, looks like it's still available if you subscribe to Whichcar.

https://www.whichcar.com.au/news/wheels-media-digital-magazine-archive
 
I posted it earlier for 1963.
In July 1963, the strongest ever month for the Australia market so far at 29,644 registrations, Holden is still the runaway leader with 46.9% of the market, ahead of Ford at 14.9% (including 10.6% for the Falcon), BMC boosted by the Mini at 12.2%, VW weaker due to the ageing Beetle at 7.1% and Chrysler revitalised by the Valiant at 6.2%.
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Yes, that EH was it with the 179 motor. I drooled over that car to such extent that I worked 3 days a week to save up for a white EH so I could paint the inner part of that chrome strip from front to rear red.
When the time came (sufficient funds amassed with Dad's sign off), I changed my mind as I fell in love with the Fiat 1500. That Fiat came off the showroom floor of Wilcastle Motors. Far superior to a Holden in many, many ways. The Italians were so far ahead in the automotive field it was blatantly obvious.
Everybody said I was bonkers and maybe they were right. But on regrets.
And 4 cylinder cars have been it to this day (excluding freebies - company cars).
John
 
My memory doesn't retain that amount of detail. At that time my car, not a Holden, was on the new radials. I vaguely think I needed tubes in them.

The accident cars I saw came off the road on a corner. When I drove a relative's Holden I wasn't impressed with the steering.
 
Factory EH Holdens had crossply tyres.
The ones raced at Bathurst were permitted to use radial tyres under the rules at the time
 
In 1970, my other bought the first 6 cylinder Torana, new. It was a two door. People gaped at us as the sleek lines looked so modern.
A guy in a small country town servo commented about it as if we were in a Lamborghini. :ROFLMAO:
But when she first braked in the rain, a rear wheel locked up and we veered into the next lane. Luckily nobody was there. And luckily we didn't veer right into oncoming traffic.

I heard later that Holden had taken the steering rack from a Kingswood and simply chucked it in the Torana without any thought as to matching it to that car, and the steering was very heavy.

The engine and 3-speed gearbox were mismatched and she had to rev it up to get any power or acceleration out of it, but when she did, being a six cylinder, after a certain number of revs there was a huge amount. She drove me to school in the morning for three years as if she were Jack Brabham, and as I had to sit in the front seat to get dropped off before my sister, I lost count of the number of times my testicles desperately retracted on account of being sure we were going to crash. Fifty four years later, I still have flashbacks driving up that long hill. :rolleyes:
 
Berridale said:
The Fiat 1800/2300 was more expensive but it was on another level.
4 pot Girling brakes and went around corners.
Mind you it took Holden many years to build a decent car.
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In 1972 I got a Sydney taxi licence, driving occasionally as an extra income.

Back then my daily driver was a Citroen, ID19. I spent the evenings wrestling a Holden around the suburbs complete with industrial grade heavy duty clutch!

The contrast in terms of steering, brakes, comfort,visibility, ventilation, passenger space, ease of control and handling was, shall we say, pronounced? Maybe an unfair comparison with the inexpensive, easy to maintain Holden !
 
Beano said:
In 1970, my other bought the first 6 cylinder Torana, new. It was a two door. People gaped at us as the sleek lines looked so modern.
A guy in a small country town servo commented about it as if we were in a Lamborghini. :ROFLMAO:

I heard later that Holden had taken the steering rack from a Kingswood and simply chucked it in the Torana without any thought as to matching it to that car, and the steering was very heavy.
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That would be an urban myth.
All the full size Holdens up until the 1st Commodore had a worm and sector steering box.
The Toranas were rack and pinion.
I guess the steering weight would be subjective.
I've had a couple of LJs and one LC Torana and never really thought they were heavy. However all the other vehicles I had around the same time were older cars too, and none had power steering.
The thing most people usually notice with the LC and LJ Toranas is that the steering column is crooked and angled towards the driver's door.
 
Beano said:
In 1970, my mother bought the first 6 cylinder Torana, new. It was a two door. The engine and 3-speed gearbox were mismatched and she had to rev it up to get any power or acceleration out of it, but when she did, being a six cylinder, after a certain number of revs there was a huge amount.
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I'm wondering if it had the 138 CID red motor?
That was the entry level 6 cylinder in the LC/LJ range and they were pretty doughy.
Most people ticked the box for one of the bigger 6 cylinder engines, so the 138 wasn't very commonplace. They had the "2250" badge on the boot lid.

This was my last Torana, in spite of the extensive body mods it had a completely standard LC 2 door coupe's floorpan, suspension and steering.
Those front tyres were 235/60R14 and it drove and steered very well.

20240411_225015.jpg
 
I was stopped at a set of lights the other day behind a very original looking EH wagon (that someone had obviously spent a lot on money on). Given at the time they were considered to be 6 seaters - geez they are tiny especially when surrounded by a number of faux 4WD utes and Toorak Tractors. Even the i30 in the next lane looked huge.
 
JAJEA said:
Yes, that EH was it with the 179 motor. I drooled over that car to such extent that I worked 3 days a week to save up for a white EH so I could paint the inner part of that chrome strip from front to rear red.
When the time came (sufficient funds amassed with Dad's sign off), I changed my mind as I fell in love with the Fiat 1500. That Fiat came off the showroom floor of Wilcastle Motors. Far superior to a Holden in many, many ways. The Italians were so far ahead in the automotive field it was blatantly obvious.
Everybody said I was bonkers and maybe they were right. But on regrets.
And 4 cylinder cars have been it to this day (excluding freebies - company cars).
John
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The Fiat 1500 was a great car, bought and sold a few .
Easy to sell .
Hard to fault as a car, did everything very, very well.
 
dimistyle said:
EH all the way a 179 with a 3 speed column shift, bench seats, the whole family of 6 were comfortable for the long road trips.
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Have you looked at EH seats recently, I did the other day, looked horrible. I think the 149 would have been the biggest seller.
 
Greenpeace said:
As per Seasink's attachment, the EH outsold its nearest rival by 3 to 1.
Interestingly if you go back a few years, the biggest selling car In Australia from 1948 to 1950 was the Austin A40. The 48-215 (FX) Holden didn't unsurp the Austin from the top spot, until 1951.
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That was nearly all that was available.
 
GRAHAM WALLIS said:
I think the 149 would have been the biggest seller.
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I say that would probably be right, the Standards and Specials (that would have made up the bulk of taxi and fleet sales) came from the factory with a 149.
Add to that, the fact that you could initially only get the 179 with the Hydramatic transmission, would have alienated a lot of buyers from picking the 179 back then as well.

Just as a matter of interest the 149 is the only red motor that doesn't have either the engine capacity or the "HP" designation cast on the block in front of the LH engine mount, they are blank.
 
Greenpeace said:
I say that would probably be right, the Standards and Specials (that would have made up the bulk of taxi and fleet sales) came from the factory with a 149.
Add to that, the fact that you could initially only get the 179 with the Hydramatic transmission, would have alienated a lot of buyers from picking the 179 back then as well.

Just as a matter of interest the 149 is the only red motor that doesn't have either the engine capacity or the "HP" designation cast on the block in front of the LH engine mount, they are blank.
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And no problem with getting your badge stolen. A mate of mine wired his badge up to the horn, bit of a surprise for an intending thief!
 
Greenpeace said:
I'm wondering if it had the 138 CID red motor?
That was the entry level 6 cylinder in the LC/LJ range and they were pretty doughy.
Most people ticked the box for one of the bigger 6 cylinder engines, so the 138 wasn't very commonplace. They had the "2250" badge on the boot lid.
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I seem to remember it had a red motor, but I definitely remember it had a "2250" badge.
 
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