Holden body

[Bill Sheehan]

The photo looks very much like the Holden Family Tourer (1927/28).  Pages 134 and 135 of the Austin Source book have a few details, scans attached 

It does look quiet similar they only thing that doesnt look right is the swage line which im told is a trademark on the later holden bodied austins, were as my vehicle doesnt have it.

Hi Luke.  For a start, just about everybody thinks they have a Holden body and most won't be told when they're not!   Many bodies were made in OZ under licence to Longbridge's specs & the Dealers didn't care or specify which firm produced them - they were just an Austin Seven.  To track down exactly would be like trying to find out the actual name of the worker who put a body together at Longbridge!  I used to point out that many bodies with the distinctive swage weren't necessarily Holden, but made by Melbourne Motor Body Works as well.  However, some years ago I discovered that the latter had been bought out by Holden, so it then became a matter of the chicken and the egg!  You are correct, some Holden bodies in 1927/early 1928 were allegedly made without the distinctive swage, but is your car of that vintage?  Reason I'm confused - the small-radiator type shell was not originally plated, the windscreen brackets are wrong for what looks like the lower scuttle, bonnet line, small radshell of say a 1927/8, if of this model the headlights weren't originally large and front-mounted.  (For clarification, the taller plated radiator, higher bonnet-line, large headlamp model,  although introduced in UK late 1928, didn't appear in Oz until April 1929).  There were two heights of Ozzie one-piece windscreens and it's difficult to see which from the photos.  Does your dashboard have pockets and where is the speedo located -centrally or on the left?  All of the above is really academic, as it looks like a great little car and I'm sure you'll get great pleasure from it.  Incidentally, I'd suggest you ignore Source, the examples shown aren't very original either.  Hope all this helps rather than confuse you.  Good Luck, Cheers, Bill in Oz