There have been lots of stories and speculations over the years about the origin of the FX designation for the first Holden. Well 1 can now say for certain they are all wrong as 1 have only, recently discovered the truth from someone who was there when the FX designation was coined.

The story coins from Bruce Arnold, who was working in the Fisherman’s Bend Drawing Office in the early 1950s. The big job at the time was the running change to the new front cross member for the 48 215. (Running changes are new parts that are introduced part way through the production run of a model. They are usually cost savings or fixes for problems that cannot wait until the next model.)

Early model enthusiasts will know the Holden originally came out with a front suspension in which the shock absorbers where built into the upper control arms. On the later 48 215 the design was changed to a system that used telescopic shockers which was then carried over on to the FJ.

The main new drawing was the front cross member, but there were also dozens of other smaller parts that had to go with it such as shock absorbers, upper control arms, nuts and bolts etc. As this was Holden’s first big running change, the Drawing Office was not yet used to handling drawings for two sets of parts. Anyway to distinguish the parts that went with the new cross member the draughtsmen pencilled a large FX on the drawings. So there you have it, FX stands for Front Cross Member and was coined in the GMH Drawing Office to distinguish the later cars with the new suspension.

(Taken from Restored Cars magazine)

If you know of any other stories why the 48-215 was called a “FX” please email fxfjholden.com