The Holden 48-215 will forever be known as the car that kick-started Australia’s domestic car making industry, and the first General Motors-Holden car to be built in Australia.
The significance of the car that came to be known more widely as the FX Holden cannot be overstated, and for some lucky punters with deep enough pockets comes the opportunity to bid on a numberplate more representative than any other of Australia’s motoring heritage.
Included with 10 other significant plates in Donington Auctions’ sale of Victorian heritage number plates is ‘48-215’, the exact designation of the first General Motors-Holden car to be built in Australia.
While those early Holdens with their distinctive ‘toothed’ grille would colloquially become known as the ‘FX,’ in the owner’s manual and on their build plates the sedans were always designated ‘48-215’.
The plate is being offered by Donington in a timed sale that begins mid-morning on Monday September 29 and finishes on Sunday October 6. It was originally issued in 1924 and is listed on behalf of a private collector.
Among other plates being auctioned during the sale are ‘100-023’ and ‘207-908’, both with opening bids of $5000.
The tempo then rises when Bicentennial Plate ‘1853’ and several others in the Heritage range go on the block at $30,000, to be followed at a starting price of $50,000 by ‘48-215’.
Highest priced is the sale’s only three-digit plate, VIC ‘927’, which will be offered at an opening bid of $100,000.
However, if Holden owners get into a scrap over the item that would be a perfect accessory for the oldest car in their collections, 48-215 could reach six-digit territory as well.
