Dean Oliver and he and his family’s early holdens

Overdrive's artist in residence, Dean Oliver also comes from a family that has had its passion for Holden cars. We chatted about those early years and Dean as a young man with a passion for cars but not the financial responsibility that some would have liked,

DB Dean, your family did have some Holden's how far back to the go.

DO Yeah. Thanks, David. Yes. Our family had a fairly small collection of Holden's, but nonetheless a good one. My parents originally came through from a 1950s Austin A40 tourer, but my father used to deliver newspapers in. And then the big move was a 1962 EK Holden's special. It was a station wagon and it had the two speed, hydromatic gearbox, which was brand new, and Dad used it to deliver newspapers around Shellharbour and that area of the south coast.

DB Now, that's the reflection of the times, because when the first Holden came in, the biggest selling car was the A40 Austin Devon.

DO Well, yes, he certainly fitted that theory really well. But the old English |Austin was just no match for the rough potholes of the roads of country, New South Wales.

DB How did your father feel with that change? Because it was going to a bigger car, a more powerful car, and a more rugged car. Was he proud of that?

DO It was the pride of the family, David. There were photographs of the family standing beside it, beaming, smiling, and it was a spectacular looking thing compared to the old Austin. The Holden was bright blue and a strip down the side and the EK had those wonderful tailfins on the taillights which looked very American.

DB It was that era of the excess of the Cadillac reflecting the space race, really, wasn't it? It was trying to look like it was a rocket.

DO Yes. But NASA rockets probably didn't overheat with quite the same problem as the Holden did, especially on our trips up to Sydney.

DO Mom always packed a thermos and some sandwiches because the Holden would get pretty warm going up Mount Ousley from Wollongong and dad always had a race with himself to see if he could get over in third gear with changing back down to second. About 50 percent of the time.

DB That's another whole story of the hills in every capital city under which people tested their car or even in your cases, you're saying some of the more rural roads, if you can get up the hill, then you know you're doing well. Did they continue with Holdens?

DO Yes. And after almost ten years, the old EK gave way to a 1972 HQ Kingswood and it was a 253 V8. And I think my poor old dad might have got done over by the salesman at the Holden dealership. It was pretty well out of character for him to go for a smooth V8, and especially the HQ was the clour was Chateau Mauve, which was a metallic purple colour.

It started rusting from the day we bought it.

DB You then continued your first car, I think was a Torana, but it came with an unsolicited recommendation for financial prudence.

DO Well, I've got my first job and I was pretty keen on Holdens and the Holden Dealer Team and the Bathurst race and all that sort of thing. I had a job. I was getting a regular income and so it had to be a Torana. There's no way I could have got an XU1 because insurance was just totally impossible for a young bloke in his early 20s. So my new car was a GTA Torana. A 1973 LJ model and it was wonderful and I bought it with a bank loan and I got a stern lecture from the bank manager about responsible financial management. And in hindsight, I think I borrowed about $2000. The car was about $3,400 new and I borrowed $2000 which dollars at the day was an enormous amount of money. So the bank manager was, I think, pretty horrified.