Scott Campbell’s early Holden collection – My Shed

Scott Campbell has everything you want. As long as it's an early Holden

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Photographers: Chris Thorogood


WHEN Scott Campbell went house hunting, he had a family home in mind. The shed was just a bonus — but what a bonus!

This article was first published in the June 2011 issue of Street Machine

“To have it lined and insulated, with a bar and heater and room for a pool table made it an easy choice,” he says of buying his shed and the attendant home near Ballarat in Victoria. “All we’ve done is put the dividing wall up to separate the cars from the display and put some carpet on the floor. That’s virtually it.”

So the shed was the easy part. The hard work went into what’s in it.

Holden collection

The rego plates are all from Scott’s cars. “The four ‘G’ ones are off the FJs and ‘OJ’ is off one of the FXs. I wouldn’t part with them. VicRoads would scrap them”

“I’ve always collected,” Scott says. “Most of the stuff I had stored away or had on display in the house, so I got all the stuff out of boxes and put it on the shelves.”

This is a shed you can spend quality time in, whether you’re working on a project, watching the idiot box, catching up on your Holden history or having a beer with mates. Or all at once. Scott’s in an active car club and plays host at times.

“We often have a few guys around and bit of a pool or barbie and social night,” he says. “It’s all good. We’ve got the LCD in there to watch the car racing.

“If it’s the middle of winter, I come in here and fire the heater up, move whatever project I’ve got going on into the garage and watch the car racing, or work on the cars in a little bit of comfort. Better than the old concrete floors or the old dirt sheds that I was used to.”

You’ll have noticed Scott likes his old Holdens.

They’re Scott’s cars painted on the wine barrel. “Whenever there’s something happening, you just open up the top, fill it with ice and it’s a classic Esky,” he says

“I’ve got two FXs, and one, two, three, four FJs. And an HK,” he says, adding up as he goes.

“The blue FX is an original, unrestored car — 32,000 miles. The grey FX is an unrestored grey [motor] FX with a very rare Bedford cloth interior and it’s only done about 78,000 miles.

“And the four FJs; you’ve got the blue panel van, which has a red motor, Alpha five-speed, triple Strombergs, disc-brake front and all the traditional 80s modifications. That was my every day car for a number of years.

“Then you’ve got the dark blue FJ, which is the latest restoration-modification. Then there’s the ute, which is the next project. And what else have we got? Oh, the two-tone green FJ. It’s an unrestored car with only 38,000 miles on it. That FJ and the two FXs will never be restored.

“Original and unrestored to me is exactly that. It hasn’t got new paint, it hasn’t got a new interior, it hasn’t had a motor rebuild; it’s exactly as it came off the production line. And they’re very rare and hard to find.”

How’s this for a bonus when you’re house-hunting. All Scott had to do was add the partition wall and some carpets. “Better than the old concrete floors and dirt sheds I was used to”

That Hankin FJ pinball machine isn’t exactly a common piece, either. Scott has the papers showing it was sold on 28 November, 1979; he bought it from another club member.

“I always knew they existed because there was a fish and chip shop in Mt Gambier that had one. I never thought I’d find one myself. The kids love it. It’s never had anything done to it since we’ve had it; it just keeps on going. It’s totally FX and FJ pictures all over it.”

The GM dealer sign is an original, bought a decade ago for $160 at a clearing sale. Scott says he’s seen them asking $2000 more recently.

This custom FJ front was on a car called Wild One that Scott rode in as a kid. He bought it when he found it at a sale and hopes to use it in a project

“The Perspex and everything is in good nick but it needs a tidy-up in the paint. I don’t know whether to play with it or leave it as it is. It’s got a fluoro behind the back and it shines brightly whenever we’re in the shed at night.”

He came by the 1953 Cyclops Clipper pedal car in a similar way, and had Peter Johnstone — a local mate who’s highly regarded for his work on cars — knock it back into shape and paint it.

“My daughter was using it as a toy around the yard,” he says. But at a show he was told it was worth two or three grand. “I said to my daughter: ‘Righto, it’s no longer a toy!’ We bought her a repro one instead.” He also has plenty of Redex memorabilia, Holden posters and Holden books.

“If I see any book whatsoever with a picture of a Holden on it or if it’s related to Holden history I’ll buy it,” he admits.

He fills shelves with new old stock too. “I try to find original parts in old boxes for the display but they’re getting harder and harder to get.”

“I was told that was off a Beechey race car but I have no way of proving it,” Scott says. “It’s a magic little piece — it’ll make its way under the car soon”

The Campbell’s Motors signs are new, though a neat personal touch to the shed.

“There was a Campbell’s Motors in Preston — back in the 60s I suppose. They had one of the original Australian-made [Holden] prototypes as part of their collection.”

This is the back of Wild One, which turned up about 18 months after the front. Note the Valiant lights. It’s beyond rescue, so Scott will turn it into a cool trailer

Now that’d be a great addition to any collection but it’s safely tucked away somewhere in Perth, apparently. Still, two FXs, four FJs, an impressive collection of stuff and a stunning shed for it to live in isn’t anything to sniff at.

“I’m happy with it so far,” Scott grins.

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