The first Holden built in Australia has sold for $600,000 at the 2013 RACV Motorclassica auction in Melbourne.
The winning bid for the 1947 Holden prototype is believed to be the highest amount paid for a Holden in Australia, though fell a long way short of the $1 million asking price of the vendor, famous Western Australian car collector Peter Briggs.
The vehicle, a prototype for what became known as the 48-215 or the FX, was the fourth ever Holden prototype and the first of two hand-built in Melbourne in 1947 more than a year before production officially started at Fishermans Bend.
It is the only existing Australian-made prototype of the original Holden.
It did not attract the highest bid of the night, however. That honour went to a 1968 Lamborghini Miura P400 – the first Miura ever imported to Australia – which sold for $680,000.
The legendary Italian supercar recently underwent its second major restoration, adding further to its desirability.
Other big-ticket items included two 100-year-old classics, a Hispano-Suiza Alfonso XIII Model T15 and a Nazzaro Tipo 2, which sold for $235,000 and $106,000 respectively.
