On 28 February 1962 Jack Watters (my Grandad) took delivery of his first car, a brand spanking new EK special station sedan from Hassans Walls Motors, Main Street West, Lithgow. Registration was CNY 626 and the cost with registration fees, insurance and other charges a total of 1520 pounds, 15 shillings and 6 pence. Over the next two years Grandad paid the amount off, with the last payment being made on 29 April 1964.
The colour chosen for the EK was Parisian Lilac and Snowcrest White roof. The story goes that the proprietor of Hassans Walls Motors, Reg Gillard remarked to Grandad on the colour selection of the EK. Grandad commented that with four daughters pouring over the Holden colour chart, he didn’t have much choice but to select their preferred colour choice...
Grandad was the ripe old age of 59 when he purchased the EK. I sometimes try and imagine the thrill he must have had of owning and driving his first car and a Holden at that – Australia’s own. Picture the excitement and anticipation of opening the drivers door and sliding into a brand spanking new EK station sedan. The odometer would have only had a few miles on it. Turning the key to start, shifting the column gear into first and slowly easing out into Main Street, Lithgow in your very own brand new EK Holden. The purr of the grey motor, smell of the new elascofab vinyl, the shine of new magic mirror paint and gleaming chrome…
This photo shows Grandad leaning on the bonnet. We think it was taken aound 1965 ish.
Over the next twenty years the EK provided faithful service to the Watters family. It was used on a daily basis for grocery shopping, running errands and other everyday jobs around Lithgow. I am fortunate to have many family photographs, with the EK in the background, that show outings, boiling the billy, fishing trips and picnics to scenic locations surrounding Lithgow such as Hartley, Londonderry, Newnes, Cowmung River (near Jenolan caves), Sunny Corner and Meadow Flat. Many a year it was driven to seaside places such as Yamba, Ballina, Port Macquarie, and Forster for the family beach and fishing holiday.
Grandad also taught his children to drive using the EK. The photo below was taken on a fishing trip to the Comung River in June 1965. At the time of the photograph below, David Watters (holding the two fish) was learning to drive. (Note the ‘L’ plate attached to the front grill)
It made sense to purchase the station sedan model as Grandad used it as a real work horse regularly driving into the hills around Lithgow and loading it up with firewood, for carrying the results of a day out blackberry picking for jam and for collecting scrap aluminium and glass for recycling. This photo was taken in November 1970 near Lithgow collecting firewood.
The results of this hard work may have caused damage to the EK as a receipt from Hassans Walls Motors show that both the left and right hand front fenders and right hand door were repaired on 4 August 1965.
The next two photos are of a family holiday to Ballina. The first is shelling pippies in readiness for a fishing trip and the next is boarding the Ballina ferry. The mini in the picture belonged to my Aunty Barbara at the time.
In February 1970 Grandad retired from his job as a clerk for over 50 years with the NSW Railway Department. His job as a clerk would have involved bookkeeping, timetabling, rosters etc. Even though retired, he continued his routine of bookkeeping by maintaining a book of household costs between February 1970 to February 1980. Included in this book is every cost associated with the ongoing maintenance and repair of the EK. The first notation for the EK was the purchase of petrol on 15 March 1970 at Katoomba for a grand total cost of $2!
A sample of some of the other entries (and their costs which give you an idea of the going rate back in those days) include:
13 August 1970 Co-op car repairs oil and grease change and repairs to self starter motor and labor $13.40
23 December 1970 car repairs water pump, fan belt, oil and grease change and labour $19.38
6 August 1973 repairs to clutch plate of car $61.80
5 October 1973 Allans Motor repairs to rust in car CNY 626 $90.60 (I find this amazing that the EK was just on 12 years young and it was having rust repairs done)
November 974 grease and oil change, clean engine and tighten up engine $10.56
12 December 1974 new windscreen car CNY 626 $67.76
19 May 1975 repairs to car front suspension and realignment back brakes jamming $35.95
21 February 1975 Repairs to car Allans Motors Lithgow dents back door, rust, headlamp $121.35
July 1976 second hand motor (J84659) $80. Install engine in car $50, new parts $20, two new tyres $40.
April 1977 repairs to sill of car left hand side $187.50
Also around that time the EK was reregistered with new number plates HRR 994. The photo below as taken in April 1978 at Blackheath. The numberplates are now HRR 994.
The photo below was taken in February 1979 on a family blackberry picking trip out to the Cox’s River. This is the only photo I have found with me and the EK and that’s me standing on the right pretending to shove a finger up my nose and my cousin Peter has his eyes firmly jammed shut. The bridge in the background and the area where we black berried is now underwater for the Lyell dam. One of my most vivid memories of the EK as a kid is sitting on the rear bench seat watching, the road below rush by, through the rust holes that were beginning to open up in the floor.
By 1981 the EK was starting to shows signs of wear and registration was becoming harder as the dreaded rust started to take hold. So in February 1981, at the age of 83, Grandad purchased, a FB Special Sedan (the same Kodiak Bown FB I own) and retired the EK by parking it in the backyard at Lithgow. It sat there unregistered for the next three years. Looking back now I realize Grandad must have had trouble bringing himself to sell the first car he had ever owned. In 1984, after a bit of prodding, Grandad finally sold the EK to Mr Keith Collins of Lithgow.
During his ownership Mr Collins completed various rust repairs and installed new rear shock absorbers and a tow bar. I kept tabs on the car for the next 6 years and would often see it whenever I visited Grandad. In 1990 I saw the EK for the last time in Mort Street, Lithgow with a ‘For Sale’ sign in the window. That’s my wife Raquel and I leaning on the guard of the EK. My hair is piled nice and high and I'm wearing my FB-EK Holden Car Club of NSW t-shirt....so
At the time we were both poor students and I had no money. I felt pretty miserable walking away from the EK that day. However I did resolve that one day I might be able to get it back…
would of been good to keep in the family - especially with all of the info/pics & above all the memories 
