One-owner 1962 Holden EJ Special still turning heads after 64 years

In a throwaway society where consumer goods are kicked to the kerb as soon as something brighter and shinier comes along, Pat Dwan still drives the first new car he ever owned.

And it’s arguably in better condition today than when he purchased it 64 years ago.

The story of how the Holden EJ Special came into Pat’s life goes back to the early 1960s when the young primary school teacher took up his first posting at Warwick Central State School.

While teaching there and living rent-free on the family farm at nearby Massie, Pat saved enough money to buy his first car, a two-tone blue 1961 XK Falcon demonstrator from Creswell’s Ford in Warwick.

Most young men driving a near-new Ford in 1961 would have considered themselves pretty smart, but Pat soon discovered that the Falcon, with its US-sourced underpinnings, wasn’t up to the rough and tumble of Aussie back roads.

“We lived on a farm and on corrugated roads the Falcons just weren’t strong enough in the front end," Pat said.

"They were beautiful on the bitumen and had more power but the Holdens were just a more solidly built car for Australian conditions.

Pat Dwan and his beloved Holden at MotorFest 2026.

“I drove that car for about 10 months, but it rattled and had only done 10,000 miles (16,100km) when I traded it in. It used to leak water and I thought it would either rust out or fall apart.”

Ford's loss was Holden’s gain because by then Pat was teaching at Pozieres outside Stanthorpe and his wandering eye had locked on the gleaming new EJ Holden – released earlier that year as a replacement for the EK Series – in the showroom of Central Motors in Stanthorpe.

Pat recalls the car he admired was an EJ Premier in Euroa Gold, which was a trim level and a colour his meagre teacher’s salary couldn’t stretch to.

Instead, the canny salesman steered him towards the slightly less well-appointed but more affordable EJ Special, which Pat promptly settled on after choosing his preferred colour of Loddon Green over Atherton Ivory.

Remarkably, Pat still has the original 1962 purchase docket which shows the car was purchased for £1095, eight shillings and sixpence.

Delivery took a few weeks as Pat’s car was assembled at the Holden plant in Fortitude Valley, back in the days when local assembly was the preferred way to cut shipping costs and avoid high state taxes on interstate car shipments.

Pat’s first memories of driving the EJ aren’t all that glamorous; he recalls hitting his head on the roof of the car due to the overly firm seat springs on the bumpy drive back to the family farm.

“But I was very proud of it as I paid cash for the car and I thought it looked bloody nice," he said.

"I’m fairly particular about detail and I kept it spotless; it always looked like a new car for years, really.”

Pat’s teaching career eventually took him to various towns on the Darling Downs including Warwick, Pozieres and Southbrook, where he met his future wife Mary in 1963.

The couple married in Pittsworth in 1966 before moving to Toowoomba the following year where Pat took up a teaching role at St Joseph’s College.

The Garden City suited the young couple and they celebrated the arrival of three sons there over the ensuing decade, with the EJ remaining the sole family car throughout.

In 1973 with the kids getting bigger the family purchased a second car, but Pat continued driving the EJ to and from school each day, including when he moved to St Thomas More where he was principal between 1980 and 1992.

“The (school) kids all knew that car really well and I drove it as my main work car until 1996," Pat said.

While the other family car changed regularly throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s, the EJ remained a constant in the family’s life.

“There was no reason to change it really, I just liked the car the way it was,” Pat said.

By the mid-1990s Pat was working for the Catholic Education Office in a role that entitled him to a company car and the EJ was seeing less use.

In 1996, some 34 years after first being registered, the old Holden was parked up.

“I wasn’t driving it so just didn't renew the registration," Pat said.

"But I kept the original plates and did think at the time that I'd like to restore it one day.”

That “one day” took almost a decade to arrive, but the EJ’s resurrection began in earnest in 2015, taking until 2019 to be completed.

A hand-printed flyer that Pat displays with the car when attending car shows outlines the process.

“In March 2015 (the EJ) was taken out of storage to undergo a complete restoration over a four-year period from the ground up – suspension removed, sandblasting, rust removal, 2-pac paint including the undercarriage, stainless steel dent removal and polishing, re-chroming and new interior (upholstery etc.). Original bolts were zinc-plated and screws polished.”

Pat was heavily involved in the restoration but left the big-ticket items to local specialists including Gatton’s Muscle Car Mania, Toowoomba Engine Centre, Evans Trim Shop, R&R Auto Upholsterers, and Uticolor who handled the fine colour matching of the Harlequin and Curio Green interior trim.

You get the impression Pat would be happy with his retirement project if the EJ had never won a single prize, but on its first public showing at the EJ-EH Nationals in Bathurst in 2019 it claimed four gongs including Grand Champion EJ Holden.

It has since gone on to amass a trophy cabinet full of prizes from events in Toowoomba and across the Darling Downs.

Today, the EJ has travelled just 99,840 miles, or a mere 1,560 miles (2,510km) for every year of its life, and Pat is careful to keep the mileage low and the pristine restoration as fresh as possible.

“In recent times I really only take it to car shows and to fill it with petrol," he said.

"I might drive it for a quarter of an hour every couple of months, just to give it a run.

“I don't think I'll be taking it to any more competitive displays. I think I'll probably just put it on display locally here (in Toowoomba) and it'll be preserved for the family.

“I think it's unique. I don't know if there'll be another one-owner that looks as good as it, but if there is I'm yet to see it.”