WHEN you’re a young and impressionable kid, your folk’s car can have a big influence on you. And if your parents own something cool like a tidy FC, well a young bloke can’t help but yearn for his own. Just ask Nicholas and Stephen Borraccino, the brothers responsible for this gorgeous pair of FC Holdens.

This article was first published in the October 2007 issue of Street Machine

You see, their father owned his FC for 26 years. The old girl ran a 149ci six, and was a pretty neat ride. Nicholas, the older brother, can remember Dad restoring the front end on it, and the car being entered in a couple of hot rod shows. And there are also the great memories of cruising in it.

“Unfortunately, it was sold when I was just eight or nine years old,” he says.

So it’s no shock that when Nicholas brought home his first car, it was an FC.

“I bought the car because Dad had one and I have great memories of it.” Bought when he was just 16, it was the car he learned to drive in, and having owned it for 15 years, he’s made a few changes along the way. As Nicholas admits, his FC is a work in progress: “It never stops!”

The car was bought off its second owner, so it was in pretty good condition when Nicholas got it. Whites Body Works was called upon to tidy up the body, and it also laid down that great paint. The green is a factory colour, with the white hue sourced from the Jag range. Otherwise, the body is as the General intended. When it looks so cool, there’s no need to play with it.

Moving inside, the FC could almost be mistaken for a straight restoration.

“It’s a stock interior from the factory with minor touch-ups,” says Nicholas. However, the Auto Meter gauges and the B&M Quicksilver shifter are a pretty big hint that all is not stock under that rounded bonnet.

The FC is powered by a potent 202 blue motor. It was built by Nicholas, with help from Tony at Tudor Automotive. A 465 Holley supplies fuel, while a NOS Super Power direct port cheater system gives the FC that extra go when required. Over a stock crank, the engine features Yella Terra heads, HQ racing pistons, Starfire conrods, and ACL Race Series rings, bearings, and pushrods. Exhaust duties are handled by HPC-coated Genie extractors. The package is healthy enough to propel the FC down the quarter in 11.47@114mph.

Backing up the 202 is a Hugo’s Raceglides-prepared Trimatic ’box, which sends the power through to the 3.9 LSD nine-inch diff. Braking duties are handled by HT discs up front, and HR rear drums. HR springs feature at both ends, mated to Pedders (f) and Monroe (r) shocks. The finishing touch to Nicholas’s FC is a set of Weld wheels, wearing 3.5in-wide front runners and seven-inch boots under the bum.

Given that Nicholas was inspired by the car he used to ride around in as a kid, it’s not hard to guess how it was that younger brother Stephen also bought an FC when he turned 16.

“They’ve been in my family my whole life,” he says. “My brother and father both had them, and they’re just mean looking cars.”

Stephen’s purchase was a shell in high fill. The deal included three cars’ worth of parts, which meant he then had the task of selecting the best pieces to use. Not to mention working out what went where. Well, maybe Nicholas and Dad were able to help here and there.

The body was in fair condition when he bought it, although it did have a little rust. Lawson’s Body Works did the panels, spraying it in PPG Coleen Green and that Jag white again. Just like Nicholas’s FC, the body has retained its stock features.

Inside, Pat Mesiti got the nod to bring the interior back up to scratch. Grass Green trim covers the seats and doors, while green plush pile carpet lines the floor. The vinyl bench seat, bus-size steering wheel and steel dash all keep the vibe firmly in the 50s. Once again keeping the family tradition, Stephen deviated from a stock interior with Auto Meter gauges and B&M Quicksilver shifter.

And yes, there’s another lusty 202 under the bonnet. When the photos were taken, Stephen was running twin downdraft Strombergs but he was itching to fit a a triple carb set-up, which he reckons will look much cooler. Engine architecture closely resembles Nicholas’s 202, with HQ racing pistons, Starfire conrods, and ACL Race Series rings, bearings, and pushrods, and Genie extractors. Best quarter time to date is a 14.5.

The suspension and rolling stock only deviate in running five rather than 3.5-inch front rims. No need to — ahem — reinvent the wheel.

So with a sweet FC each, what are the Borraccino brothers going to do now? Start playing around with hot rods, that’s what. Nicholas and his brother in-law have been working on a ’32 Tudor, and Stephen has his sights set on a ’33 or ’34 five-window coupe. But don’t think for a second that the FCs are going anywhere.

“The wife and kids will leave me if I sell the car,” says Nicholas. Sounds like another generation has been inspired by Dad’s FC!

STEPHEN BORRACINO
1959 FC HOLDEN

Colour: Coleen Green & Jaguar White

ENGINE
Donk: Blue 202
Carbie: Twin downdraft Strombergs
Heads: Worked 149
Lifters: Solid
Pistons: HQ racing
Conrods: Starfire
Crank: Stock
Exhaust: Genie extractors

TRANSMISSION
Gearbox: Trimatic
Diff: Nine-inch, 3.9 LSD

SUSPENSION & BRAKES
Springs: HR all ’round
Shocks: Pedders (f), Monroe (r)
Brakes: HT disc (f), HR drum (r)

INTERIOR
Instruments: Auto Meter
Shifter: B&M Quicksilver

WHEELS & TYRES
Wheels: Weld 5×15 (f), 7×15 (r)
Tyres: 175/50 (f), 245/60 (r)

NICHOLAS BORRACINO
1959 FC HOLDEN

Colour: Factory green & Jaguar White

ENGINE
Donk: Blue 202ci
Induction: 465 Holley, NOS Super Power direct port cheater system
Heads: Yella Terra stage III, ported, screw-in studs
Lifters: Solid
Pistons: HQ racing
Conrods: Starfire
Crank: Stock
Exhaust: Genie extractors

TRANSMISSION
Gearbox: Trimatic
Diff: Nine-inch, 3.9 LSD

SUSPENSION & BRAKES
Springs: HR all ’round
Shocks: Pedders (f), Monroe (r)
Brakes: HT disc (f), HR drum (r)

INTERIOR
Instruments: Auto Meter
Shifter: B&M Quicksilver

WHEELS & TYRES
Wheels: Weld 3.5×15 (f), 7×15 (r)
Tyres: 165/60 (f) & 235/60 (r)

THANKS
Dad; Tony, Tudor Automotive (02 9335 1705); Peter, Whites Body Works; all the boys who’ve helped along the way — Chris, Adrian F, Stephen, Adrian M, Richard and Mario