Australians love their cars, and for many long decades the car they loved the most was probably made by Holden. Their cars were built in Australia by Australians, and were designed to handle the nation’s long, lonely roads and extreme weather conditions. It was Australia’s own unique brand, and even people who bought Fords or Mazdas wouldn’t dare speak ill of it!
Nowadays you can still find Holdens here and there, parked with their car front window shades in place to protect their ageing dashboards, or heading down the highway in grand old-time style, but sadly their time has passed, and the doors to their once bustling factories have shuttered. Let’s take a look at the history of these gone but not forgotten cars!
1856 – The age of the horse was still going strong when the Holden saddlery in Adelaide was opened by James Alexander Holden to provide saddles and tack for the mounted troops of the Boer war. As those newfangled horseless carriages began to look like they may be the future, the saddlery saw which way the wind was blowing and began to produce hardware for the noisy upstarts.
1887 – After his father’s death, Henry James Holden took control and steered the business down the road that would one day lead to Holden becoming Australia’s leading car manufacturer.
1917 – Holden started its car manufacturing operations by first producing car bodies to fit imported Chevrolet chassis. They also assembled the first Ford bodies for sale in Australia.
1924 – Holden became the exclusive Australian supplier of car bodies for General Motors, the famed American car manufacturer.
1931 – Holden merges with General Motors in Australia to form General Motors-Holden’s Ltd, and soon dominated Australia’s automotive industry.
1948 – The first car “Made in Australia, for Australia” was the FX 48-215 manufactured by Holden. The prime minister of the day, Labor’s Ben Chifley, ceremoniously launched its production declaring the car to be “A Beauty!”
1950s and 1960s – This was Holden’s golden age, the company was the nation’s most popular car manufacturer and introduced a wide variety of new models, all of which sold exceptionally well. “Made in Australia” was a big success, and you couldn’t drive down the road without seeing a Holden, and chances are you were probably behind the wheel of one yourself!
1980 – Sadly, Holden’s fortunes changed in the 1980s and the company began to struggle. The first sign was when it closed down its production plant in Pagewood, but more losses were yet to come.
2006 – By the early 2000s the economy was suffering, and so was Holden. Between 2005 and 2006 Holden profits faced a loss of $290m and the company had to further reduce its workforce, cutting 1,400 jobs.
2008 – Holden was hit hard by the global financial crisis. Australia’s automotive industry was in trouble, and the job losses continued.
2010 – Holden was given a $159m grant by the federal government to help it continue production, but the writing was on the wall.
2013 – Seeing no way forward, Holden announced the end of its operations in Australia, a sad day for the nation as we said good-bye to Australia’s car.
Farewell, old friend!
