Holden - History Lesson

Holden's History
Holden History An introduction to Holden November 29, 1998, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the day in 1948 that the much-anticipated first Holden, advertised with pride as Australia's Own Car, was launched with suitable ceremony by the Prime Minister of the day, Ben Chifley. The Holden name, however, is older than the motor car itself and has been associated with transportation in Australia since the gold boom days of last century, when it first appeared above a saddler's shop in Adelaide, South Australia. By 1885, the Holden & Frost company was repairing and building horse-drawn carriages and coaches.

In 1914, it produced its first custom-made car body and by 1924 - renamed Holden's Motor Body Builders - it operated one of the world's most advanced production lines and was the exclusive body supplier to General Motors in Australia. The country's first large-scale automotive manufacturing facility was formed in 1931 when the companies merged to become General Motors-Holden's Limited. Many other Australian companies owe their development to the pioneering spirit displayed by GMH in those formative years. During World War II, General Motors-Holden's was a major industrial force in Australia's defence effort.

Between 1939 and 1945, Holden's produced more than 30,000 bodies for the Australian and US forces and manufactured a wide range of equipment, including field guns, aircraft, aero and marine engines. Following the war, GMH completed the challenge of building the nation's first successfully mass-produced car.

Australians took the Holden 48/215 - popularly known as the FX - immediately to their hearts, and demand was so strong that waiting lists stretched through 1949 and beyond. With the release of the evolutionary and now-iconic FJ model in 1953, the love affair deepened. These Holdens could cruise smoothly and effortlessly on the speed limit and return brilliant fuel economy figures. Low maintenance, ruggedly reliable and comfortably accommodating, they met the demands of a unique driving environment and represented unbeatable value for money.

The company's great growth period was in the 1950s and 1960s, when it captured more than 50 percent of the market, achieved a sales record of 19,000 Holden cars in one month, and exported cars and components to more than 50 overseas destinations. This winning formula - and its spirit endures to this day - was applied with increasing sophistication to successive models. It represented a genuine response to the voice of the customer and resulted in a domination of the sales charts that endured for almost 30 years.

Exponentially, the Holden brand assumed a unique character and stature, quintessentially Australian, signifying strength and leadership. The car-building division entered the 1990's as General-Motors-Holden's Automotive Limited (GMHA) This followed major restructuring which commenced in December 1986 when General Motors-Holden's was divided into two companies: Holden's Motor Company (HMC) and Holden's Engine Company (HEC). HEC was fully reintegrated into Holden's manufacturing operations in 1996. In November 1994 General Motors-Holden's Automotive Limited unveiled its new corporate identity.

This saw the company move to the use of one name - Holden - in the market place, and a new Lion badge. As of 1998, Holden's registered name also changed from General Motors-Holden's Automotive Limited to Holden Ltd. There are now more Holden cars on Australian roads than any other model, with the vast majority of full-sized family Holdens having claimed the title of Australia's most popular car - and the all-new VT Commodore is no exception.

Today, Holden is recognised as the General Motors engineering and design headquarters for the Asia Pacific Region and locally manufactures Commodore sedans, wagons and utilities plus the long-wheelbase Statesman and Caprice saloons. Holden also imports General Motor's products Astra, Barina, Combo and Vectra from Europe. These models are re-engineered by Holden for Australian conditions with Vectra beginning local production in 1998.

The Holden Japanese-sourced commercial vehicle range includes Frontera, Jackaroo, Monterey and Rodeo while the Holden Suburban is sourced from America. These models are marketed through Isuzu-General Motors Australia (IGM), a joint venture company founded in 1989. Holden's Engine Operations manufactures 3.8 V6 ECOTEC, V6 Supercharged and V8 engines for Holden's local cars. Four-cylinder Family II engines, including 1.6, 1.8, 2.0 and 2.2-litre versions are manufactured predominantly for export markets.

Holden is Australia's largest exporter of manufactured automotive components and, in 1998, will export its three millionth Family II engine since 1981.

Holden's Badge

The story of the Holden symbol The first Holden emblem was a life-size wooden horse which stood above the entrance of the Holden & Frost Saddlery works in Adelaide. As an emblem, the Holden Lion relates to the time when the general practice by coachbuilders was to have their name or trademark engraved on the door sill or on a large plate fastened to the instrument panel. In the USA, Fisher Body had a neat, embossed replica of its coach trademark attached to the lower part of the cowl.

At this time Holden's Motor Body Builders was using a large engraved brass plate, the foreground of which was a figure representing industry with a background of factory buildings. This design was far too detailed for the embossed treatment on a small plate. A new emblem was needed. A Wembly Lion' medallion was chosen, depicting an Egyptian lion, the symbol of the ' Wembly Exhibition which was held in London in 1924. (Egyptian antiquity heavily influenced fashion themes of the day from clothes and furniture to films and songs.) According to fable, the principle of the wheel was suggested to primitive man when observing a lion rolling a stone.

Several sketches were made and it was decided to go ahead with the design. George Rayner Hoff, one of Australia's leading sculptors, was commissioned to develop the design in the solid. From a plaster model, small metal replicas were produced for nameplates. These were affixed to all bodies built from 1928 to 1939 on the lower near side of the cowl in a similar manner to Fisher. The design was also adopted as a trademark in all Holden advertising. The Holden Lion also became the emblem for the first Australian GM car, the Holden. Although updated, in 1972 and again in 1994 this symbol is still used on all Holden cars.

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