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Prime Minister Ben Chifley launched the first Holden car in Melbourne on 29 November 1948. Originally to be called the Canbra, the name was changed to acknowledge the Holden family’s role in the Australian motor industry.

South Australian saddlery company Holden & Frost (founded 1856) had prospered by utilising low-cost production methods. A 1917 wartime imports ban prompted the firm to plan large-scale production of car bodies, and by 1926 Holden’s Motor Body Builders Ltd was producing more than half the national output. In 1931 the Great Depression reduced production to 1651 bodies – a 95% drop from the 1928 peak of 34 696. Holden’s largest customer, General Motors, took over the company to form General Motors–Holden’s, with Edward Holden as chairman. In 1944 approval for a post-war Australian car was granted by the United States parent company, General Motors. Bodies were produced at Woodville, South Australia and mechanical components at Fisherman’s Bend, Victoria. The new car was an immediate success.

A source of great national pride, the first Holden FJ is a 1950s icon. In 1959 Holden held 51% of a burgeoning Australian vehicle market. Modern Holdens are produced at Elizabeth, South Australia and Fishermen’s Bend. In December 2013, however, the imminent closure of General Motors-Holden’s manufacturing activities in Australia was announced.

By Jon G Chittleborough

This entry was first published in The Wakefield companion to South Australian history edited by Wilfrid Prest, Kerrie Round and Carol Fort (Adelaide: Wakefield Press, 2001). Edited lightly and references updated. Uploaded 22 April 2014.

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Workers assemble car chassis at the Holden Motor Body Works in Woodville, 13 February 1928

History SA. South Australian Government Photographic Collection, GN06307.

Employees of saddle maker Holden & Frost (the forerunner of General Motors—Holden) assembling horse collars, c. 1885

Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B 50937, Public Domain

The saddlery business of James Holden (forerunner of Holden & Frost and General Motors—Holden) at Gawler Place, c. 1865

Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B 1117, http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/01250/B1117.htm, Public Domain

The saddlery business of Holden & Frost (forerunner of General Motors—Holden) on Grenfell Street, 14 November 1907

Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B 2989, http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/03000/B2989.htm, Public Domain

Female employees at Holden Motor Body Works (Woodville) sewing automobile components, 6 February 1928

History SA. South Australian Government Photographic Collection, GN06305.

Completed car bodies at the Holden Motor Body Works (Woodville), 6 February 1928

History SA. South Australian Government Photographic Collection, GN06311.

A Holden FJ sedan parked outside a block of flats at Christies Beach, c. 1950

Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B 70859/2, http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/71000/B70859_2.htm, Public Domain

A Holden 48-215 sedan (green car at right) entered in the first Redex car rally at Bond’s Chalet (Alice Springs), 1953
Courtesy of/Photographer:Kevin Harris

Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia, SLSA: B 70782/107, http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/71000/B70782_107.htm, Public Domain

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