Holden

AUS, 1948 to date

General Motors-Holden’s Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Vic.; Woodwille, S.A.

The Holden car company started life making bodies, their work appearing on imported Morris cars in the 1920s. Under General Motors ownership in the 1930s Holden cars assembled American and British GM products for the Australian market, offering fastback coupés in 1938, or three years before Detroit. The Holden car, conceived after World War 2 as ‘Australia’s own car’, was in fact a development of a ‘compact’ Buick dating back to 1938, which never saw production in its native land. In layout the FX-type Holden car of 1948 was a straightforward General Motors design with a 4-bearing, 6-cylinder, ohv 2.2-litre engine, 3-speed synchromesh gearbox, column change, hydraulic brakes, coil-and-wishbone independent front suspension, hypoid final drive, and unitary construction. The wheelbase of the Holden car was 8ft 7in, and the standard sedan weighed 2.212lb. The initial Australian content was 92%, and it was promoted through a 600 Holden car dealer network. At a price of £A675 (about £540), its 80mph performance and toughness sold 7.725 Holden cars in 1949, rising to 50.000 by 1952, when assembly of the Holden car was being undertaken in three States. The first Holden cars were exported (to New Zealand) in 1954; by 1958 annual production had topped the 100.000 mark, and a year later the Holden car make accounted for 46% of all Australian private-car sales. Exports – now including the Near East and parts of Africa – exceeded 10.000 Holden cars in 1963, and a year later the Holden car factory delivered 190.375 vehicles. A minor facelift had come with the Holden FJ series of 1954, but the basic 1942 look remained on Holden cars for another two seasons until the introduction of the 70bhp Holden FE type, a full six-seater with 13in wheels and recirculating ball steering. 1960 Holden cars had 2.3-litres and 75bhp, plus the unsightly ‘dog’s leg’ windscreen also found on Vauxhalls of the period, but two years later the Holden car range was again restyled, automatic transmission being introduced on the Holden Premier series. 1964 Holden Premiers had 2.9-litre engines, the cheaper Holden Standard and Holden Special using 2.4-litre 100bhp units. The 1965 Holden HD type closely resembled contemporary 6-cylinder Vauxhalls, and was available with front disc brakes. The 1967 line came with 2.4-litre (114bhp) and 3-litre (126 and 145bhp) engines and the same styling as before.

In 1969 came the Holden Torana based on the Vauxhall Viva, but with a 6-cylinder engine and extended wheelbase. The HK line of Holden cars came in two models, the standard Holden Belmont and the de luxe Holden Kingswood, with option of 5-litre Chevrolet V8 engine. There was also a new coupé, the Holden Monaro with 5.4-litre Chevrolet V8 engine, and a long-wheelbase prestige model with air-conditioning called the Holden Brougham. Holden cars produced their first Australian-built V8s in 1970, in 4.1 and 5-litre versions. In 1971 the Holden Brougham was dropped in favour of a new luxury line called the Holden Statesman, in direct opposition to Ford’s successful Fairlane.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

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