For most of the twentieth century, Holden was the car company that Australians thought of as their own. It began as a saddlery in Adelaide, became one of the country's biggest car body builders and, in 1948, launched a car designed and built for Australian conditions 2. For decades its cars led the sales charts. Then the factories closed and, a few years later, the brand itself was retired. This history of Holden traces that path from horse harness to the Commodore, and ends with what it means for anyone buying a Holden now.
From saddlery to car bodies
The story begins in 1856, when James Alexander Holden set up J. A. Holden & Co., a saddlery business in Adelaide 1. Horse-drawn transport was the business of the day, and the firm made and repaired the leather goods it needed.
As cars arrived, the business moved with them. In 1908, the firm, by then Holden & Frost, took on minor repairs to car upholstery 1. After 1917, wartime trade restrictions pushed it into full-scale production of vehicle body shells 1. Imported cars often arrived as a chassis, and local firms built the bodies that sat on them.
Building bodies at scale
Holden became very good at it. By 1923, its body building arm was making 12,000 units a year 1. Output reached 34,000 units in 1930, then collapsed to 1,651 a year later as the Depression hit 1. A fall that steep threatened the whole business, and it set up the next big change in the company's life.
The lion emblem
The Holden lion dates from these body building years. The sculptor Rayner Hoff designed the original emblem in 1928 5. It is a stylised lion and stone symbol, representing a legend of man's invention of the wheel 5. His reliefs and sculptures also adorn the Anzac Memorial in Sydney's Hyde Park, completed in 1934 5. The Art Gallery of South Australia holds a bronze lion by Hoff, produced for the Holden Motor Company and given by the Holden family in 1996 6. The emblem was redrawn over the years, and the 1972 logo evolved from Hoff's original 5.
General Motors-Holden's
In 1931, General Motors bought the body building company and merged it with General Motors (Australia) to create General Motors-Holden's Ltd 1. The merger joined a local body builder with one of the largest car makers in the world.
The new company expanded in Melbourne. Prime Minister Joseph Lyons opened its Fishermans Bend factory on 5 November 1936, Holden's second full-scale car factory 1. Fishermans Bend later became closely tied to the company's head office and design work, and it gave Holden a base in Victoria alongside its South Australian roots.
The 48-215: Australia's own car
The car that made the Holden name came after the Second World War. The Holden 48-215 was the company's first wholly domestically produced model 1. Prime Minister Ben Chifley unveiled it at 2:30 pm on Monday, 29 November 1948 2.
Its engine was a 2,171 cc cast-iron six-cylinder, later known as the Grey motor, producing 45 kW 2. That was modest power by modern standards, but a six-cylinder engine and a tough body suited long distances and rough roads. Before unveiling day, 68 Holdens were distributed to the capital cities 2, so buyers around the country could see the new car. Assembly took place in six locations across four states 2, with Adelaide home to two of the plants 2.
Why the first Holden is called the FX
Many enthusiasts call the 48-215 the FX, but that was never its official name 2. The label was an unofficial one used in the GM-H drawing office in 1952 2. It distinguished the early cars, with lever-action shock absorbers, from those with the telescopic front suspension introduced in 1953 2.
A coupe utility version, the 50-2106, was released in January 1951 2. It began a long line of Holden utes built for people who needed to carry a load. Both models were replaced by the FJ series in 1953 2.
The Holden decades
From the 1950s onwards, a new Holden was part of everyday life for many Australian families. The best-selling Holden of all time was the HQ range, with 485,650 sold in three years 1.
The Commodore arrives
In October 1978, Holden introduced the Commodore 3. It would become the company's best-known nameplate. The VT model of the late 1990s became the best-selling Commodore up to that time and cemented the car's place as number one in Australian sales 3. Holden's share of the market peaked at 27.5 per cent in 2000 1.
Success at Bathurst
Holden's reputation was also built on the race track. As of 2015, it had won the Bathurst 1000 30 times, more than any other manufacturer 1. It had also won the Australian Touring Car and Supercars titles 21 times 1. Those wins kept the brand in front of a huge television audience every year, and they gave the performance versions of its road cars a strong following.
Shared models
Holden also sold cars built by other companies. One example was the Nova, a Corolla-based model built by Toyota in Australia and supplied to GM Holden, with 28,128 made 4. Sharing cars like this was one way local makers tried to cut costs in a small market. Our history of Toyota in Australia tells the other side of that story.
Losing the lead and the end of local building
Holden's run at the top ended in the early 2000s. It lost the number one sales position in Australia to Toyota from March 2003 1.
Production had already been concentrated. By 1989, final assembly was largely consolidated at Elizabeth, in Adelaide's north 1. The last car came off the Elizabeth line on 20 October 2017, when the plant shut down and Holden ceased manufacturing vehicles in Australia 1. The Commodore's Australian production ended the same day 3.
An imported Commodore
The name continued for a short time on an imported car. The ZB Commodore was sold from 2018 to 2020 3. It was based on the Opel Insignia, and Holden's engineers reworked much of it for local tastes, from the chassis and steering to the engines 3. It was a very different car to the rear-wheel drive Commodores that had come before it.
The end of the Holden brand
On 17 February 2020, General Motors announced that the Holden brand would be retired by 2021 1. The marque was defunct from 1 January 2021 1. The business that started with saddles in Adelaide in 1856 no longer sold vehicles of its own 1.
The cars have not gone anywhere, though. Holdens of every age are still on Australian roads, and classic models have a strong following. Clubs and collectors keep the early cars running, and many families have a Holden story of their own.
What the history of Holden means for buyers
Every Holden for sale now is a used car, and that shapes how to buy one. A few points help:
- Since the brand was retired from 1 January 2021 1, check how parts and servicing are handled for the model you want.
- A Commodore built before 20 October 2017 was made in Australia 3; a ZB from 2018 to 2020 was imported 3.
- An early 48-215 or 50-2106 is a collector's car 2, so have a specialist inspect it before you buy.
For a newer car, the service record is the best guide to how it has been treated. Our guide on why you should never skip a scheduled service explains what to look for. For another maker that once built cars in Victoria, read our Volkswagen history.
Read our safety guide for buyers before you meet a seller and use the car loan calculator to plan the cost. Then browse the cars for sale on Car Domain. For more detail on the first Holden, Wikipedia's article on the Holden 48-215 covers its development and launch, and Wikipedia's Holden Commodore article follows every generation.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Holden, accessed 2 November 2026
- Wikipedia, Holden 48-215, accessed 2 November 2026
- Wikipedia, Holden Commodore, accessed 2 November 2026
- Toyota Motor Corporation, Toyota Ends Production in Australia After 54 Years, accessed 2 November 2026
- Wikipedia, Rayner Hoff, accessed 2 November 2026
- Art Gallery of South Australia, Lion (produced for the Holden Motor Company), accessed 2 November 2026
