This Day

November 26, 1948 – The first Holden cars

A first generation Holden

J. A. Holden & Co became a leading saddlery in South Australia soon after its founding in 1856. When the original owner’s grandson joined the company almost 50 years later, he added automotive upholstery repair to the company’s services. Following WWI, the formation of subsidiary Holden Motor Body Builders occurred, which began to produce car bodies in Adelaide, South Australia. The next decade would have HMBB manufacturing car bodies for Austin, Chrysler, DeSoto, Ford, Morris, Hillman, Humber, Hupmobile and Willys-Overland. Then, in 1931, General Motors

bought the company. 

When the Australian government began to encourage growth of the Australian auto industry, Holden executives made a compromise with GM to build a Chevrolet based, Australian car under the Holden name. The Holden 48-215 became the first mass produced Australian badged automobile when it started to roll off the assembly line on this day in 1948. A waiting list of buyers took more than a year to fill.

Holden Ute

In February 2020 General Motors announced that it would retire the Holden brand in 2021. This announcement came three years after Holden stopped Australian auto production. Since 2017 Australian Holden vehicles were imported from Opel in Germany and GM plants in Canada, US, South Korea and Thailand.

Brian Corey

Recent Posts

November 20, 2011 – Famed Ferrari designer Sergio Scaglietti dies

Scaglietti, left, in his body shop Sergio Scaglietti opened Carrozzeria Scaglietti, an auto repair and…

2 days ago

November 19, 1959 – Ford announces the end of Edsel

Too much money. Too much hype. Too much of the same old thing. Designed to…

3 days ago

Rare 1955 Mercedes Truck for Sale

This 1955 Mercedes-Benz 170 S-D Diesel pickup truck appears to be an exceptionally rare find,…

3 days ago

November 18, 1960 – End of the line for DeSoto

1961 DeSoto Less than a week after Chrysler acquired Dodge Brothers, it debuted its new…

4 days ago

November 17, 1986 – The Assassination of Renault CEO Georges Besse

Georges Besse (Renault) On this day in 1986 Georges Besse, the 58-year-old CEO of French…

5 days ago

November 16, 1904 – The history of auto theft in Los Angeles begins with first recorded stolen car in the city

1905 White steam car. Not the first stolen car, but similar. This one is known…

6 days ago