The Holden Story (GM-H)

Produced by General Motors-Holden's Corporate Relations Department - Softbound, 105 Pages, 1980 - *Second-Hand book in excellent condition**

The Holden Story

The Holden name goes back to 1854 when James Alexander Holden established a leather and saddlery business in Adelaide. It wasn't until 1917 when Holden's Motor Body Builders Ltd was formed that the name became associated with motor vehicles.

General Motors had been represented in Australia before 1 91 7 and in 1 923 General Motors Corporation negotiated an agreement for Holden's to manufacture GM cars in Australia.

General Motors (Australia) Pty Ltd was formed in 1926 and in 1931 the company merged with Holden's Motor Body Builders Ltd to become General Motors- Holden's Ltd.

GMH tackled the need for an Australian car after World War II and in 1948 the 48-215 Holden sedan was introduced.

The 48-215 was developed at both GM in Detroit and GMH, specifically for Australia. It was introduced in 1 948 and continued until 1953 when the FJ replaced it.

The first major model change since the first Holden was the FE in 1956. Major design changes to follow were the FB, EJ, HD, HK, and HQ.

The Torana was introduced in 1967; the Monaro (Australia's first two-door sports coupe) and the Brougham in 1968; the Statesman in 1971; the Torana Hatchback (Australia's first hatchback) and the lsuzu designed Gemini in 1975; the Sunbird in 1976, and the Commodore in 1978.