Goodbye our old foe. RIP

[stock1991]

only owned one Holden, my first car a 1973 HQ wagon 173 , 3 on the tree, a white Belmont bench seat, time of my life.

[Adamz Ghia]

No where else in the world was there a rivalry like ours. When I was in my teens I had blue blood but just before I turned 18 I started to appreciate the red team. A real shame it’s gone.

[roddy1960]

G'day , very sad day for all the Holden fans, enthusiasts , workers and as the thread says 'foe' . Foe though that was a friendly foe and rival in the nicest way you could be. I think mutual respect went both ways too. My Holden experience was one single car , 1981 VC Commodore . Ex cop car .. My dad owned a 1938 Chev ute and a 1976 HX Kingswood , not a bad jigger at all with the red 202 otherwise Fords..My Commodore had the blue 202 but had been given a hard time I think by the wallopers but it kept going til I traded it on my 1984 XE Falcon , the first of several Falcons since .


A couple of Ford Escorts preceded the Commodore though..

RIP GMH We'll miss you .....Cheers Rod..

[X-AHH]

A song tribute to Holden.

https://youtu.be/yG07WSu7Q9w

[lamborghinifan]

First car owned was a 79 kingswood from in the family, bought new.
Had 4 fords and 2 holdens since, only recently bought by first non Australian built car. Now they're gone, will not feel bad if I look elsewhere.
Good luck workers!

[Uncle_Ken]

Funny no one in my family ever owned a Holden. I driven a few over the years. I did have a lot of fun when I was 17 shooting the crap out of one with a shotgun with some mates.
Cant do that anymore
UK

[.:4:.]

Originally Posted by Uncle_Ken

Funny no one in my family ever owned a Holden. I driven a few over the years. I did have a lot of fun when I was 17 shooting the crap out of one with a shotgun with some mates.
Cant do that anymore
UK

Well not legally. Growing up my family had an 85 camira so that's why we never got another holden. Dad had an xd wagon as a work car in the early 80s then after a few other work cars in 95 bought an ef and still claims it was the most reliable car he has had. He has been on high end euro stuff since. My brother has had a vc, 2 vh's, a 6 cylinder uc torana, a v8 uc torana (obviously not the factory motor), a v8 lx torana, a retro fit efi 5L kingswood and a v8 caprice. I'm almost cirtain lack of maintenance lead to the missile lock on power poles but since he has given up and gone ford he (apart from the 85 fairlane he wrapped around a pole in 98) hasn't crashed since the demise of the caprice.

[Blue Roo]

Brocky would be turning over in his grave. His beloved Holden's are no more.

[turbo4]

End of an era for the country. It wasn't just the last Holden to roll off the line, it was likely the last mass produced car to be built in Australia ever. That's what is sad for me, that after about a century of Australians building cars in one form or another, it's all over.

[BENT_8]

Im shattered..never thought it would affect me like it is.
As a kid growing up all I ever wanted to do was work at the Elizabeth plant, never got the chance.
When my Son was born I thought one day he might get the chance, by the time he was old enough to apply the decision had been made.

Today my Son picked me up and we went for a bit of a cruise around, The Wife rang asking me to stop and get some steak on the way home from the butcher, it wasn't until we turned off John Rice Avenue onto Phillip Highway and saw the media scrum and cars all lined up out front that it hit home, its all done and dusted.
As we slowly cruised past we never spoke, I just rubbed the dash of his VE2 and thought to myself, thanks for the memories old friend.

[MITCHAY]

And then there were none. A sad day in Australian history. I bought a house so unfortunately didn't get one of these but luckily my mate just supercharged his VEII Redline so plenty of fun when I need it. 455rwkw worth of it

[MethodX]

They were never really the enemy.
Certain imports were.

[jpblue1000]

Never owned or driven a holden!
Had friends who did. I dont like them much. Perhaps acquaintances really.
Dont miss falcon or commodore. Ok that's not true I do Mus my falcon ute because it was well handy. Not cause it was a falcon.
Now thats rare position here isn't it.
Pity those companies couldn't sustainably do business in oz but that's globalisation. Enjoy your slave trade eggs guys.
JP

[davenl5l]

Originally Posted by csv8

Football, meat pies no more Holden cars. Sad day for manufacturing in Australia.

That add was a reworked chevy add

[roKWiz]

Guess you could say I was a Holden man. So many good HQ to WB's I've owned over the years.
A few I bought from my father who owned every model from FE to WB but he was so dicussed with the new VB Commodore, he bought a XD Fairmont Ghia.

[Syndrome]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Guess you could say I was a Holden man. So many good HQ to WB's I've owned over the years.
A few I bought from my father who owned every model from FE to WB but he was so dicussed disgusted with the new VB Commodore, he bought a XD Fairmont Ghia.

image

Fixed it for you.

[Chopped]

In a strange way I wish they would have killed the Holden name on the day the plant closed.
In my eyes Holdens were the cars built here (be it good or bad).

Also more sobbering is the Holden/Ford (or more realistically the Kingswood, Torana, Monaro, Commodore vs Falcon, Falcon coupe/hardtop) rivalry dies with us, the fans.
The next generation won't care at all.

[roddy1960]

watch this if you dare and tell me what you think of the usual suspect's comments about Holden and Ford as well as Toyota.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uFYW5tMoeg Hmmm..

[Pis-ton broke]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

watch this if you dare and tell me what you think of the usual suspect's comments about Holden and Ford as well as Toyota.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uFYW5tMoeg Hmmm..

i had no idea that holden was so heavily and secretly subsidized.

[Bossxr8]

Don't care that the commodore is essentially dead, hate the things, but feel sorry for the workers and the country. Losing auto manufacturing is a bloody disgrace.

Letting 50,000 workers across the whole industry lose their jobs is a joke. Good paying jobs too, and the skills these jobs required were a major asset for Australia. Many people have left the big 3 to go into other industries. The loss of those skills is what is most tragic. Maybe not now, but in future generations.

[roKWiz]

Originally Posted by Syndrome

Fixed it for you.

Thanks mate, I'm getting worst.

[Grippy]

Massive respect to Holden and its workers. I’d personally never own a Holden, but without them pushing Ford over the years (and vice versa) we wouldn’t have the amazing range of performance Falcons to enjoy on the road and watch on the track.

[marty351]

Originally Posted by roKWiz

Thanks mate, I'm getting worst.

Call an ambolence!

As said previously, only Aussie made Holdens should wear the lion.

[EBSXR6]

Originally Posted by Bossxr8

Don't care that the commodore is essentially dead, hate the things, but feel sorry for the workers and the country. Losing auto manufacturing is a bloody disgrace.

Letting 50,000 workers across the whole industry lose their jobs is a joke. Good paying jobs too, and the skills these jobs required were a major asset for Australia. Many people have left the big 3 to go into other industries. The loss of those skills is what is most tragic. Maybe not now, but in future generations.

If the Ford and GM product planners had built cars that people wanted, proper export plans there still would be a car manufacturing industry. Toyota was the only company that had a proper export plan.

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

watch this if you dare and tell me what you think of the usual suspect's comments about Holden and Ford as well as Toyota.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uFYW5tMoeg Hmmm..

Not cadogan again....

I detest giving that man clicks, please put up a warning if you are linking to him.

[lra]

Originally Posted by roddy1960

watch this if you dare and tell me what you think of the usual suspect's comments about Holden and Ford as well as Toyota.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uFYW5tMoeg Hmmm..

I can't see what the problem is with what he says.
I have been buying Australian made cars for just over 50 years, and anyone who finds this a revelation, or in Cadogan's words, considers it BS, has been blinded by the shine off their new imported car. It has been public knowledge to those who were interested enough to read about it in motoring history or current affairs.
As much as I am deeply disappointed by the loss of jobs and expertise by the closure of the whole industry, it is not up to the taxpayer to finance it. If it was, then the GovCo should have nationalised Ford and Holden in 1948.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by Mercury Bullet

Not cadogan again....

I detest giving that man clicks, please put up a warning if you are linking to him.

Sorry about that . Any time in the future I'll put a "JC Alert" on.
Re the comments , it mystifies me on two things . Why does he have to be so vitriolic and crude and why doesn't he tell the full truth .
On that second point no one will ever convince me otherwise that the automotive trade support by the politicians was caused by the flawed decisions by them in the first place. It all began with the Button Car Plan in the mid 1980's and topped off when we started pandering to other countries with all these Free Trade Agreements . Top that off by other internal issues and in 2017 ,no cars being built here any more.
Someone please try and tell me how we have really benefited in goods manufacturing (not just cars) via the FTA's. We might sell more raw materials now but we buy the buggers back with what the other mob makes with them .
The Governments of both persuasions should have insisted that Australian manufactured goods was a key component to all FTA's.
Cadogen rarely if ever mentions that , only what the prop up's were. All he does is standardised blame game and sarcastic insults.
Typical of the tool.

[roddy1960]

Originally Posted by EBSXR6

If the Ford and GM product planners had built cars that people wanted, proper export plans there still would be a car manufacturing industry. Toyota was the only company that had a proper export plan.

I bet it would never have been GMH or Ford Australia's local decision to have an export plan though. I keep getting told that locally we were at the funding/ development planning whim of the U.S owned parent companies. We didn't own a doorknob off the place to make too many calls anyway. Cadogen never mentions that either most likely.As it turns out we were probably lucky to get what we got for as long as we did from both Ford and GM. At least we have some ball tearer cars we'll remember fondly in our old age when all other stuff looks and drives the same. It's already starting to happen now. By evolution cars will be just like a fridge or TV or washing machine and thought of with about as much passion in 25-50 years from now I'd suggest. I hope I'm wrong but I'll either be gone or too old to really know if car enthusiasts go the same way of the dinosaurs.EXTINCT...

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by lra

I can't see what the problem is with what he says.
I have been buying Australian made cars for just over 50 years, and anyone who finds this a revelation, or in Cadogan's words, considers it BS, has been blinded by the shine off their new imported car. It has been public knowledge to those who were interested enough to read about it in motoring history or current affairs.
As much as I am deeply disappointed by the loss of jobs and expertise by the closure of the whole industry, it is not up to the taxpayer to finance it. If it was, then the GovCo should have nationalised Ford and Holden in 1948.

Subsidies go on everywhere..

For example I'm a farmer and I don't pay tax on diesel.

You don't want to know how much Gina Rinehart gets given.

That's why cadogan is a moron, he omits things to suit his agenda.

[lra]

Originally Posted by Mercury Bullet

That's why cadogan is a moron, he omits things to suit his agenda.

His agenda is motoring, cars and manufacturers to produce cars.
He is not about farming, mining, tourism, same sex marriage, North Korea, life insurance, sport etc.
His language is the same as is used by most Australains in pubs and general conversation, not in the world of PC correct hipsters and politicians who say what they are told to say by PC hipsters.
Now, I suppose I will be shot down in flames for supporting him.