The history of old Holden cars in Australia

Although the Holden brand is gone now (manufacturing stopped at the end of 2017, and the brand closed down totally right at the end of 2020) the company is still regarded as the most Australian car company ever to operate here. It’s also the one with the longest history of local manufacturing with a history of building complete cars here that goes back to 1948.

And that means there are a lot of Holdens still getting around that are now considered old cars. The very expression 'old Holden' is part of the national vocabulary these days and conjures up images of battered old cars still being driven through typical Aussie landscapes.

But what are old Holden cars? Actually, the term has shifted quite a bit over the years. For instance, there was a time, say, the early 1980s when a 10-year old Holden was, indeed considered an old car. Decade-old Holden HQs, for instance, were cheap and plentiful and a huge percentage of Aussie kids owned one as their first car.

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But these days, a 10-year-old car of any sort (including Holdens) is hardly considered an old banger. Quite the contrary, actually, and when you think of a decade-old Holden now – say, a 2012 VE Commodore – we tend to think of a relatively new car with lots of life left in it.

So what’s changed? A few things. The first is that newer cars age much more gracefully than before. In a mechanical sense, anyway. Where 160,000km was once the life expectancy of a new car, these days, it’s probably double that, and more. But even advances in paint technology have ensured that newer cars stay looking that way for longer.

The homogenisation of car design over the years has also meant that while last year’s model was readily identifiable as such, newer cars with more generic shapes don’t suddenly look outdated just because a new model has been released.

Now, when you overlay that knowledge on to the Holden family, a line in the sand soon emerges. Fundamentally; all post-Commodore Holdens are relatively new, modern cars, while anything before that (the mighty Kingswood and all its forebears) are now decidedly old Holdens. 

Millennials probably won’t agree that a 1978 Commodore is any kind of modern design, but in an overall sense, we reckon that’s the cut-off. It’s the one we’ll use for this story, anyway.

The 1940s

The car that kicked Australia's automotive industry into gear.

For a long time, Holden in Australia was a one-model operation. You could have your Holden as a Standard or Special (with a bit more chrome and maybe different hubcaps) but basically, a Holden was a Holden. That began in 1948 with the launch of the first product of the new Aussie brand, the car called the 48/215 which also soon became known as the FX Holden.

With a six-cylinder engine and rugged mechanical layout, the relatively light, strong FX was perfect for rough Australian roads, many of which were still gravel rather than sealed. The car was an immediate hit and within a few years, more than half the cars on local roads were Holdens. Rarely has market domination in the car industry been so complete.

The 1950s

Under the skin, the FJ was very similar to the model it succeed.

Although there wasn’t much need for it (since Holden was selling every FX it could build) the first facelift of the design came in 1953 with the equally-iconic FJ model. A re-hash of the FX, the FJ wore a bigger, toothier smile and continued to offer tough, simple engineering for a decent price.

While the FX had been available as a sedan and utility, the FJ upped the ante with a panel-van version. Under the mildly revised skin, though, the FJ was mostly carry-over.

In mid-1956, Holden finally caved in to fashion and produced the FE, the first all-new body style in its corporate history. While a much more modern design, the FE still looked rather like a scaled-down US-market Chevrolet, but it was actually a bit more advanced than that with a unitary body (like all Holden sedans) rather than a separate body on a chassis (as was still the trend in North America). The introduction of a station-wagon version was also big news at the time.

The FC replaced the FE in 1958, but you need to be a pretty keen car-spotter to pick the differences either visually or mechanically. And like the FE, the FC was composed mainly of the same mechanical parts as used by the very first Holden.

The 1960s

The FB was the first Holden to be produced in left-hand drive for export markets.

By the turn of the decade, Holden figured Australians were ready for something completely different and dished up the FB. With its Americanised styling, the FB certainly looked more modern, but again, in a mechanical sense, there were still a lot of FX and FJ parts in it.

It was at this time that Ford Australia began making the car’s only real rival over the years, the Falcon. And while you might think new competition might have made life hard for Holden, the first Falcons were such disasters that it actually gave Holden a huge free kick.

The FB got the mildest of facelifts in 1961 (the EK) with the biggest news being the availability of an automatic transmission which Australian motorists would soon clutch to their hearts.

By 1962, the Ford Falcon was still an engineering mess, but it looked great and much more modern than the frumpy old Holden, forcing Holden to finally make its move into the jet-age (styling-wise, anyway). 

The car in question was the EJ which launched in 1962 and was immediately sleeker and better looking. It struggled along with the original six-cylinder engine, though, so the Falcon was still faster and better to drive. Aussies didn’t really care, they just kept buying Holdens.

For late 1963, Holden changed things up mechanically with an all-new six-cylinder engine for the new EH model, the Holden which went on to be the fastest-selling model the brand had ever created. 

The EH was the first Holden to use the 'Red' motor.

Now with plenty of power and retaining that legendary toughness, the EH was - and remains – one of this country’s favourite cars.

As the '60s went on, so did Holden’s development and styling progress. The HD Holden of 1965 should have been an improvement over the EH, but it wasn’t. Poor body design meant the HD was a series of rust traps and many died early in life.

Holden reacted quickly and upgraded to the HR for 1966, in the process arriving at a car that became almost as popular as the EH. By now, the Ford Falcon was a decent car (better in some respects) and for the first time in its history, the Holden had some real marketplace competition.

The end of the 1960s brought Holden into a size-bigger market segment with the new Torana now being manufactured for those who wanted a smaller car, and the Kingswood badge minted for the big family-car Holdens. 

The HK of 1968 was also the first Holden to feature the option of a V8 engine and, suddenly, all bets were off as the Australian car emerged as a performance car. By the end of the decade, Holden even had a pair of locally designed and built V8 engines on line, confirming its faith in the concept of V8 family cars.

The 1970s

The HG Monaro was the last f the original coupe design concept. (image credit: James Cleary)

The '70s started with a facelift of the HK and 1969’s HT to arrive at 1970’s HG. These were still full-sized cars although the concept had started to date a bit. But a new dose of modern was just around the corner.

The HQ Holden sprang on to centre-stage in 1971 and brought with it a fresh, clean look that still holds up well today. This was effectively the last of the big platforms Holden would engineer before switching to the smaller Commodore package at the end of the decade.

Mechanically, the HQ was mainly carry-over apart from the rear suspension which switched to coil springs for a much nicer ride. 

Even then, though, Holden made the springs so soft, the new HQ was still hardly a great handler. Like the HK to HG models, there was a two-door model called Monaro which was a great looking thing and sold well alongside the sedan, station-wagon, ute and panel van variants.

The Sandman birthed the panel van craze of the '70s.

The HJ replaced the HQ in 1974 but was mostly a facelift. That said, it was hardly an improvement and the HQ is generally regarded as the prettier design.

The HX came along in 1976, just as tougher pollution controls strangled Holden’s range of engines. The HZ was the final fling for this platform in sedan and wagon form, arriving in 1977 with snappier handling thanks to revised suspension.

The same platform soldiered on in ute and panel-van form as the WB models into the 1980s as the Commodore which replaced the Kingswood in 1978 simply hadn’t been engineered for a commercial-vehicle spin-off.

The popular choices

FJ Holden 1953 to 1956

Introduced in 1953, the FJ lasted until '56.

Price range: $40,000 to $60,000

The second model Holden, the FJ became known as the Humpy for its shape. Tough and reliable at a point in history when that was far from a given. Finding an unmodified one now will be the challenge.

EH Holden 1963 to 1965

Replacing the EJ, the EH ran from 1963-65.

Price range: $40,000 to $80,000

A winner from day one, the EH introduced Australia to Holden’s fabulous six-cylinder 'red' motor. But more than that, the EH was just  'right.' It looked good, drove well for the time and endeared itself to many families.

HR Holden 1966 to 1967

The HR ran from 1966 until '68.

Price range: $30,000 to $70,000

Another winning formula from Holden, the HR addressed the problems of the previous HD model, and then some. Stylish and a good size, performance was also pretty handy with more track than before and perkier engines including the famous 186 cubic-inch. You’ll see HRs for sale for cheaper than $30,000, but they’ll need a lot of work.

HT Holden 1969 to 1970

The HT was quickly replaced by the HG in 1970.

Price range: $20,000 to $50,000

The new models form Holden came thick and fast in the late '60s, but the HT is probably the sweet spot of its generation. With the option of a local V8 for the first time, the HT was seen as a proper performance car and the Monaro coupe was a hot item. But for this sort of money, you’ll be buying a sedan or station-wagon and probably a six-cylinder.

HQ Holden 1971 to 1974

The HQ was produced between 1971 and 1974.

Price range: $20,000 to $70,000

Probably should have driven better than it did, but the HQ sold on looks alone. Distinctive and sleek, the HQ was also a bigger car than ever before and plenty were equipped with V8 engines and automatic transmissions, not to mention wild paint colours and vinyl roofs. The '70s had really arrived.