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Features
Feature: Holden, in memoriam
From saddlery manufacturing in Adelaide in 1856, Holden grew into an Australian automotive giant. The news of its impending demise wasn’t unexpected, given its dwindling sales in recent years, but it was still felt acutely not only within Supercars but across Australia.
21 April 2020
SupercarXtra Magazine issue #116 tells the story of Holden’s journey in Australian touring cars, from the formative years to the present.
CLICK HERE for more information on issue #116.
The Australian Touring Car Championship was born at Gnoo Blas in New South Wales in 1960. The race, the first to be run under Appendix J regulations, featured 44 cars, 23 of which were Holdens, the majority the 48-215 (FX).
It set the tone for the future of the championship, with Holden not only a constant presence but often having the most cars on the grid. Six decades on, Holden still contributes more than half of the cars on the grid with 16 of 24 cars in 2020.
General Motors announced the retirement of the Holden brand just days before the start of the 2020 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. With its sales figures continuing to plummet and the Commodore already axed, the news was inevitable. But, in a cruel twist, it was announced in a week when the season was starting in Adelaide, South Australia, where Holden was not only born but housed.
Fittingly, Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Jamie Whincup gave Holden a winning start to its final season, just a couple of kilometres away from where James Alexander Holden first established the company that became known as Holden.
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