Car Badge of the Month Holden

by George Holliday

The Badge

The Holden logo features a lion holding a stone. This image is based on the plot of an ancient fable that tells how people invented the wheel after seeing lions rolling on stones.

History

James Alexander Holden immigrated to Australia from the British city of Walsall. Having arrived there in 1852, he opened a saddle and saddle workshop in Adelaide four years later. In 1879, the son of the founder, Henry James Holden, joined the family business. In 1885, the German H. A. Frost became a partner in the business, and later the company was named Holden & Frost Ltd. Many years later (in 1905), James’ grandson, Edward Holden, took up the job. He started the active development of the company and took on various orders, including the repair of car upholstery. Then the young industrialist began to re-equip the outdated chassis, install bodies, grind, and paint them. In 1917, the requirements of the war period forced the enterprise to switch completely to the manufacture of motor bodies. To do this, in 1919, Henry James Holden opened a new company and registered it as Holden’s Motor Body Builders Ltd. The company specialized in bodywork for a long time, building three factories for this, first in Adelaide, then in Geelong, and Woodville. As a result, it has become the exclusive bodywork supplier for General Motors. They were suitable platforms for a wide range of world-famous car brands. In 1926, an expanded structure of the Australian enterprise General Motors Limited appeared with production workshops in many continental cities. Only the Woodville plant, which produced body parts and cars, remained independent. In 1931, Holden’s Motor Body Builders Ltd merged with General Motors (Australia) Pty Ltd, which gave rise to General Motors-Holden Ltd.

Then there were many more difficult transformations until, in the 2010s, production was shaken by the falling Australian dollar, and it became unprofitable. In the fall of 2017, the Elizabeth plant was closed, and the Holden Commodore was discontinued. In the winter of 2020, General Motors Corporation announced that by the beginning of 2021, Holden was completely liquidated. GM Specialty Vehicles appeared instead. Its tasks include the supply of Chevrolet Silverado and

Corvette C8 vehicles. In December 2020, the logo with the corporate lion and stone disappeared from current models.

By George

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