Australia's own car began as a saddlery in Adelaide in 1856. Its badge, a lion rolling a stone, comes from a fable about how the wheel was invented.
- Country
-
Australia - Active
- 1856 to 2021
- Founded by
- James Alexander Holden
Saddles first, cars much later
Australia’s own car began with a horse collar. In 1856 James Alexander Holden opened a saddlery and harness business in Adelaide. For decades the Holden name meant leather, not engines.
In 1885 Henry Frost joined as a partner and the firm became Holden & Frost. Horses gave way to motor cars, and the business moved into building car bodies, eventually as Holden’s Motor Body Builders in Adelaide. Then the Great Depression hit. In 1931 the company merged with General Motors, and General Motors-Holden’s was born.
The name on the cars is simply the family name. When the first all-Australian car arrived in 1948, it was called the Holden, even though, according to the National Archives of Australia, names like Canbra, Emu, Melba and Anzac had also been on the table.
A lion, a stone and the birth of the wheel
In 1927 Holden’s Motor Body Builders commissioned the sculptor Rayner Hoff to design a new emblem. The brief pointed him towards the lion used as the symbol of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in London. The Art Gallery of South Australia holds Hoff’s bronze lion produced for the Holden company, dated 1926 to 1927.
Hoff gave the lion something to do. It rolls a stone. The idea comes from an old fable: early humans are said to have hit upon the principle of the wheel after watching a lion roll a stone. Strength from the lion, the wheel from the stone. For a company that built car bodies, it was a neat fit.
The badge first appeared in 1928. From then until 1939 it was fixed to the bodies Holden built. After the Second World War it came back on the first Holden car of 1948.
The lion was redrawn in the 1970s and again in the 1990s, but the basic picture of a lion rolling a stone never went away. The last update came in 2016, when the lion got a polish and the Holden name switched from capitals to lower case.
What the lion rode on
From 1936 General Motors-Holden’s ran its national headquarters at Fishermans Bend in Port Melbourne, and that is where the story of the Holden car really starts.
Landmark Holdens, decade by decade
- 1948: Holden 48-215. Launched by Prime Minister Ben Chifley at Fishermans Bend on 29 November 1948, the first mass-produced Australian-made car.
- 1968: HK Monaro. The Monaro GTS327 gave Holden its first Bathurst 500 win the same year.
- 1978: VB Commodore. The first one left the line at Holden’s Pagewood plant in New South Wales on 25 October 1978.
- 2017: VFII Commodore SS-V Redline. A red manual sedan, the last car built at Holden’s Elizabeth plant in South Australia on 20 October 2017, ending local manufacturing.
After 2017 Holden sold imported cars, but not for long. In February 2020 General Motors announced that it would retire the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand by 2021. Its sister brands under the GM roof include Chevrolet and Cadillac. For more on how badges like the lion are created, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Holden logo mean?
The badge shows a lion rolling a stone. It is based on a fable that early humans came up with the idea of the wheel after seeing a lion roll a stone.
Who designed the Holden lion?
The sculptor Rayner Hoff. He was commissioned in 1927, and the badge was first used on Holden car bodies in 1928.
Why was the Holden lion inspired by Wembley?
Holden’s brief to Hoff suggested something like the lion that served as the symbol of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in London.
When did the Holden brand end?
Local car manufacturing ended in October 2017. In February 2020 General Motors announced that the Holden brand would be retired by 2021.
From saddle to Commodore: the Holden file
- Founded
- 1856
- Founder
- James Alexander Holden
- Country
- Australia
- Headquarters
- Port Melbourne, Australia
- Parent company
- General Motors (from 1931)
- Current emblem
- A lion rolling a stone, designed by Rayner Hoff and first used in 1928, last refreshed in 2016
- Known for
- The 48-215, Monaro and Commodore, Australia's own cars
- Status
- Defunct
