Page "Holden" Paragraph 5

In 1852, James Alexander Holden emigrated to South Australia from Walsall, England and in 1856 established J. A.

Holden & Co, a saddlery business in Adelaide.

In 1885 German-born Henry Frederick Frost joined the business as a junior partner and J. A.

Holden & Co became Holden & Frost Ltd. Edward Holden, James ' grandson, joined the firm in 1905 with an interest in automobiles.

From there, the firm evolved through various partnerships and, in 1908, Holden & Frost moved into the business of minor repairs to car upholstery.

The company began to produce complete motorcycle sidecar bodies in 1913, and Edward experimented with fitting bodies to different types of carriages.

After 1917, wartime trade restrictions led the company to start full-scale production of vehicle body shells.

J. A.

Holden founded a new company in 1919, Holden's Motor Body Builders Ltd ( HMBB ) specialising in car bodies and utilising a facility on King William Street in Adelaide.

By 1923, HMBB were producing 12, 000 units per year.

During this time, HMBB was the first company to assemble bodies for Ford Australia until their Geelong, plant was completed.

From 1924, HMBB became the exclusive supplier of car bodies for GM in Australia, with manufacturing taking place at the new Woodville, South Australia plant.

These bodies were made to suit a number of chassis imported from manufacturers such as Chevrolet and Dodge.

In 1926 General Motors ( Australia ) was established with assembly plants at Newstead, Queensland ; Marrickville, New South Wales ; City Road, Melbourne, Victoria ; Birkenhead, South Australia ; and Cottesloe, Western Australia utilizing bodies produced by Holden Motor Body Builders and imported complete knock down ( CKD ) chassis.

The Great Depression led to a substantial downturn in production by Holden, from 34, 000 units annually in 1930 to just 1, 651 units one year later.

In 1931 General Motors purchased Holden Motor Body Builders and merged it with General Motors ( Australia ) Pty Ltd to form General Motors-Holden's Ltd ( GM-H ).