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Ultimately,
the Holden manufacturing story ended in the city where it started. The send-off climaxed over the course of a week in October, starting with the Holden Dream Cruise, which gave 25,000 supporters the chance to farewell their favourite brand. More than 1200 Holdens turned out for the event, representing almost seven decades of Aussie-built history, for a procession led by a pristine 48-215 driven by Holden chairman and managing director Mark Bernhard.
Held on Sunday, October 15 ahead of the private farewell and celebration for Holden employees on Friday October 20, the parade and car show included guests such as Beverly Brock and Mark Skaife, who also judged the finest Lions on display.
“It was truly inspirational to see the passion from the Holden fans and our employees past and present. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face from start to finish,” said Bernhard.
“This is the city where our company was born. We want to show Adelaide that we appreciate the support the community has given Holden, particularly over the past 55 years of manufacturing in Elizabeth,” he said.
An auction of three of the last, highperformance limited edition Commodores attracted bidders from across Australia and overseas. Director #5 and Motorsport #5, which hold special significance to Peter Brock fans, and Magnum ute #111 each attracted strong bidding and sale prices of $130,000, $93,000 and $84,000 respectively.
Jamie Lockett drove from Ballarat in Victoria to place the winning bid for the Motorsport V8 Sedan #5. “The unique build numbers added a lot of value to the cars under the hammer. To now own the number five of the late Peter Brock, the King of the Mountain himself – now that’s a piece of history to own,” he said.
Michael Steinborner from Gawler in South Australia said: “I’ve been a Holden fan for decades and I love utes, so to own the last limited-edition Magnum is incredible!”
Sales of the trio tallied $307,000 – with Holden donating $65,000 to The Lighthouse Foundation and the remaining $242,000 of the proceeds plus an additional $500,000 to the Smith Family’s Learning For Life program.