I've watched this clip 100 times and I think I'll watch it 100 more. So upsett local production closed down, I woulda loved to see next model Aussie built Commodore after the mighty VF
Having been an employee of Holden myself, I know first hand the pride that went into these cars. The VF in particular was a fantastic car in every way. Driving past the Fisherman's Bend site recently in Melbourne was very sad to see. Now fenced off and mostly a flattened deserted site. What cannot be taken away is the pride I still have, and knowing I had the privilege to contribute to what has been an Australian icon we never will forget.
Here in the US we love our Chevy SS, but many of us quickly do a "Holden conversion" after we buy it. We replace all the chevy badges with Holden emblems (including new air bags!), change out as many trim parts as possible, etc. The only thing we haven't done is switch to right-hand drive. The point is we love the cars, and appreciate what a great gift Australia bestowed upon the auto world. It's sad that it has come to an end.
It is even sadder to us Aussies that Chevy did nothing to promote that Aussie made car which resulted in its failure. A few people here in Straya do the Chevy conversion.
My wife and I toured this Holden factory at Elizabeth back in 2001, before we moved back to Brisbane. It was a very interesting tour which even my wife enjoyed. Watching your new car being built would have been a very memorable moment, and one that you would not forget. I know I will never forget the tour of this factory.
That factory is a far cry from the dingy and filthy Toyota Port Melbourne plant where i worked for 2 months back in 1988. I worked in the kerosene bath and the paint shop areas.
yep like Heinz, Arnott's, Rosella, & so many others Kraft as well, all brought out by international multi national companies? Just by shares in these companies and your going to be rich?
I remember the Holden plant at Dandenong extremely 1950s lights and gate buildings Spotswood the movie got filmed at the Dandenong plant as well as the 1990 Toyota Corolla
Luv ya ute mate!! I am lucky to have four utes and a panelvan built here 1964, 1966,1971,& 1980.Great post on such a sad demise of a great ozzie icon.Long live their memory l!! Thanks for taking the time to post , enjoy your fine example of aussie know-how! RIP Holden
Great to see that you've recorded & witnessed the build to your SS ute as you are buying one of the last Aussie built icons. I hope that you also record your use for it so that in years to come, we look back & say that you we used to build cars here. Enjoy your ride as I do with my VY S ute everyday.
Unless people come to a factory like this, they don't often fully appreciate the knowledge, manpower, equipment and resources required to manufacture modern vehicles or any other complex artifacts. Once you lose such capability, it's extremely difficult to get it back. It's a shame Holden screwed it up.
Holden didn't screw it up it was gm and their cost cutting. Same thing happened with the Holden 5 litre v8 it was the best v8 in gm and they killed it off and gave us the crappy ls1
Holden screwed it up? Blame the unions and the workers who kept demanding more pay, to the point where it became cheaper to just import cars because other countries can build them cheaper. What an ignorant comment.
@@Spacemonkeymojo Id say your comment is just as ignorant. Unions and wages aren’t to blame for everything that shuts down you know. If high wages were to blame why do they still make cars in Germany then? Most of its comes down to GM screwing over Holden by exporting all its profits overseas (they made close to one billion dollars profit during the VT Commodore era) and not giving Holden sufficient volumes to remain viable. Americans loved the Commodores that were exported to the US but GM never marketed the cars after Bob Lutz left as head of GM. I’ve got no doubt the Holden plant would still be operating if GM had bothered to promote the car in the US to secure the volumes required to remain profitable.
@David Do you think it makes any sense at all to compare a Holden to a Mercedes, Audi, Porsche or BMW (cars that are made in Germany)? These cars are LUXURY brands and demand a higher price, Holden was not a luxury brand. I don't disagree with what you said because yes some Holden designed and made cars did well in the US, but there's no doubt that the unions screwed Holden over as well. There a multiple factors that went into it. I made that comment two years ago also.
@@Spacemonkeymojo What about the VW Golf? Hardly a luxury car but it’s made in Germany along with a lot of other “non luxury” cars that are also made in Germany. The main difference is that the Germans own their car brands and have ultimate control to make it succeed and will weather the bad times as well as the good because they have to. Global corporations are always fair weather friends and are only there to gouge as much profit as they can get for as little investment as possible. This much was obvious from GM shutting production as soon as their government kickback wasn’t forthcoming. Had GM wanted to make a success from Holden they could have. The volume was there selling the Commodore in the US if they would have bothered to promote it.
The late Queen Elizabeth was not always aware the Holden Elizabeth plant was closed; the Queen had a 1982 Vauxhall Viceroy Estate was actually badge engineered from Holden Commodore VC 3.3 wagon rather than an Opel Commodore.
I like your BOLD BOLD colour of Spitfire Green. I just went for the BOLD colour of Light My Fire and I love my Redline manual sedan (TH-cam channel coming soon.) At least you got to see some part of the production of your car - all I got was 2 still shots of the production, just like everyone else! I thought I saw my Light My Fire in the background at 9am when everyone was having their smoko, but mine was built late May and you produced this video late August. You should also upgrade your Canon 70D to at least a 5D MkII, but I have updated mine to a 5D MkIII and the colour depiction between a MkII and MkIII is unbelievable! I would really love to get a MkIV but a little pricey for my amateur photographer budget.
did ya see which ones were destined for New Zealand bro? friggon amazing, i had been to our GM plant in Upper Hutt when they were doing the VL years ago
Well there'll be the Chinese I guess. The Grand Master plan by our beloved politicians is to wipe out everything locally, give it away to overseas and then slowly sell off the rest to the highest bidder. Australia is truly fucked now !! Thanks Arsehole Politicians !!
You can blame the government, the unions, the workers; everyone but General Motors. GM, Ford and Chrysler operated in Australia and other offshore markets for one reason that is we were their profit base that buffered them from economic losses in the home market of USA. So in recent years the car makers reduced their local content for cheap Asian components, charged higher prices than for equivalent cars in the US market and more recently charged the taxpayer an extortion called co-investment. They claimed a good return on investment but blind freddy could see local content falling, jobs numbers falling, highly skilled workers imported from other countries, Australians being barred from senior positions (Holden) and started to question this return on investment. Holden were backed into a corner and had to stop manufacturing so other governments around the world did not see them give in and remain after a government said "no". Yes we need manufacturing but if it is owned by a foreign company there is no point.
I have to say this but your opening line the VC Commodore was not built in Elizabeth.. up until 1989 The commodores were built in Dandenong Victoria get your information right 🤔😎
hang on a second the DRLs are not supposed to be on at the 8:20 mark, while the headlights are on at the same time, so there's a way to make them be on ,via the system for sure i bet i am not the only one which noticed this fact?
Great vid! Just wondering, even though a car takes what, about 30 hours or so to build, how does that translate into actual days? Over how many days is that 30 odd hours spread, ie, how long is a car on the assembly line for from start to finish? Or is it really all done in one or 2 days?
still so angry with Abbott and co and GM management for their complete failure over Holden.....the treatment of GM Australia by the Coalition govt was just disgusting ...
VB Commodore was introduced in 1978, but was built in Dandenong in Victoria, not in Elizabeth in South Australia. The first Commodore built at Elizabeth was the VC in 1980, after production of the HZ Holden ended.
Then buy one and alway in the back of your mind the ANCAP rating 2 stars yet most other new cars has a average of 4 or 5 stars as far as safety which is why ford claims its a car that will and can kill you, lol >:) good luck when it comes to warranty issues, like the ford focus already twice since it came out ? Also sitting an a car that if you have friends which anywhere near 90KG will not fit in the back at all, just a couple of kids really and how many family 2 door sport cars will people buy and then put their own kids at risk if there's a smash, lol :) If no kids i wonder why or maybe you will have a blonde sitting in the car thats ripping you off everything over the time frame you know her, again LMFAO. :) good luck in a new mustang if anything by a used 2016 shelby Hertz ex rental ?
You got more money, than you deserved from the Australian taxpayer, no model reduction, that would have been responsible and gave most of it to GM America, and now their in the red, where did you think it would end, a national disgrace.
People loved holden factory because 1 guy started to work there, the brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins would come after, no talented people, that's why holden collapsed. 🤣🤣🤣
zorkor , in this day and age brand is irrelevant. Holden's can come from anywhere in the world - the GM global operation. Defects and recalls are common to all manufactures you only have to consider the recent airbag recalls. The shocking truth is that all cars contain parts from global suppliers such as Bosch, ZF, Takata (airbags) the list goes on....
wish GM never dropped Holden but they are being made somewhere else (the new one looks like shit (ZB Commodore)) lets hope they make something mean if not time to look for something new to support.
I've watched this clip 100 times and I think I'll watch it 100 more.
So upsett local production closed down, I woulda loved to see next model Aussie built Commodore after the mighty VF
Having been an employee of Holden myself, I know first hand the pride that went into these cars. The VF in particular was a fantastic car in every way. Driving past the Fisherman's Bend site recently in Melbourne was very sad to see. Now fenced off and mostly a flattened deserted site. What cannot be taken away is the pride I still have, and knowing I had the privilege to contribute to what has been an Australian icon we never will forget.
Here in the US we love our Chevy SS, but many of us quickly do a "Holden conversion" after we buy it. We replace all the chevy badges with Holden emblems (including new air bags!), change out as many trim parts as possible, etc. The only thing we haven't done is switch to right-hand drive. The point is we love the cars, and appreciate what a great gift Australia bestowed upon the auto world. It's sad that it has come to an end.
Do you want buy some Holden badges
🤣🤣🤣
It is even sadder to us Aussies that Chevy did nothing to promote that Aussie made car which resulted in its failure. A few people here in Straya do the Chevy conversion.
My wife and I toured this Holden factory at Elizabeth back in 2001, before we moved back to Brisbane.
It was a very interesting tour which even my wife enjoyed.
Watching your new car being built would have been a very memorable moment, and one that you would not forget.
I know I will never forget the tour of this factory.
That factory is a far cry from the dingy and filthy Toyota Port Melbourne plant where i worked for 2 months back in 1988. I worked in the kerosene bath and the paint shop areas.
What a shame, all this is going to end. . .a beautiful piece of Australian history.
yep like Heinz, Arnott's, Rosella, & so many others Kraft as well, all brought out by international multi national companies? Just by shares in these companies and your going to be rich?
Brilliant upload! Congratulations on the purchase mate! Well done!
Thanks so much. - DZ
I remember the Holden plant at Dandenong extremely 1950s lights and gate buildings Spotswood the movie got filmed at the Dandenong plant as well as the 1990 Toyota Corolla
Luv ya ute mate!! I am lucky to have four utes and a panelvan built here 1964, 1966,1971,& 1980.Great post on such a sad demise of a great ozzie icon.Long live their memory l!! Thanks for taking the time to post , enjoy your fine example of aussie know-how! RIP Holden
Great to see that you've recorded & witnessed the build to your SS ute as you are buying one of the last Aussie built icons. I hope that you also record your use for it so that in years to come, we look back & say that you we used to build cars here. Enjoy your ride as I do with my VY S ute everyday.
Fun fact; those ones at the end with the coloured steel wheels were all destined for the HSV factory to be turned into Clubsport’s and Maloo’s :)
Nice!
Unless people come to a factory like this, they don't often fully appreciate the knowledge, manpower, equipment and resources required to manufacture modern vehicles or any other complex artifacts. Once you lose such capability, it's extremely difficult to get it back. It's a shame Holden screwed it up.
Holden didn't screw it up it was gm and their cost cutting. Same thing happened with the Holden 5 litre v8 it was the best v8 in gm and they killed it off and gave us the crappy ls1
Holden screwed it up? Blame the unions and the workers who kept demanding more pay, to the point where it became cheaper to just import cars because other countries can build them cheaper.
What an ignorant comment.
@@Spacemonkeymojo Id say your comment is just as ignorant. Unions and wages aren’t to blame for everything that shuts down you know. If high wages were to blame why do they still make cars in Germany then?
Most of its comes down to GM screwing over Holden by exporting all its profits overseas (they made close to one billion dollars profit during the VT Commodore era) and not giving Holden sufficient volumes to remain viable. Americans loved the Commodores that were exported to the US but GM never marketed the cars after Bob Lutz left as head of GM.
I’ve got no doubt the Holden plant would still be operating if GM had bothered to promote the car in the US to secure the volumes required to remain profitable.
@David Do you think it makes any sense at all to compare a Holden to a Mercedes, Audi, Porsche or BMW (cars that are made in Germany)? These cars are LUXURY brands and demand a higher price, Holden was not a luxury brand.
I don't disagree with what you said because yes some Holden designed and made cars did well in the US, but there's no doubt that the unions screwed Holden over as well. There a multiple factors that went into it.
I made that comment two years ago also.
@@Spacemonkeymojo What about the VW Golf? Hardly a luxury car but it’s made in Germany along with a lot of other “non luxury” cars that are also made in Germany. The main difference is that the Germans own their car brands and have ultimate control to make it succeed and will weather the bad times as well as the good because they have to.
Global corporations are always fair weather friends and are only there to gouge as much profit as they can get for as little investment as possible. This much was obvious from GM shutting production as soon as their government kickback wasn’t forthcoming. Had GM wanted to make a success from Holden they could have. The volume was there selling the Commodore in the US if they would have bothered to promote it.
Thoroughly enjoyed watching this 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🇬🇧🇦🇺
Awesome car. The VF has been a big step up from the VE inside and out.
VF is a VE but bigger again. Same old principal ie "Bigger is better"
It's a caveman car.
@@davesmith147 Well that’s factually inaccurate seeing as the VE and VF are exactly the same body shell!
Great video, lovely to have this documented for yourself or future owners of her. Look forward to a review on the open road with her.
Always hated green but this shade is awesome. I just picked up phantom gtsr ute .In love with it!
Aussie Legends.
Supercool colour on your new beast!👍 congrats mate!👌😎
The late Queen Elizabeth was not always aware the Holden Elizabeth plant was closed; the Queen had a 1982 Vauxhall Viceroy Estate was actually badge engineered from Holden Commodore VC 3.3 wagon rather than an Opel Commodore.
I like your BOLD BOLD colour of Spitfire Green. I just went for the BOLD colour of Light My Fire and I love my Redline manual sedan (TH-cam channel coming soon.) At least you got to see some part of the production of your car - all I got was 2 still shots of the production, just like everyone else! I thought I saw my Light My Fire in the background at 9am when everyone was having their smoko, but mine was built late May and you produced this video late August.
You should also upgrade your Canon 70D to at least a 5D MkII, but I have updated mine to a 5D MkIII and the colour depiction between a MkII and MkIII is unbelievable! I would really love to get a MkIV but a little pricey for my amateur photographer budget.
did ya see which ones were destined for New Zealand bro? friggon amazing, i had been to our GM plant in Upper Hutt when they were doing the VL years ago
Lucky bastard, would have loved to purchase a brand new holden and watch it being assembled
This was really nice to see, thank you
Congratulations on your new car!
Thanks so much, really appreciate it. - DZ
Who’s here when Holden has closed down for good. Rip Holden 1948-2020
Well there'll be the Chinese I guess.
The Grand Master plan by our beloved politicians is to wipe out everything locally, give it away to overseas and then slowly sell off the rest to the highest bidder.
Australia is truly fucked now !!
Thanks Arsehole Politicians !!
R.I.P Holden. 1856-2020.
You can blame the government, the unions, the workers; everyone but General Motors. GM, Ford and Chrysler operated in Australia and other offshore markets for one reason that is we were their profit base that buffered them from economic losses in the home market of USA. So in recent years the car makers reduced their local content for cheap Asian components, charged higher prices than for equivalent cars in the US market and more recently charged the taxpayer an extortion called co-investment. They claimed a good return on investment but blind freddy could see local content falling, jobs numbers falling, highly skilled workers imported from other countries, Australians being barred from senior positions (Holden) and started to question this return on investment. Holden were backed into a corner and had to stop manufacturing so other governments around the world did not see them give in and remain after a government said "no". Yes we need manufacturing but if it is owned by a foreign company there is no point.
People didn't buy enough of them.
I worked in the paint shop from 77 to 86 1st colour booth second coat my nick name Rocky.
Good to see someone else make cars there.......
I bought the same ute only mine has the Redhot colour. So can I ask when did you film this? Thanks for sharing.
Congrats on your ute! The car was finished on June 30. - DZ
Mate how exciting
Not many people get to see there own car being built. Very cool
The value of these once are going up
I have to say this but your opening line the VC Commodore was not built in Elizabeth.. up until 1989 The commodores were built in Dandenong Victoria get your information right 🤔😎
Apparently the Fisherman's bend building is scheduled to be turned into town houses
hang on a second the DRLs are not supposed to be on at the 8:20 mark, while the headlights are on at the same time, so there's a way to make them be on ,via the system for sure i bet i am not the only one which noticed this fact?
Not a Holden fan but I like the colour choice looks good on your ute
Great vid! Just wondering, even though a car takes what, about 30 hours or so to build, how does that translate into actual days? Over how many days is that 30 odd hours spread, ie, how long is a car on the assembly line for from start to finish? Or is it really all done in one or 2 days?
The whole process from start to finish was done within the day
That color looks like the old Jamaica Lime from the seventies.
Nice ute dude. Keep it 4 eva.
I thought this would be cool watching this but it's actually depressed me had.. It's sad to see it go
nice to see where my car was born
It's sad but still at least you own apart of history and so does my mum has a pearl white ssv redline
well i secured myself a vy ss ute series 2, this would be a time capsule in 20 years time 😍❤️ will never ever gonna sell it
So whats the building been used for now sitting there idle full off robots ect ?
that is deffo cool indeed :)
More hands on then the German brands
this is actually sad to watch, as i have been aspiring to get myself one. and when the chance comes, they are no more. i am literally crying....
still so angry with Abbott and co and GM management for their complete failure over Holden.....the treatment of GM Australia by the Coalition govt was just disgusting ...
So any one from holden here know what colour and better still what vin was the last made sportwagon?.
it's a shame the factory is closing for Americans we are loosing the Chevy SS/Holden Commodore and we never got the Wagon or the Ute =(
You only show half of the General assembly process
The vehicle was half built before the camera rolled ..... lol
The workers are smiling after counting what their packages are worth.
Was the VB Commodore not made here...?
VB Commodore was introduced in 1978, but was built in Dandenong in Victoria, not in Elizabeth in South Australia.
The first Commodore built at Elizabeth was the VC in 1980, after production of the HZ Holden ended.
Cool
Great purchase, beautiful colour to. Such a shame about Holden :(
And the paid 100k to bolt on wheels . A tyre fitter only earns 25 hr
Expensive to get car serviced at Holden.
It’s expensive to get your car serviced at any dealership. That’s why independent mechanics exist!
The break times they mention give an indication of the quality of the vehicle. Not Good!!
Saab, Opel, Vauxhall, now Holden. GM sucks.
I call it sadiM. It's when a company or person has the Midas touch in reverse. Everything they touch...
how dare they eat smoko. just build my car.
A good time to get a New car see the car being made best not some Old shitter parked in the sun and rain
Holden are now irrelevant in Australia.
Much rather a gt mustang my2018
elmin2323 HA GAY!!
Then buy one and alway in the back of your mind the ANCAP rating 2 stars yet most other new cars has a average of 4 or 5 stars as far as safety which is why ford claims its a car that will and can kill you, lol >:) good luck when it comes to warranty issues, like the ford focus already twice since it came out ? Also sitting an a car that if you have friends which anywhere near 90KG will not fit in the back at all, just a couple of kids really and how many family 2 door sport cars will people buy and then put their own kids at risk if there's a smash, lol :) If no kids i wonder why or maybe you will have a blonde sitting in the car thats ripping you off everything over the time frame you know her, again LMFAO. :) good luck in a new mustang if anything by a used 2016 shelby Hertz ex rental ?
7071t6 check most new porches arn't even tested! And none have any tech either!
Elmin you total BELLEND, 2 Star ANCAP rating! Fill your boots my son
It's sad that everyone will lose their jobs
Orrrsé-Strâylêans ÁwlL Lhéťť Ûss Řhëēé-Jôîćé 4õûř Whêë Âřê Ôľđê ûńtt Ģřâý
😲😲😲😲😱😟😰😟😰😩😩😩😩😨😧😦😥😲😲😲😳😵😶😵😳
You got more money, than you deserved from the Australian taxpayer, no model reduction, that would have been responsible and gave most of it to GM America, and now their in the red, where did you think it would end, a national disgrace.
People loved holden factory because 1 guy started to work there, the brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins would come after, no talented people, that's why holden collapsed. 🤣🤣🤣
Not a reliable brand.
zorkor fuck off
No doubt you have personnel first hand experience.....? Or did a bloke down the pub tell ya that.😂😂😂
zorkor , in this day and age brand is irrelevant. Holden's can come from anywhere in the world - the GM global operation. Defects and recalls are common to all manufactures you only have to consider the recent airbag recalls. The shocking truth is that all cars contain parts from global suppliers such as Bosch, ZF, Takata (airbags) the list goes on....
You can see my Dad at 2:08 Only 7,000 views? We need more, people!
Pssst, hi Dad!
G'day Mr Anderson ... you legend!
wish GM never dropped Holden but they are being made somewhere else (the new one looks like shit (ZB Commodore)) lets hope they make something mean if not time to look for something new to support.