I am proud to own a VFII SSV Redline Sportwagon, and I watched this choking back tears. Thankyou to the men and women of GMH Elizabeth plant for the great cars that rolled off this line, never to be repeated.
I love this video, one of the best ones I've seen in a long time! I absolutely love my Chevy SS in the US - I knew the car would be great for me, but even more special now that it's already a rare car in the US and even more special now that it's the last of its kind from Australia. Very sad to see quality Australian manufacturing come to an end. Thank you again.
Thank you for everything from a grateful American, I have owned my GTO from day 1, March 18, 2004......An incredible car built from incredible people, it is truly sad to see Holden go.
Jason...hang on to that car. Australian-made Holdens will now appreciate in value over time. I have been offered a ten thousand dollar premium over what I paid for my VF Commodore (2017) as it still only has about a thousand miles on the ODO and is so pristine the plastic protection wraps are still in place in some parts of the body where the local dealer didn't do the initial detailing all that well.
Nice work capturing this for people now and in future to see 👍 I worked at HSV for roughly 8 years and while not being a fan of Aussie cars personally it was a great experience anyway
I am fortunate to have a 2015 Chevy SS in Alchemy Purple which is one of only 61 produced. I just love the car. So sorry to see the production end. This is a car I will keep forever.
Joe...consider it a parting gift from GM's smallest division which frequently operated on shoestring budgets to create world-class engineering such as that in your VF Commodore nee Chevy SS. We once made cars in this country...tough cars that could battle it out with the best of them. Now we make nothing. I will never forgive the CEO and management of GMCA for this...never. Holdens were always marketed as "Australia's Own Car". Now we will have Opels disguised as Holdens...a crying shame.
Thank you for your diligent endeavours and sheer hard work. Vale Holden, "Australia's Own Car" ...the proud lion is now dead...the rolling stone of progress slipped away from its mighty paw. Holden is no more... Placing the lion on an imported car does not make it a Holden. Being built in Australia by Australians does.
It did not have to end, the government dared them to leave and they did. now australian roads are being clogged with shitboxes from Thailand and China, and the priced are no cheaper
Thank you so much for making this video, and thank you so much for the dedication and passionate work at the Holden plant. I can’t believe the day has come, and that line will never run again
And look at what our manufacturing industry was able to produce during war, when need came. Can't do that now, gotta rely on others. Holdens last day was a sad one, I love my VL, my VT and my HX. This is footage I haven't seen before, thanks.
Very sad and beautiful video. I am the proud owner of a SSV LS3 . Thank you so much for your service, your stability and your grace Holden. We love you !!!
Awesome video!.I loved the decade I spent working at GM Holden...took a package in Dec 2012 , still miss the place and the people!... Maybe one day the government and the general public might wake up and realise that Australia has lost a world class manufacturing icon whose products helped shape our nation.
I spent 10 years working there as a leading hand in the bodyshop from 1987 until 1997. 10 of the best years of my working life. was so sad to see it close down a couple of years ago. thank you senator Button for introducing your plan to reduce import tariffs on imported cars. you helped to destroy the motor industry here.
i worked almost 20 yrs in the automotive industry making the interior systems ( seats, door trims, carpets, roof lining and boot lids) . so sad to see what i thought would be where i would retire from is now gone . i was there at the end and will never sell my 2 pieces of holden history ( Vk HDT director and Ve ssv ute )........ what a joy holdens has given me......r.i.p. HOLDENs and a big FU to the australian government and GM who destroyed manufacturing here for their own greed . good luck to the workers hope we all find work .....
director2105 GM wasn't going to spend any money supporting new car development at Holden. The government couldn't just keep handing over money to keep Holden on life support. Had GM shown commitment to Holden the government might have too.
If I was an Australian assembly plant worker. I’d move to the UK. Just saying. I’m very sad about that Holden, Ford, and Toyota ended manufacturing there. 😔 Even I’m tearing up watching this.
This is actually really sad 😭. As a kiwi we have also known Holden a long time and believe it not we used to make them here as well and were at one point the best selling cArs in Nz for 10 years running. RIP Holden Australia, this is a terrible thing for the best car makers in the world. Long live HSV!
Great video. My respect to all the Holden employees who made all the great cars over the years. I have owned 5 different model Commodores over the years and I love my last, which I will never part with, a VF SSV Redline. Such a shame our shortsighted politicians wrecked this industry as it is a truly great car.
Not as big of a fan as I was when I was younger. But there is no other cars I'd rather have. Big, RWD V8 and tubo 6's, with shit loads of character and local history. We had something so, so beautiful. Something that I'm amazed didn't capture more attention globally. Thank you for this video.
Holden being owned by GM meant they couldn’t get the required volumes globally as they weren’t allowed to export the vehicles themselves as GM kept them on a short leash that choked Holden to death. Holden would still be making cars if they were allowed to freely export and promote in the United States as Holden, independent of GM. Bob Lutz wanted Holden to become GMs premier sedan manufacturer and following his retirement GM management knifed Holden in the back.
This was an incredible video and a job well done 👌🏻. I loved it but it was also pretty sad to watch at the same time 🥺. I own a VZ SS and I’m never letting her go!
Very emotive video. I don't know who produced this but 10 out of 10. I've driven Holden's all my driving life from a 1972 HQ 308 panel van to my current VFII SS. Love them to bits. I'll drive the SS for the rest of my life. If I can't buy a Holden then I won't buy another car. I'll just keep the one I've got.
Although I understand your passion why would you drive the same thing for that long Don't get to 80 and look back on wasted years Try some other cars while you can
The car company that my uncle, and myself had the pleasure of working there at the Fisherman’s bend plant in Melbourne, I remember the Black VK 3.3’s on their 1st start up on the test bench back in mid 1984, now it’s all gone forever! What an absolute shame, loved this video 👍
To know that we were so brilliantly good at vehicle manufacturing and we were. Employing such a dedicated work force, then just throw it all away. The technology, the beautiful factorys, innovative tooling & equipment. The dedication by generations before us. Brave Australians sacrifised their life for our freedom & chance to be great & prosperous. Now destroyed. Crushing, just fucking crushing....
My job at Holden was to put it's badges on. Very easy...line up the jig then press badge after badge on car after car. Such an exciting job. Bit like putting stickers on every apple 🍎 at the supermarket.👍👍
Love and cherish my Chevy ss so much. End of a era. 😭😭😭 I will purchase a Chevy caprice and one day import a GTSR for my holden collection. Gtsr sedan and gts ute. Forever love holden I've owned germam and Japanese cars and I know they are also imported. But something about Holden it melts my heart. Knowing it went down the same line us so cool.
The true magnitude of the crime of the closing of the Australian automotive sector isn't just the assembly workers who lose there jobs, but that this massively complex supply-chain network has been dismantled, or perhaps rather, switched off and allowed to rot. I think all the pollies in Cantberra need to be made to watch this video in its entirety.
This all came to an end thanks to that bargearse Joe Hockey the then Federal government treasurer who dared General motors Holden to leave Australia...
great video - was a great place to work, with lots of great people - used to love stirring up the shift manager with how many miracles this shift!. Sad GM, ford, Bitsamissing and Tojo ran off - was a great industry.
Its sad still to this day that GMH will never build a Aussie built Commodore again. This brand made most Aussies proud and showed what we could do as a small country (in terms of population not size) 😢
Every time I watch this i tear up I’m glad my dad was a Holden man from his first ej Holden,,i love the body tag sheet hanging on the front of the Vf bumper it reminds me of a excited dog new adventure... around the 24 minute mark ....am I crazy I like giving a little piece wave to all Vf commodores as they pass me on the road .. people may think I know them i love my vf thanks for this great video
Hi Frankie no you’re not crazy you have a love and passion for these special cars that have so much soul and personality. I have a regal peacock (Green) SV6 sports wagon that I love and will never part with named Holly. I found her Big sister Grace a 2008 HSV grange in Heron white. Like you much to my wife’s chagrin I wave to and greet all the Holden commodores driving past in my street of Kilsyth Victoria Australia. It takes a car lover to understand they are more the An just steel rubber and glass. ❤❤😢😢😊
Devastating what a loss, it’s must be so difficult for all the workers directly and indirectly affected. We won’t see the true effects for many years. All we need to do is see how this action has effected Detroit the same will happen here.Very sad!!
I love my VF1 Sportswagon LPG and the BF Falcon wagon LPG I drove previously was also a great car. Not sure what I will do for my next car. Bloody sad it won't be Australian made.
So many emotions watching this video. Unbelievable that now a whole assembly line stands still and many proud people are out of work. Such a waste and shame.
I am a grown man but I still shed a tear watching this footage . I am so angry with GM detroit as to their sheer gluttonous behaviour in taking Billions of Aussie taxpayer dollars and not actively investing in new product & development ! Many factors are involved but many other companies build cars in high production cost countries competitively . I am so sad to see these highly skilled Aussie workers lose their jobs .
Governments should never subsidize any business. GM is not to blame really. Your government is the one at fault for providing the taxpayer dollars. They should not have do so. We had the same problem with Obama and his failing solar companies, the taxpayers were left holding the bag.
Governments around the world protect their various car industries using initiatives from subsidies to heavy trade tariffs . Japan and Germany are very good examples . GM has always been very happy to take any Government and or Dictators money around the world in return for vehicle production and favourable treatment eg: GM making trucks for Adolf Hitler through direct ownership of Opel ( truck was called Opel Blitz ) and Ford did the same during the early part of WWII . GM are definitely not saints and should not be made out as such . They are a business with shareholders whom will do whatever it takes to return a profit . No country anywhere in the world has a real free market . All governments involve themselves in subsidising one industry or another . Take U.S agriculture and corn production , they make many times more than they need ( grossly subsidised ) and use it as an economic tool of war ie : exporting to Mexico whom can't even plant it for the price of U.S corn resulting in mass local unemployment . We would all love the utopian idea of a true free market but the reality is far from ever happening . But , we can all dream I suppose !
☹thank u holden. Thats the saddest thing to see. Australia is so far dead without this industry. And to think its never coming back. Thanks holden. Im glad i got to live and see the final days.
Thanks so much for this video, clearly a labor of love just like Holden was for those who worked there. We punched so far above our weight but it just wasn’t enough. People love to blame (bloody) GM or our (bastard) politicians but the fact is there were myriad reasons it went wrong, the main one being we’re a wealthy nation with a stratospheric cost of living. All the efficiency in the world couldn’t change that. I will never sell my ute. Ever.
Sad..Sad Days We will never see Our Holden's made again.. I have had models from FC to VZ (still have VZ ) and still have my baby 1985 AUG ( VK 134 pack) V8 manual ...go fast red lol , retired mechanical Fitter 68 old still a rev head lol... just saying..
Bloody impressive really. From nothing to a car! Wouldn’t it be cool to be old mate that gets to be first to start up and drive a lot of them. I wonder if any don’t start lol
All this state of the art equipment, every little step, so many careful details, so much local employment, such an incredible product, so much history, just for some f#%wit journalist to come out at the end and tell the country it’s a piece of crap, for the sake of having an opinion. Rip holden
And please tell me what happens to the sheets after the car is finished because they don't get found under the carpet do they? In the bin at the dealer??@DropAGearDisappear
“A nation that doesn’t build for the future is a nation that will surely die.” Taken from a presidential speech in 1963 by JFK. Very prophetic in these uncertain times for all Australians. Both Labor and Liberal stuffed us up beginning with John Button wiping out the import tariffs in the 1980’s, forcing Aussie businesses to close and move offshore, making imports cheaper, and finishing with ScoMo in 2017 abandoning Australian car manufacturing. Now in these Coronavirus times, we’re left with a bleak future with no way out............until the people themselves demand drastic action to keep local manufacturing, local!
What about the Holden Plant at Pagewood in Sydney? I lived in Pagewood in my early years as a teenager, I had a EH Holden Station Wagon, brown in color.
Such a shame really, the whole Australian automotive manufacturing industry gone just like that after decades and decades of producing brilliant cars. People will look back at this in the future and question what the fuck everyone was thinking letting it get to this point.
Incompetent senior holden management and interference from gm in america was a lot to do with the closure as well as people not buying Australian built cars . When holden management would give Peter Brock the sack twice that has to say something about the wrong people running the company and sending a lot of the money earned back to gm didn't help either .
Holden was making a product that not enough people wanted to buy. Holden had roughly three decades to get their product mix right. They had the huge advantage of a loyal and reasonably undiscerning customer base and massive government handouts. They had government fleet deals not available to the imports. It is a pity a progressive company could not have stepped in and saved Holden from General Motors like how Geely rescued Volvo from the clutches of Ford.
so they actually drive the car a little bit before the car is actually sold, so in the car yard a brand new car would have maybe 3 or 4 km's already on the clock?
What killed Holden wasn’t GM it was Fucken SUV’s number 1, fwds, small cars, cars from overseas, petrol prices and station wagons stopped being popular. I personally own a VE GTS 07 LS2 Grey that I’m more than happy with!
Very sad to hear this holden made the best holdens over the years in Australia i really want them to make more Commodore in aussie RIP holden factory Australia 😔
A big thank you for making this video. This was the best car Australia produced and it did have success in Australia and abroad. Greed is what killed Austraian manufacturing, not sales. So id like to send a special shout out to GM America, The Australian Government, and The Workers Union of Australia for destroying what was an institution in this country, for your greed and underhanded deals made the Holden and Ford what it is today.... a bloody memory. And to every Australian out there keep buying cheap shit from Asia, stop, think and buy localy made products, yes its more expensive but it will last 4 times as long and you helping your own economy not some sweat shop in China or Bangladesh, or Mexico. Wake up
The cheaper assembly robots which were old units have been sold. Some of the fittings will go for scrap. The more valuable equipment...panel presses and the like, will be sent to GM units in Thailand and China (SAIC joint-venture). It's like locusts feeding off the once proud Holden lion. A real Australian tragedy!
Much better reasons than that are why robots are used. All car makers do now or you would not be able to afford the cars they make and have to put up with assembly errors done by humans plus the robots can do dangerous jobs that humans cannot.
Why did govt throw billions of dollars at it without a stake in return. We (Australians) should own Holden. I watched the Woodville plant close and now we this. I remember this plant building Kingswoods, Commodores, Toranas, Camiras. Sedans, Wagons, Vans, Utes. Never should have let GM get the upper hand.
This is why governments should never subsidize any companies. No reason that taxpayers should bear any burden at all. Either the business survives on it's own or it can't. They get sloppy with the business when they have extra money coming in from the taxpayers. The government is responsible for this error, not GM. They just took advantage of the opportunity as you would have done if it was presented to you. We had this problem with Obama and the solar companies that went bankrupt during his time.
That's not true Mike, your libertarian arguments, don't stack up with car's, there wouldn't be any Kia or Hyundai or any motor vehicle industry for that matter, if it wasn't for government, this idea that something like a car industry shouldn't be backed by government is total rubbish, a simplistic answer, unrealistic in today's world, it's not like running a little corner Store and nothing would ever get built if it was all about dollars and cents, we'd all be third world . Big Corporations like GM, will always game government, that's why government needs to control them and make sure they build industry that create jobs in there country and use tariffs to stop them jumping ship. The worlds not perfect, corporations need to be managed by government for the greater good, other wise you get what you have in America with Walmart and that is a total monopoly, no free market there and your private health system that costs more than most public one's. I don't know about your solar industry, but in Australia, government help start the industry here and it is now thriving, with some of the biggest uptake of roof top solar in the world, mainly thanks to government subsides, read a little about industry history and economics not just Aye Rand Mike
Sad time for Holden and a sad time for Australia. A sign of the times. Everyone wants to pay the least as possible for what they want. I bought a VF2 SS in 2016. Very good car but it cost me $52000 on the road and it's just a base SS, no heads up display, no heated seats, no electric passenger seat, no magnetic ride suspension, no sunroof, no GPS, no flat bottom steering wheel, no sports seats etc etc etc. Why did it cost so much to buy a basic SS here when a fully loaded SS shipped to the USA cost less than my SS? I think Holdens strategy was to sell the USA exports cheaply to bolster the Australian manufacturing. But Americans didn't buy enough of them as they were styled similar to a Malibu. The gamble didn't pay off. The Australian government did hand out countless millions of tax payer dollars to Holden and Ford to try to keep them viable so the Australian government of the time did their best to breathe life back in to the Australian automotive industry. Greed and the never ending pursuit of out performing the previous year will eventually ring the death nell to everything. R. I. P Holden Australia Ford Australia and Toyota Australia.
holy cow,, machines and robots for everything ... back in 1990 robots only did spot welding and painted the outside of the car . if you wanted " blackouts " men with spray guns painted those parts and door frames in a spray booth ... we chased the car along a chain in the floor .. not like this where the whole floor moves with the car ... i started work at elizabeth paint shop late 1987,,, were finishing the build of the VL commodore . i think GM was jealouse that aussie built cars were selling well in the US , so they shut down there opposition ... there own company that was making them money..
It had nothing to do with the product and the company had flexibility the GM Vice President of product Mark Reuss stated this in writing in GM news at the time. The Commodore was the number 3 car in the market when the closure was announced People like the then MD of BMW said the Govts attitude was wrong. Toyota had jus finished a new engine plant when they announced their closure. Mark Reuss had said he had every intention of keeping what was then the commodore in production . The level of assistance to the industry was the lowest yes the lowest of any country producing cars.I am so tired of hearing they had the wrong product . I own a VE Calais not perfect ( no car is ) but an excellent car & very strong.Also workers had given up many conditions to keep the company afloat down to 20 minute lunch & 15 minute morning tea, they also agreed to do more in the time allocated for their station.
@@DropAGearDisappear The small company I work for bought all of the robots, we still currently have around 200. We have been repurposing them. Mainly as arc welders now, and some pick and place applications.
the bloke hitting out the speaker blanks probably got a six figure salary and worked a four day week, that is the real reason Australia no longer makes cars
more like 900 after tax working arvos - not as much as some might think. The work was hard and we all prayed the line would stop for some reason or another so we could catch up..good luck trying to get a toilet break - there were stories of one bloke pissing in an ice coffee container whilst in the welding booth lol.
@@petes_ventures I worked in the old paint shop in the 80s really bad conditions. Too hot in winter and unbearable in summer. Phosphate fumes coming down through the fans god knows what that's going to do to me in my old age. No fancy robots to do all the dirty jobs just two guys spraying one another in the face painting the roof and covered in paint if you worked painting the inside and outside of the doors. I left in 88 couldn't wait to get away from the place and I still have nightmares of fucking Commodore's coming toward me!
@@dingodazz3724 Nah, paint booths you were spraying over running water, to collect overspray. You could piss straight through the floor - seen it done a few times - personally I took the opportunity to escape the line and let the leading hands wave a gun for a while haha.
I am proud to own a VFII SSV Redline Sportwagon, and I watched this choking back tears. Thankyou to the men and women of GMH Elizabeth plant for the great cars that rolled off this line, never to be repeated.
I love this video, one of the best ones I've seen in a long time! I absolutely love my Chevy SS in the US - I knew the car would be great for me, but even more special now that it's already a rare car in the US and even more special now that it's the last of its kind from Australia. Very sad to see quality Australian manufacturing come to an end. Thank you again.
Thank you for enjoying our Aussie Holden’s we love them too cheers
111111111
I have a 2014 ss sandan an it my baby
Thank you for everything from a grateful American, I have owned my GTO from day 1, March 18, 2004......An incredible car built from incredible people, it is truly sad to see Holden go.
Jason...hang on to that car. Australian-made Holdens will now appreciate in value over time. I have been offered a ten thousand dollar premium over what I paid for my VF Commodore (2017) as it still only has about a thousand miles on the ODO and is so pristine the plastic protection wraps are still in place in some parts of the body where the local dealer didn't do the initial detailing all that well.
Nice work capturing this for people now and in future to see 👍
I worked at HSV for roughly 8 years and while not being a fan of Aussie cars personally it was a great experience anyway
Absolutely beautiful to watch the cars being made. Such a shame that it had to end. Holden 1948-2017
thanks it was a sad day
Shed tears...that music...I love my VFS2 SSV even more now
Thank everyone at Holden, for building my new Commodore before the factory closed. Its very sad to see the end of manufacturing in Australia.
I am fortunate to have a 2015 Chevy SS in Alchemy Purple which is one of only 61 produced. I just love the car. So sorry to see the production end. This is a car I will keep forever.
great color!! thanks
Joe...consider it a parting gift from GM's smallest division which frequently operated on shoestring budgets to create world-class engineering such as that in your VF Commodore nee Chevy SS. We once made cars in this country...tough cars that could battle it out with the best of them. Now we make nothing. I will never forgive the CEO and management of GMCA for this...never. Holdens were always marketed as "Australia's Own Car". Now we will have Opels disguised as Holdens...a crying shame.
Thank you for your diligent endeavours and sheer hard work. Vale Holden, "Australia's Own Car" ...the proud lion is now dead...the rolling stone of progress slipped away from its mighty paw. Holden is no more... Placing the lion on an imported car does not make it a Holden. Being built in Australia by Australians does.
It did not have to end, the government dared them to leave and they did. now australian roads are being clogged with shitboxes from Thailand and China, and the priced are no cheaper
Thank you so much for making this video, and thank you so much for the dedication and passionate work at the Holden plant. I can’t believe the day has come, and that line will never run again
And look at what our manufacturing industry was able to produce during war, when need came. Can't do that now, gotta rely on others. Holdens last day was a sad one, I love my VL, my VT and my HX. This is footage I haven't seen before, thanks.
Very sad and beautiful video.
I am the proud owner of a SSV LS3 .
Thank you so much for your service, your stability and your grace Holden.
We love you !!!
Thanks for all the great comments! I was very lucky the rules were changed at towards the end of production
Thank you for uploading this video. I'm still in tears bro..
Our new manufacturing site
Awesome video!.I loved the decade I spent working at GM Holden...took a package in Dec 2012 , still miss the place and the people!... Maybe one day the government and the general public might wake up and realise that Australia has lost a world class manufacturing icon whose products helped shape our nation.
I spent 10 years working there as a leading hand in the bodyshop from 1987 until 1997. 10 of the best years of my working life. was so sad to see it close down a couple of years ago. thank you senator Button for introducing your plan to reduce import tariffs on imported cars. you helped to destroy the motor industry here.
Who’s Senator Buttons?
@@matthunter4826 Senator John Button - he introduced "The Motor Industry Development Plan" (commonly known as the "Button Plan")
P Line in the Body shop was my job for around 5 years. It's a shame it's all gone.. Excellent video
I had no intention of watching this video, just surfing but have watch it twice….. amazing video
i worked almost 20 yrs in the automotive industry making the interior systems ( seats, door trims, carpets, roof lining and boot lids) . so sad to see what i thought would be where i would retire from is now gone . i was there at the end and will never sell my 2 pieces of holden history ( Vk HDT director and Ve ssv ute )........ what a joy holdens has given me......r.i.p. HOLDENs and a big FU to the australian government and GM who destroyed manufacturing here for their own greed . good luck to the workers hope we all find work .....
director2105 GM wasn't going to spend any money supporting new car development at Holden. The government couldn't just keep handing over money to keep Holden on life support. Had GM shown commitment to Holden the government might have too.
If I was an Australian assembly plant worker. I’d move to the UK. Just saying. I’m very sad about that Holden, Ford, and Toyota ended manufacturing there. 😔 Even I’m tearing up watching this.
This is actually really sad 😭. As a kiwi we have also known Holden a long time and believe it not we used to make them here as well and were at one point the best selling cArs in Nz for 10 years running. RIP Holden Australia, this is a terrible thing for the best car makers in the world. Long live HSV!
Great video. My respect to all the Holden employees who made all the great cars over the years. I have owned 5 different model Commodores over the years and I love my last, which I will never part with, a VF SSV Redline. Such a shame our shortsighted politicians wrecked this industry as it is a truly great car.
Not as big of a fan as I was when I was younger. But there is no other cars I'd rather have. Big, RWD V8 and tubo 6's, with shit loads of character and local history. We had something so, so beautiful. Something that I'm amazed didn't capture more attention globally. Thank you for this video.
Holden being owned by GM meant they couldn’t get the required volumes globally as they weren’t allowed to export the vehicles themselves as GM kept them on a short leash that choked Holden to death. Holden would still be making cars if they were allowed to freely export and promote in the United States as Holden, independent of GM. Bob Lutz wanted Holden to become GMs premier sedan manufacturer and following his retirement GM management knifed Holden in the back.
This was an incredible video and a job well done 👌🏻. I loved it but it was also pretty sad to watch at the same time 🥺. I own a VZ SS and I’m never letting her go!
Very emotive video. I don't know who produced this but 10 out of 10. I've driven Holden's all my driving life from a 1972 HQ 308 panel van to my current VFII SS. Love them to bits. I'll drive the SS for the rest of my life. If I can't buy a Holden then I won't buy another car. I'll just keep the one I've got.
Just a humble exholden employee that loved working there. And loves his car!
Although I understand your passion why would you drive the same thing for that long
Don't get to 80 and look back on wasted years
Try some other cars while you can
I've owned Fords, BMWs Triumphs BSAs and Harley Davidson's. I'm doing fine. @@ArtVandelayOfficial
The car company that my uncle, and myself had the pleasure of working there at the Fisherman’s bend plant in Melbourne, I remember the Black VK 3.3’s on their 1st start up on the test bench back in mid 1984, now it’s all gone forever! What an absolute shame, loved this video 👍
To know that we were so brilliantly good at vehicle manufacturing and we were. Employing such a dedicated work force, then just throw it all away. The technology, the beautiful factorys, innovative tooling & equipment. The dedication by generations before us. Brave Australians sacrifised their life for our freedom & chance to be great & prosperous. Now destroyed. Crushing, just fucking crushing....
My job at Holden was to put it's badges on. Very easy...line up the jig then press badge after badge on car after car. Such an exciting job. Bit like putting stickers on every apple 🍎 at the supermarket.👍👍
Awesome video, thanks for sharing mate. I have a 2017 SSV Redline in Heron White also, sensational vehicles!!
Love and cherish my Chevy ss so much. End of a era. 😭😭😭
I will purchase a Chevy caprice and one day import a GTSR for my holden collection. Gtsr sedan and gts ute. Forever love holden
I've owned germam and Japanese cars and I know they are also imported. But something about Holden it melts my heart. Knowing it went down the same line us so cool.
Great Watch! So glad I own a VF SSV. Thanks for sharing.
I miss working at Holden so very much - So depressing :(
zorlacskaterfreak same here
That music though.....and the history behind this place........hits me right in the feels :( Will never sell my VF2 Redline.
The true magnitude of the crime of the closing of the Australian automotive sector isn't just the assembly workers who lose there jobs, but that this massively complex supply-chain network has been dismantled, or perhaps rather, switched off and allowed to rot. I think all the pollies in Cantberra need to be made to watch this video in its entirety.
This all came to an end thanks to that bargearse Joe Hockey the then Federal government treasurer who dared General motors Holden to leave Australia...
What a fucking shame. I shed a tear.
So did i........
me too
great video - was a great place to work, with lots of great people - used to love stirring up the shift manager with how many miracles this shift!. Sad GM, ford, Bitsamissing and Tojo ran off - was a great industry.
Its sad still to this day that GMH will never build a Aussie built Commodore again. This brand made most Aussies proud and showed what we could do as a small country (in terms of population not size) 😢
Every time I watch this i tear up I’m glad my dad was a Holden man from his first ej Holden,,i love the body tag sheet hanging on the front of the Vf bumper it reminds me of a excited dog new adventure... around the 24 minute mark ....am I crazy I like giving a little piece wave to all Vf commodores as they pass me on the road .. people may think I know them i love my vf thanks for this great video
Hi Frankie no you’re not crazy you have a love and passion for these special cars that have so much soul and personality. I have a regal peacock (Green) SV6 sports wagon that I love and will never part with named Holly. I found her Big sister Grace a 2008 HSV grange in Heron white. Like you much to my wife’s chagrin I wave to and greet all the Holden commodores driving past in my street of Kilsyth Victoria Australia. It takes a car lover to understand they are more the
An just steel rubber and glass. ❤❤😢😢😊
Ive driven Vf evoke sv6 ss ssv redlines to the gtsr s ......... they all drive brilliantly thank you Holden
Amazing story without a word spoken. . . . shed a tear too
I thought I would stop tearing up after 2years not watching this I guess I love Holden rip
Its the last of the V8's world class build cars in Australia , They mite be gone but they will never be forgotten Amen ...
Never watched this start to finish. Amazing record of the hard work. I spy some HSVs towards the end 😉
Devastating what a loss, it’s must be so difficult for all the workers directly and indirectly affected. We won’t see the true effects for many years. All we need to do is see how this action has effected Detroit the same will happen here.Very sad!!
I own a Series 2 VF Holden Calais V6 in white with the white trim. Love it so much I had it ceramic coated.
I love my VF1 Sportswagon LPG and the BF Falcon wagon LPG I drove previously was also a great car. Not sure what I will do for my next car. Bloody sad it won't be Australian made.
Thank you to all the Holden workers who built my beautiful red hot Holden Commodore vf series 2 sv6. I will cherish the car forever
Well made video.
RIP Holden 😭
Would this be the time to resurrect the Zeta brand,by using this plant?
I can't figure out if I should be nostalgic and proud of something we had or shunning it for something we lost. Emotional none the less
So many emotions watching this video. Unbelievable that now a whole assembly line stands still and many proud people are out of work. Such a waste and shame.
An absolute brilliant video - thanks so much !
Thank you for sharing this mate! 👍🏻👍🏻😥
I am a grown man but I still shed a tear watching this footage . I am so angry with GM detroit as to their sheer gluttonous behaviour in taking Billions of Aussie taxpayer dollars and not actively investing in new product & development !
Many factors are involved but many other companies build cars in high production cost countries competitively .
I am so sad to see these highly skilled Aussie workers lose their jobs .
thank you deeply
Governments should never subsidize any business. GM is not to blame really. Your government is the one at fault for providing the taxpayer dollars. They should not have do so. We had the same problem with Obama and his failing solar companies, the taxpayers were left holding the bag.
Governments around the world protect their various car industries using initiatives from subsidies to heavy trade tariffs . Japan and Germany are very good examples . GM has always been very happy to take any Government and or Dictators money around the world in return for vehicle production and favourable treatment eg: GM making trucks for Adolf Hitler through direct ownership of Opel ( truck was called Opel Blitz ) and Ford did the same during the early part of WWII . GM are definitely not saints and should not be made out as such . They are a business with shareholders whom will do whatever it takes to return a profit .
No country anywhere in the world has a real free market . All governments involve themselves in subsidising one industry or another . Take U.S agriculture and corn production , they make many times more than they need ( grossly subsidised ) and use it as an economic tool of war ie : exporting to Mexico whom can't even plant it for the price of U.S corn resulting in mass local unemployment .
We would all love the utopian idea of a true free market but the reality is far from ever happening .
But , we can all dream I suppose !
☹thank u holden. Thats the saddest thing to see. Australia is so far dead without this industry. And to think its never coming back. Thanks holden. Im glad i got to live and see the final days.
Thanks so much for this video, clearly a labor of love just like Holden was for those who worked there. We punched so far above our weight but it just wasn’t enough. People love to blame (bloody) GM or our (bastard) politicians but the fact is there were myriad reasons it went wrong, the main one being we’re a wealthy nation with a stratospheric cost of living. All the efficiency in the world couldn’t change that. I will never sell my ute. Ever.
holdens legacy lives on after this closure
I Love this video because it's where my car came from.i wish I could have been there
WOW! Great foresight to make this video. Question: How long did the car take to complete and when did it roll out of the factory?
About 4 days.
Sad..Sad Days We will never see Our Holden's made again.. I have had models from FC to VZ (still have VZ ) and still have my baby
1985 AUG ( VK 134 pack) V8 manual ...go fast red lol , retired mechanical Fitter 68 old still a rev head lol... just saying..
Sad video, sorry for all the people out of a job. RIP
Holden.
Brings a tear to my eyes
Bloody impressive really. From nothing to a car!
Wouldn’t it be cool to be old mate that gets to be first to start up and drive a lot of them. I wonder if any don’t start lol
I worked on the line next to where they start up and drive off. Very few didn't start.
All this state of the art equipment, every little step, so many careful details, so much local employment, such an incredible product, so much history, just for some f#%wit journalist to come out at the end and tell the country it’s a piece of crap, for the sake of having an opinion.
Rip holden
You can see the broadcast sheet when the dash is being assembled thats what they go by.
Yes, each car has a Broadcast sheet showing what parts go on the car
And please tell me what happens to the sheets after the car is finished because they don't get found under the carpet do they? In the bin at the dealer??@DropAGearDisappear
@@Pedro19999 hey sorry for the late reply, All the sheets get collected, I was able to collect most of mine. Very lucky
“A nation that doesn’t build for the future is a nation that will surely die.” Taken from a presidential speech in 1963 by JFK. Very prophetic in these uncertain times for all Australians. Both Labor and Liberal stuffed us up beginning with John Button wiping out the import tariffs in the 1980’s, forcing Aussie businesses to close and move offshore, making imports cheaper, and finishing with ScoMo in 2017 abandoning Australian car manufacturing. Now in these Coronavirus times, we’re left with a bleak future with no way out............until the people themselves demand drastic action to keep local manufacturing, local!
AWESOME FOOTAGE
What about the Holden Plant at Pagewood in Sydney?
I lived in Pagewood in my early years as a teenager, I had a EH Holden Station Wagon, brown in color.
35minutes well spent
❤ yeh mate it sure is. Loosing the elizabeth plant is like loosong a child
What a waste, all gone because most Australians prefer to buy cheap asian built cars.
BENNY seesYOU yea fing Kia
Such a shame really, the whole Australian automotive manufacturing industry gone just like that after decades and decades of producing brilliant cars. People will look back at this in the future and question what the fuck everyone was thinking letting it get to this point.
I know i currently own a ve such a beautiful car in a few years i will buy a vf then that will be it 😢😢
Incompetent senior holden management and interference from gm in america was a lot to do with the closure as well as people not buying Australian built cars . When holden management would give Peter Brock the sack twice that has to say something about the wrong people running the company and sending a lot of the money earned back to gm didn't help either .
Holden was making a product that not enough people wanted to buy. Holden had roughly three decades to get their product mix right. They had the huge advantage of a loyal and reasonably undiscerning customer base and massive government handouts. They had government fleet deals not available to the imports. It is a pity a progressive company could not have stepped in and saved Holden from General Motors like how Geely rescued Volvo from the clutches of Ford.
I now finally understand why the steering wheel torx bolt is so tight from the factory lol
Did only certain models get the SS on the back doors?
Thank you
Holdens Fuckin Rule!!
GM Sabotaged Holden. my Caprice and G8 are superior quality cars. I love them both.
so they actually drive the car a little bit before the car is actually sold, so in the car yard a brand new car would have maybe 3 or 4 km's already on the clock?
yeah thats right
What killed Holden wasn’t GM it was Fucken SUV’s number 1, fwds, small cars, cars from overseas, petrol prices and station wagons stopped being popular. I personally own a VE GTS 07 LS2 Grey that I’m more than happy with!
Music title?
Darude - Sandstorm
R.I.P Holden. 1856-2020.
This is the home where my babby was born.its a 2014 chevy ss sandan it has onley 1200 miles on it i live in the United States.
Very sad to hear this holden made the best holdens over the years in Australia i really want them to make more Commodore in aussie RIP holden factory Australia 😔
Gotta love the teamwork attire worn, when the place was doomed. They never stop lying, do they?
Great video and at least by this time the production worker had plenty of time to perform their job unlike in the Holden heydays
A big thank you for making this video. This was the best car Australia produced and it did have success in Australia and abroad.
Greed is what killed Austraian manufacturing, not sales. So id like to send a special shout out to GM America, The Australian Government, and The Workers Union of Australia for destroying what was an institution in this country, for your greed and underhanded deals made the Holden and Ford what it is today.... a bloody memory.
And to every Australian out there keep buying cheap shit from Asia, stop, think and buy localy made products, yes its more expensive but it will last 4 times as long and you helping your own economy not some sweat shop in China or Bangladesh, or Mexico. Wake up
What will happen to all the machinery
faizan joyia All the robots have already been sold. $1500 each
The cheaper assembly robots which were old units have been sold. Some of the fittings will go for scrap. The more valuable equipment...panel presses and the like, will be sent to GM units in Thailand and China (SAIC joint-venture). It's like locusts feeding off the once proud Holden lion. A real Australian tragedy!
So sad. All that will be left of a once proud car manufacturer is a marketing department.
sad to see this!! its a pity that more robots than humans were made redundant as most factories these days are automated due to corporate greed .. :(
Much better reasons than that are why robots are used. All car makers do now or you would not be able to afford the cars they make and have to put up with assembly errors done by humans plus the robots can do dangerous jobs that humans cannot.
Why did govt throw billions of dollars at it without a stake in return. We (Australians) should own Holden. I watched the Woodville plant close and now we this. I remember this plant building Kingswoods, Commodores, Toranas, Camiras. Sedans, Wagons, Vans, Utes. Never should have let GM get the upper hand.
This is why governments should never subsidize any companies. No reason that taxpayers should bear any burden at all. Either the business survives on it's own or it can't. They get sloppy with the business when they have extra money coming in from the taxpayers. The government is responsible for this error, not GM. They just took advantage of the opportunity as you would have done if it was presented to you. We had this problem with Obama and the solar companies that went bankrupt during his time.
That's not true Mike, your libertarian arguments, don't stack up with car's, there wouldn't be any Kia or Hyundai or any motor vehicle industry for that matter, if it wasn't for government, this idea that something like a car industry shouldn't be backed by government is total rubbish, a simplistic answer, unrealistic in today's world, it's not like running a little corner Store and nothing would ever get built if it was all about dollars and cents, we'd all be third world . Big Corporations like GM, will always game government, that's why government needs to control them and make sure they build industry that create jobs in there country and use tariffs to stop them jumping ship. The worlds not perfect, corporations need to be managed by government for the greater good, other wise you get what you have in America with Walmart and that is a total monopoly, no free market there and your private health system that costs more than most public one's.
I don't know about your solar industry, but in Australia, government help start the industry here and it is now thriving, with some of the biggest uptake of roof top solar in the world, mainly thanks to government subsides, read a little about industry history and economics not just Aye Rand Mike
commodore ss was similar price , to a wrx in 2014
Sad time for Holden and a sad time for Australia. A sign of the times. Everyone wants to pay the least as possible for what they want. I bought a VF2 SS in 2016. Very good car but it cost me $52000 on the road and it's just a base SS, no heads up display, no heated seats, no electric passenger seat, no magnetic ride suspension, no sunroof, no GPS, no flat bottom steering wheel, no sports seats etc etc etc. Why did it cost so much to buy a basic SS here when a fully loaded SS shipped to the USA cost less than my SS? I think Holdens strategy was to sell the USA exports cheaply to bolster the Australian manufacturing. But Americans didn't buy enough of them as they were styled similar to a Malibu. The gamble didn't pay off. The Australian government did hand out countless millions of tax payer dollars to Holden and Ford to try to keep them viable so the Australian government of the time did their best to breathe life back in to the Australian automotive industry. Greed and the never ending pursuit of out performing the previous year will eventually ring the death nell to everything.
R. I. P Holden Australia Ford Australia and Toyota Australia.
holy cow,, machines and robots for everything ... back in 1990 robots only did spot welding and painted the outside of the car . if you wanted " blackouts " men with spray guns painted those parts and door frames in a spray booth ... we chased the car along a chain in the floor .. not like this where the whole floor moves with the car ...
i started work at elizabeth paint shop late 1987,,, were finishing the build of the VL commodore . i think GM was jealouse that aussie built cars were selling well in the US , so they shut down there opposition ... there own company that was making them money..
32:42 the video just stopped? Watched this bloody far and cant watch the final product, surely im not the only one
It had nothing to do with the product and the company had flexibility the GM Vice President of product Mark Reuss stated this in writing in GM news at the time. The Commodore was the number 3 car in the market when the closure was announced People like the then MD of BMW said the Govts attitude was wrong. Toyota had jus finished a new engine plant when they announced their closure. Mark Reuss had said he had every intention of keeping what was then the commodore in production . The level of assistance to the industry was the lowest yes the lowest of any country producing cars.I am so tired of hearing they had the wrong product . I own a VE Calais not perfect ( no car is ) but an excellent car & very strong.Also workers had given up many conditions to keep the company afloat down to 20 minute lunch & 15 minute morning tea, they also agreed to do more in the time allocated for their station.
when a commodore ss was cheaper than a wrx , more sold in the 90s
The last 2 cars I have purchased have both been V8 commodores. sad now to see it all gone. I won't buy anything I will just keep my old one going.
No more pride, no more unity.
❤❤❤❤❤❤💘😭😭😭😭
Farewell
we could move to EVS its all there with state & public drive !
😢
Sad...
So is that building just sitting idle with all the robots in it what a waist
its been sold, the robots too.
@@DropAGearDisappear The small company I work for bought all of the robots, we still currently have around 200. We have been repurposing them. Mainly as arc welders now, and some pick and place applications.
Rip
the bloke hitting out the speaker blanks probably got a six figure salary and worked a four day week, that is the real reason Australia no longer makes cars
Umm trust me he did not! That’s me... it’s my car.
more like 900 after tax working arvos - not as much as some might think. The work was hard and we all prayed the line would stop for some reason or another so we could catch up..good luck trying to get a toilet break - there were stories of one bloke pissing in an ice coffee container whilst in the welding booth lol.
@@petes_ventures Haha, yep. Also one story similar in the Paint Booths.
@@petes_ventures I worked in the old paint shop in the 80s really bad conditions. Too hot in winter and unbearable in summer. Phosphate fumes coming down through the fans god knows what that's going to do to me in my old age. No fancy robots to do all the dirty jobs just two guys spraying one another in the face painting the roof and covered in paint if you worked painting the inside and outside of the doors. I left in 88 couldn't wait to get away from the place and I still have nightmares of fucking Commodore's coming toward me!
@@dingodazz3724 Nah, paint booths you were spraying over running water, to collect overspray. You could piss straight through the floor - seen it done a few times - personally I took the opportunity to escape the line and let the leading hands wave a gun for a while haha.