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Originally Posted by fmc351
Have you tried telling them, oh that doesnt go over well either. I had a book that told the history of Holden which said the same thing, saddlers. It also said they grew by making interiors and wodden chassis for horse drawn coaches for companies all over the world, and then interiors and chassis for various car makers in the early 1900's. The Fishermans bend plant was a result of an agreement with Chevrolet (Im not sure if it was GM then) to exclusively use that plant for Chev products.
By the time we got to the FX, they were essentially no longer an Aussie company, any more than Ford was.
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Early manufacturers that Holden Motor Body Builders built bodies for imported chassis included Overland, Chevrolet, Durant, Hupmobile and Dodge during 1919. Some sources even state that they also built bodies for Ford vehicles in Australia up to the consttruction of Ford's own plant and built bodies for the Model T, but I have not been able to find a reliable reference for this. By 1924 Holden Motor Body Builders were the sole body manufacturer for General Motors.
From what I can find the Fishermans Bend factory for Holden was completed in 1939 but it appears it was not initially used for a lot of car production as wartime production was in full swing not long after. The planned Australian car (originally tabled as a proposal in 1936) was put on hold for war time production of machinery and arms.
As Holden Motor Body Builders were bought out by General Motors in 1931 to form General Motors - Holden (GM-H), it appears "Holden" never owned the Fishermans Bend plant, GM-H did.
The only thing Australian about the 48/215 was that it had 90% local content, even the design was based on a post war chevrolet design that had been rejected in the US. By that stage, the company was majority owned by GM and had been for 17 years.