Holden VS Ford

Well this is a historic argument, let’s investigate

Let’s start with Holden:
Holden was firstly known as a saddlery manufacturer in 1856 in South Australia, a reputable manufacturer of horse saddles, harnesses and equipment. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field and later it was renamed General Motors-Holden (GMH) a subsidiary of the United States–based General Motors (GM) in 1931. It was renamed Holden Ltd in 1998, adopting the name GM Holden Ltd in 2005.

Holden was the first company to assemble bodies for Ford in Australia. In 1924, Holden was the exclusive supplier in Australia of car bodies for the US-based General Motors. In 1948 Holden manufactured the FX 48-125 this was the first Australian made Holden for Australians. The FJ was introduced in 1953, 1963 came the famous EH, then the HR, the Torana was next in 1967 and in 1968 the Kingswood made its debut. Then in 1978 the famous Commodore was born and continued until it’s demise in 2020. There were many models like VB, VC, VH, VK, VL, VN, VP, VR, VS, VT, VY, VX, VZ, VE, VF and then ZB, many others in the Holden range like the Gemini, Camira, Astra, Barina, Astra, Viva, Holden also had the Rodeo, Jackaroo, Shuttle, Frontera and the Captiva, just to name a few.

Now Ford:
March 1925, Ford announced its new Australian headquarters will be Geelong Victoria. The Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited, trading name here in Australia would be Ford Australia. It is the Australian subsidiary of United States-based automaker Ford Motor Company.

The first car off the assembly line is the Model T, then in 1928, the factory moved to the Model A and then the Ford V8 in 1932. In the 50’s came the Zephyr, Consul and Zodiac

From 1960 the Falcon was introduced to Australia, however it wasn’t till 1972 the Falcon was fully produced here in Australia along with Fairlane, Panel van and Utility. The XK, XL, XM, XP, XR, XT, XW, XY, were all popular. The end of production of the Falcon in the US in 1972 helped Australia have a better input in the design of Australian-made Falcons, paving the way for a great car so the XA, XB, XC, was born. There were the sedan, station wagon and the very popular coupe in all these models. Then the XD, XE, XF Falcon, EA, EB, ED, EF & EL. To follow was the AU SERIES 1 & 2, the BA & BF Falcon followed by the beginning of the end with the FG and last of all the FGX which was ended in 2016.

Ford also produced the Escort, Cortina, Capri, Meteor, Laser, Mondeo, Fiesta, Focus, also the Transit van, Courier, Territory, Ranger, Kuga and loads more

So with both Holden & Ford having some great cars. People still have the ongoing argument of which is better, whilst holden have been here longer, Ford have made their presence known. Both companies have their great cars and both have their as we call them, lemon cars. I guess the argument will live on for many years to come as to who is better, but with Holden out of the Bathurst race, I would only assume one day there will be another great battle between different models. However, nothing as great as the battle of Ford and Holden and the people who love their cars.

We will leave you to decide, let the battle go on

For more information on these great cars here are some links:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/holden-s-164-year-story-how-a-beloved-aussie-brand-turned-to-dust-20200217-p541om.html

https://www.carsales.com.au/editorial/details/ford-in-australia-a-rich-history-103766/

The team at BBT Japparts