Holden enthusiasts say thank you to the workers of the GMH Elizabeth Plant
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Holden Dream Cruise 2017
The sun shone brightly for those that needed it most on Sunday 15 October, with the Holden Dream Cruise seeing 1000 proudly Aussie-built cars winding their way through Adelaide’s northern suburbs.
Created as both a ‘thank you’ to the workers of the Elizabeth plant, as well recognising passionate people who love the brand, the Cruise saw the streets lined with supporters. They cooked barbies, waved flags and cheered on 61 years of history. From A9X to WB, FX to VF, the cheering and enthusiasm was unwavering.
Culminating with a family show at Elizabeth Oval, Wes Carr did his best Jimmy Barnes impersonation, while Greg Rust handled MC duties with input from Mark Skaife and Bev Brock.
The Oval also hosted the cream of the Cruise; a show of 100 especially selected cars displayed alongside the Holden Collection, which included the four millionth Holden (a VC), the seven millionth Holden (a VE) and an A9X showing only 1100ks!
Following successful auctions for the last three Final Edition models, which raised over $300,000 for charity, thoughts turned to the last cars to be built on Friday 20 October.
Andrew “Gumpy” Willoughby will be screwing seats into those machines and admits the event is bittersweet, “It’s been great to see the last three Final Editions together, plus all the classic cars, but it’s tragic that it’s gone for good and we’ll never see it again.” He pauses. “The line behind that last car is empty; it’s eerie.”
Andrew’s sentiments echo in the conversations overheard all across the oval: many workers are positive about the future, but nobody wants to go.
When tools fell silent after 161 years of local manufacturing, workers and enthusiasts could rest assured that the send-off was bright; the sun shone strong and there was no wake, only celebration.
Racing livery of the 1979 Brock-Richards Marlboro Torana is well worth replicating.
The purple section of the Dream Cruise included some solid classics.
The Bridgestone patina on this early WB ute was mind-blowing.
St Patrick’s Technical College lent their extremely appropriate barbeque to the local Rotary Club.
This HQ Monaro GTS coupe sported some interesting options, such as overriders and a vinyl roof.
A forgotten classic – the HSV SV89.
Lined up on the grid, an old FJ and an HZ Kingswood SL.
Laurie and her Torana, ‘Gwen’, just can’t stop popping up in the pages of Unique Cars! Read about Laurie’s resto of her Torana LC, ‘Gwen’ here
This Holden VY SS Sandman sports the official HBD Sandman Conversion Canopy; one of only 224 made and to date the most expensive option ever offered by Holden.
Bev Brock took on flag-waving duties with great gusto.
This nice old Humpy had some attitude, sitting on a set of wide steelies.
Don’t mind the gaudy paint scheme – this humble VC Commodore was the four millionth Holden made.
The extra door is a telltale sign this is an ex-ambulance. Aside from all the ambulance markings, that is.
Peter Kruger’s Monaro LE was used in the brochure and is actually the original prototype LE, featuring all the stuff the bean-counters trounced like driving lights, cassette player, sunroof and 15in Pontiac ‘snowflake’ alloys.
The carpark set aside for cruisers not in the ‘Show and Shine’ was a car show in itself.
This beautiful ute looked the part, just outside Peter Page Holden.
The last three Final Edition Commodores in captivity, a Director, Magnum and Motorsport Edition were auctioned off for charity, raising over $300,000 for charity.
Photography: Dave Carey