Holden's grows from saddlery in Adelaide in 1856 to making car bodies for USA giant companies from 1919

The Holden's Motor Body Builders (HMBB) factory on King William Street south, Adelaide, from 1919.
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia

The Holden story began in 1856 when, James Alexander Holden who emigrated from England in 1852, set up J.A. Holden & Co saddlery business in Adelaide.

In 1885, German-born Henry Frederick Frost joined the business which become Holden & Frost Ltd.

Edward Holden, James' grandson, brought an interest in automobiles to the company in 1905. In 1908, Holden & Frost moved into minor repairs to car upholstery. It began making complete motorcycle sidecar bodies in 1913, and Edward experimented with fitting bodies to different carriages.

After 1917, wartime trade restrictions allowed the company to start full-scale production of vehicle body shells. Holden in 1919 became Holden's Motor Body Builders (HMBB) specialising in car bodies and using a building on King William Street south, Adelaide.

By 1923, HMBB was producing 12,000 units per year. HMBB was the first company to assemble bodies for Ford Australia, until its Geelong plant was ready.

From 1924, HMBB exclusively supplied car bodies for the US General Motors in Australia, making them at the new Woodville plant These bodies also suited imported chassis from makers such as Chevrolet and Dodge.

In 1926, General Motors (Australia) had assembly plants in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Birkenhead, South Australia, using bodies produced by HMBB Builders and imported chassis. General Motors bought HMBB in 1931 and merged it with General Motors (Australia) Pty Ltd to form General Motors-Holden's Ltd (GM-H).