Mrs Holden's Holden, a 1948 FX, joins special Holdens at National Motor Museum in South Australia's Birdwood
The blue Holden FX, among the first prodcued in 1948 andoriginally owned by Prudence Holden, wife of James Robert Holden from the family that founded the Holden brand, on display at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood, South Australia. Inset: Prudence and James Holden during a voyage on the Queen Mary.
Images courtesy National Motor Museum and Holden family
Mrs Holden’s Holden – a 48-215 model also known as the Holden FX – became a permanent part of the National Motor Museum at Birdwood after it was bought by the South Australian government in 2023 through its history trust.
Built in Adelaide and assembled in Victoria in 1948, Mrs Holden’s Holden was one the first Holden cars sold.
The car’s original owner, Prudence Holden, was the wife of James Robert Holden, part of the family that founded the Holden car company in the early 20th Century. James Holden became manager of General Motors Holden's Woodville car body manufacturing plant in Adelaide. The Holden family company had been taken over by the Detroit-based General Motors near 20 years before the first Holden’s were produced in 1948.
Prudence Holden’s FX was later bought by a private collector who had lent it long term to the National Motor Museum. The collector’s wish to sell the vehicle prompted to South Australiam government to buy it for $250,000 in 2013 on the 75th anniversary of its first all-Australian manufactured car. About 120,000 of the original FX were produced with between 4,000 and 5,000 remaining in 2023. General Motors Holden played a significant role in South Australia’s cultural and economic history.
Mrs Holden’s Holden was owned by a private collector, and through a generous long-term loan, has been on display at the National Motor Museum but the owner’s desire to sell the car risked losing an important part of South Australia’s heritage.
Mrs Holden’s Holden joined other the National Motor Museum’s Holden Heroes: 1948 to 2017 a retrospective showcasing 18 of the most special vehicles from Holden’s heritage collection, thanks to a partnership with General Motors. On display was the Hurricane (1969), the unique Torana GTR-X (1970), as well as the Number One Holden (1948) and the very last Australian-made Holden, a VF Commodore Series II SS Redline (2017). vVisitor numbers to the museum jumped by 42% – from 44,456 in 2021-21 to 62,884 in 2022-23 – with specialised collections driving the increase.
