Trafalgar Holden Museum & Brock Cars: Classic Restos - Series 50

Fletch returns to the Trafalgar Holden Museum in Gippsland, Victoria, to see the latest additions to the museum. Neil Joiner from the museum takes Fletch on a tour of the new exhibitions that take you back to the 1800s and the beginning of Holden, or Holden Frost as it was known, some 90 years before the first Holden, the 48-215, was produced.

The exhibition is a village-type environment with shops focusing on the various eras and the businesses that Holden was involved in, like saddlery, leatherwork, and even animal husbandry, to name a few. Interestingly, the museum discovered a Holden Frost 128-page catalogue from around 1900 with many goods on offer - Holden was very diversified back then. It wasn’t till the early 1880’s that they ventured into coachwork and produced horse-drawn buggies, one of which is on display.

Around 1910, Holden produced their first sidecar and entered coachwork with the first coach body in 1916. Legislation introduced in 1917 to tax car imports entering the country with bodywork saw the evolution of coach building and, later, complete manufacturing of motor vehicles. The new exhibition walks through each of these critical milestones.

Outside there is a recreation of the first Trafalgar Holden Dealership, Charlesworth Motors, which was the local garage and panel shop. Back then, the dealerships were relatively modest, only large enough to fit two cars and two people, with a small workshop alongside.

In addition to the new exhibits, there are plenty of Holdens on display, from the first to the last. 

For Peter Brock fans,  there is a room dedicated to his cars and memorabilia. Including Brock’s first-ever “paddock bomb”, an Austin 7 that he bought for five pounds and learned to drive around his parent’s farm as a youngster. The FX Holden raced at Goodwood in England in 2006 and took it up to the British. A display wouldn’t be complete without his 1974 LH Torana, boasting an impressive 350HP. Tucked in there is another Brock icon, his Austin A30, a tiny vehicle sporting a 6-cylinder engine. All are on loan to the museum and are a must-see for Brock fans and all motoring enthusiasts.

Last but not least is a display that focuses on the design department of Holden. With an impressive cutaway clay model of the last Holden Commodore ever built, giving insight into the craftsmanship that goes into the development of motor vehicles.

Fletch always recommends visiting the Trafalgar Holden Museum, and now there is even more reason to venture there and with these new exhibits.