EWEN Cameron was working in his father’s car dealership EC Cameron and Sons, which his grandfather started in 1914, when the first Holden was sold in Orange.
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He remembers the excitement when the first Holden was registered in Orange in November 1948.
He remembers the two Holdens the dealership was given and about 4000 people flooding the showroom to look at them.
He felt a touch of pity for car dealerships across the country when he heard Holdens would not be manufactured in Australian after 2017.
“I have mixed feelings about it. I am sad, but we all knew it was coming. The dealers all knew it was coming,” he said.
“You can’t listen to the so-called commentators and the journalists because this was not out of the blue.
“We all knew in about 1987 that General Motors would eventually move out.”
That was the year Mr Cameron left the automotive industry.
He said there was nothing any government could have done to keep Holdens manufactured in Australia.
“I’m very sorry it has happened but you can’t keep putting money into [manufacturing]. Look at our factory here, it’s the way of the world,” he said.
Mr Cameron drove Holdens until a health condition forced him to leave behind the “excellent car” in 1990.
He said he loved the design, the feel, the ride and the quality.
“The model out now is probably the best they have ever been,” he said.
“It is a wonderful car.
“They’ve had a lot of good years, but they had to make a decision.”
The current VF Commodore might be the best, but Mr Cameron will always have a soft spot for the old EH Holden, which came out in 1963.
Mr Cameron snapped one up for himself in 1964.
nicole.kuter@fairfaxmedia.com.au
