Pagewood Plant (Sydney)
1940 -1980
During the 1930's it became obvious that the Marrickville (Sydney) Plant was too small for the growing demand, so GM-H decided to build a new, large, modern Plant to serve the NSW market. A site was chosen in the Eastern Suburbs at Pagewood, at the intersection of Heffron and Maroubra Bay Roads. Work started in February 1939, and the foundation stone was laid by the Premier, Mr B.S.B. Stevens on 1st August, 1939. The plaque records that “From the foundation of New South Wales in 1788 this land was unoccupied until purchased by Crown Grant by General Motors Holden Limited as the site for these works.”
The Plant was designed and erected by the GM-H Construction department. By mid-October, twenty three weeks after construction had commenced on the new Plant, 1,200 tons of steel had risen from the 283,000 sq. ft. of concrete foundations, and Holdens were able to set the date for moving in as December 1939.
Pagewood vehicle assembly plant started trial production in January 1940 producing Pontiac Sedans, and was officially opened by the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies on 15th February, 1940. A video of the opening is available here.
Between 1950 and 1959 , the Plant was extended three times, increasing the area under buildings to 680,000 sq, ft. The first of these was to add a Body Shop, which made Pagewood the only Plant outside Woodville that could assembly bodies from sheet metal panels.
In 1963/4, a new Touch-up (paint repair) Building was erected in the North-West corner of the site. It also included a Sales and Vehicle Distribution area where Dealers could come and pay for their vehicles and drive them away.
The document section includes the first publication publication of The Rise and Demise of Pagewood, by Neil Pogson who was intimately involved in the plant production planning and facilities requirements.
This page is divided into four sections (use links below):
| Year | Title | Description | Link |
| 1953-80 | We Built The Holden | A personal history of employment at Pagewood through 27 years. | |
| 1960 | Pagewood Plant | Brochure detailing Pagewood Plant activities and facilities | |
| 1977 | Welcome to GMH Pagewood | An overview of the Plant | |
(Some large downloads here - In a few cases you may see a notice saying that the file is too big to preview or virus scan. However if you just click the download link you will be able to view the file. All files are virus free.):
| Year | Contributor | Description | Link |
| 1939 | Neil Pogson | Opening and construction photos of Pagewood Plant - property of L J Hartnett | |
| 1939 | Neil Pogson |
Photostats of blueprints for construction of the Plant - property of L J Hartnett. Because of the size of this file, the download is split into six parts. Part 1- Land and improvements, Services and Administration building; Part 2 - Club House and Gate House Part 3 - Assembly Plant construction Drawings Part 4 - Assembly Plant construction continued Part 5 - Assembly Equipment drawings Part 6 - Paint Store and 1953 building extensions |
|
| 1958 | Neil Pogson | Five Bay Extension | |
| 1963 | Neil Pogson | Construction of TV City property car park | |
| 1963 | Neil Pogson | Construction of new Touch-Up building | |
| 1969 | Neil Pogson | TV City Soakage Pits | |
| Year | Contributor | Description | Link |
| 1939-80 | Neil Pogson | The rise and demise of Pagewood Plant - an insider's view | |
| 1940 | Neil Pogson | GM World: A new Plant rises in Sydney (PC) | |
| 1954 Apr 12 | Neil Pogson | 140,000th Holden comes off line at Pagewood | |
| 1971 | Neil Pogson | Plant Layouts | |
| 1974 | Neil Pogson | Plant Statistics - Equipment, Employment, Wages, etc. | |
| 1974 | Holden | January 18: D.M. Smith to Pagewood; Bensley and Hall to concentrate on Production | |
| 1974 | Holden | April 08: Senior Managers to resume normal duties. | |
| 1974 | Holden | November 11: Ian gale to Acting Production Manager | |
| 1975 | Holden | September 30: A.J. Patten to Plant Manager |
Aerial Views:
| Year/s | Content | Link |
| c1939 | Pagewood Plant nearing completion | JPG |
| 1939 | Pagewood Assembly Plant from North side | JPG |
| 1939 | Pagewood Assembly Plant aerial view from East side (front) | JPG |
| 1940 | First official aerial photo of Pagewood Plant following its completion, February 1940 | JPG |
| 1954 | Aerial View of Pagewood plant, May 1954 | JPG |
| 1974 | Aerial view Pagewood Plant and surrounds | JPG |
| 1974 | Aerial View Pagewood Plant and surrounds - different angle | JPG |
| 1974 | 13 aerial views of Pagewood Plant from various angles | |
| Contributor | Year/s | Content | Link |
| Holden | 1938 | Pagewood Plant construction planning board | JPG |
| Holden | 1938 | Frigidaire Staff pictured at the farewell for Charlie Howson, then NSW Zone Sales Manager (Named). August 30, 1938 | JPG |
| Wayne Dalton | 1939 | Foundation Plaque from Pagewood Plant | JPG |
| Holden | 1940 | Mr Menzies presses button to open Pagewood Plant | JPG |
| Holden | 1940 | Pagewood Plant build History Board | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1940 | Main Entrance Gate, Administration building | JPG |
| Holden | 1940 | Construction and equipment Staff, new assembly Plant, Pagewood NSW. 22 January, 1940 | |
| David Francis | c1943 | Employees of De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd at GMH Pagewood NSW painting camouflage colours, one of the final stages of wing assembly for DH98 Mosquitos | JPG |
| David Francis | c1943 | Employees of De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd at General Motors Holden Pagewood, NSW, work on a DH98 Mosquito aircraft wing. | JPG |
| David Francis | c1943 | Employees of De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd at GMH, Pagewood, NSW, work on a DH98 Mosquito aircraft wing. | JPG |
| David Francis | c1943 | Employees of De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd work on a DH98 Mosquito aircraft wing in the dope shop at GMH, Pagewood, NSW. | JPG |
| David Francis | c1943 | Employees of De Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd, at General Motors Holden (GMH), Pagewood, NSW, fitting wing ribs during DH98 Mosquito aircraft wing assembly. | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1945 | Supervising Metrologist, Dave Read | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1947 | Employee Open Day - Pagewood Plant | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1947 | Employee Open Day 2, Pagewood Plant | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1950 | Foremen at Lunch in Canteen Foreman's Room | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1950 | Pagewood Plant Golf Team in front of The Club House | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1950 | Pagewood Plant Golf Team in front of The Club House (2) | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1950 | Golf Day group | JPG |
| Holden | 1951 | Loading truck engine to frame | JPG |
| Holden | 1951 | Giant Cincinatti Press, imported to make cabinets for the new GMOO "Compact" refrigerators | JPG |
| Holden | 1951 | First Frigidare refrigerator off-line at Pagewood, with workers and executives. May 14, 1951 | JPG |
| Holden | 1951 | Frigidaire Pagewood Office Staff. May 14, 1951 (named) | JPG |
| Holden | 1951 | Frigidaire Pagewood Production Staff. May 14, 1951 (named) | JPG |
| Holden | 1951 | Frigidaire Pagewood Inspection Staff, May 14, 1951 (named) | JPG |
| Holden | 1951 | Frigidaire Pagewood Supply Staff. May 14, 1951 (named) | JPG |
| Holden | 1952 | Fender Assembly Team at Pagewood. January, 1952 | JPG |
| Holden | c1952 | Sheet Metal finishing area | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1953 | Presentation to Manfr Mgr Frank P Callahan by Dunstan Hastings (PM) | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1953 | Presentation to Manfr Mgr Frank P Callahan by Ron Nicholl; Plt Mgr Dunstan Hastings looks on | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1953 | Presentation set for Frank P Callahan | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1953 | Response by Frank P Callahan | JPG |
| Holden | c1956 | View of the Body-in-White (metal finish) line at Pagewood | JPG |
| Holden | c1956 | View of the end of the Hard Trim line at Pagewood | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1956 | Holden 'FE' Production - Hard Trim area (Note 'FJ' Utes still on line) | JPG |
| Holden | 1957 | Five bay Extension | |
| Holden | 1958 | The 500,000th Holden driven off line at Pagewood | JPG |
| Holden | 1958 | 5 bay Plant extension | |
| Holden | 1963 | Development of TV City property | |
| Holden | 1963 | Construction of Touchup Building | |
| Roger Gibbs | 1965 Dec | 1,500,000 Holden off line, built at Pagewood | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1965 | Pagewod Plant Fuel station and the check out area for Dealer's Driver's collecting their own cars | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1965 | Pagewood Plant Intersection of Banks Ave and Unnamed Rd | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1965 | Pagewood Material cases and New Car storage | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1965 | Pagewood Truck on unnamed road awaiting unloading, showing bodies shipped from Woodville with material cases. | JPG |
| Holden | 1965 | Tyre fitting machine | |
| Holden | 1965 | Un-named Road (behind Plant, between Heffron Rd and Wentworth Ave) | |
| Holden | 1966 | View of the Fuel Pump establishment | JPG |
| Holden | 1966 | Number 3 Gate House | JPG |
| Holden | 1966 | Materials Delivery Train from TV City | |
| Holden | 1966 | Interstate Trucks awaiting unloading in Depot Road | |
| Neil Pogson | 1966 | Industrial Eng staff at layout table: Mick Wilson, Ron Smith, Mick Moses | JPG |
| Holden | 1969 | Construction of drainage soakage pits in TV City | |
| Holden | 1969 | Rain water flooding of "Cripples" storage area | |
| Neil Pogson | c1970 | Pagewood Frigidaire employees | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1974 | Childrens Christmas Party, Sydney showgrounds (proofs) | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1974 | Sports Day presentations by Ted Bensley (Plant Mgr) | JPG |
| Neil Pogson |
1975 | Executive Seminar No 8 participants | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1978 | Pagewood Staff celebrate wining Safety Challenge June 1978 | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | c1978 | Industrial Eng group ball-and-chain party | JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1979 | Pagewood Management Team 1979 |
JPG |
| Neil Pogson | 1979 | Presentation to Ian Gale by Neil Pogson; Ray Kassab and George McKinlay look on. | JPG |
| Holden | 1979 | Visit of Madame Chen, Vice-Premier of the State Council, People's Republic of China, to Pagewood Plant, Friday, March 9, 1979 | |
| Holden | 1992 | NSW Sales Zone "Old Fogeys" story | |