Holden Retirees Club

Styling and Design

1931 - 2018   

When Holden Motor Body Builders (HMBB) merged with General Motors Australia (GMA) in 1931 they not only established Australia’s leading automotive company but also formalised automotive design in this country.

The merged company Holden’s design section produced unique body styles, provided solutions not only for dust sealing, ventilation and motor body strength and also solved complex engineering problems with innovative design during WWII. By the mid-1940s the GM-H design group were capable of producing a complete Australian car and this expertise elevated the Holden design team to a position of respect within the GM Corporation.

The initial designers were trained internally by one man, Herbert Wylie, who understood that good body design lay in precise drawings and not a chalkboard. The team he built, with American input, applied considerable knowledge and expertise to ensure the Holden car, when released in 1948, was exactly what the Australian market wanted. Design at GM-H evolved from American practice but by a small team who were provided the opportunity to be innovative and progressive.

With the exception of the appointment of colour specialist Sandford around 1927, Holden had no formal Styling group, so in 1938 a young GM Stylist was despatched to Australia. Hartnett had agreed to Franklin Q. Hershey's trip, which he believed would assist GM-H to adopt the American approach to new model development, presentation and approval. Hershey’s trip to Australia took place from April to November 1938 and he reported that he was to ‘help organise a small styling staff there.

Further appointments were made in South Australia where Frank (Gill) Mathwin, Horace Alfred (Alf) Payze and Jack Burgan came together to form an art studio under Charles Phillips, then the Woodville body design engineer. Phillips reported to Rainsford, Woodville chief engineer who in turn reported to Pointer, GMH chief engineer at Fishermans Bend. Former engineering personnel, King Stuart and Tom Wylie moved to the production side of engineering, Stuart becoming the production engineer and Wylie the planning & tooling engineer. As the Australian car project started up in 1945, Hartnett moved Rainsford and his Woodville group to Fishermans Bend with Rainsford responsible for styling and body design.  Phillips took on administration, Mathwin styling, Hall body design and Roper drafting. This was short-lived as an American engineering team, headed by Russell Begg, arrived in 1946.

The intervention of the American team has until recently obliterated the Australian contribution to the design of the 48-215. The Australian team who went to America and those who remained at Fishermans Bend in 1945 made a significant contribution. While the mechanical and chassis components were clearly of American origin, the body structure (apart from the unitary members- the front frame), packaging and trim development were almost exclusively Australian designed by Payze, Mathwin, Burgan, Kaye, Wylie, Abbott and Stacey.

With the arrival of Begg and his team of engineers along with the prototype Holdens in 1947, GM-H engineering doubled in size. In addition, draftsmen, experimental test drivers and fabricators were hired. A new engineering facility was erected to accommodate engineers, draftsmen, clerical staff, mechanics, machinists, panel workers, trimmers and painters. In 1952 the department again expanded, adding 50 new staff, additional equipment and an extended building. In February 1952 Charles Lewis replaced Begg as chief engineer, and by this time many American designers had returned home.

As 1952 closed, the Holden design team was preparing for the next new model, the FE Holden. This featured a radical restyle of the body with essentially the same mechanicals as its predecessor – the FJ Holden. Phillips with assistant Hall did the body design with Mathwin and Payze providing the styling.

The period 1917-1953 was one of both growth and development for Holden’s designers. The original team of five trainee body draftsmen had developed their skills at Holden, overseas and at technical institutions, to become capable of designing Australia’s top selling motor car by 1953. The five trainees would all leave their mark in the Australian automotive design field, they would also train and mentor the next round of engineers and stylists at Holden and other automotive companies. Holden’s design team was successful as it had access to the GM Corporation expertise but was left to develop innovative solutions that suited the local environment.

GM has fostered few design centres outside Detroit: Although Holden was the smallest, over time proved it was capable of producing world-class cars. The VB Commodore, VS Commodore and VE Commodore owe their success in large part to the heritage of innovative design that developed in the first 36 years. Today, Holden’s design centre produces concepts and show models equal to any design centre for GM divisions round the world and despite the closure of Holden’s manufacturing centre will continue to do so.

(Adapted from a paper presented by Norm Darwin at the AHA Conference in 2016) 

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