Holden Retirees Club

 Holden's Motor Body Builders in Melbourne.

(By Neil Pogson)

 Therry St, Melbourne

406 William St, Melbourne

Cnr. Ferrars and Munro Streets, South Melbourne

602 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

Photographs

References

 Holden's Motor Body Builders Ltd became  registered as a company in March, 1919. Until then, they had officially operated in Adelaide under the banner of Holden and Frost, although they publicly styled themselves as HMBB since 1917.

The new company had Capital of £50,000 in 50,000 shares of £1 each. The stated Objects of the Company were : “To purchase from Henry James Holden freehold lands in Adelaide, machinery, motor car stock, etc., and carry on the business of Motor Body Builders and upholsterers, to purchase, hire or otherwise acquire and make or manufacture railway carriages and wagons, etc.”

As business started to grow rapidly, it was decided to open assembly branches in Sydney and Melbourne. Bodies would be built in Woodville and shipped to the interstate plants, where they would be joined to locally assembled chassis constructed from kits sourced from overseas.

They started in Sydney and shortly after in Melbourne, being the largest markets for their cars.

 93 Therry St, Melbourne

The first plant in Melbourne was established shortly after the Sydney Rushcutters Bay operation.  It was located at 93 Therry St, in part of a building leased from Jas. A Munro who ran what he advertised as “The Largest Garage in Melbourne”. Munro had been a Coachbuilder amongst other activities, but had ceased that business and leased the working space to HMBB. The exact timing is not known, but in May 1920 The Aust Coach and Body Builder reported that Mr Holden had said HMBB had established working factories in Sydney and Melbourne fitting bodies to chassis.

The HMBB area was 120 feet by 40 feet in size. As became usual in all their interstate plants, they assembled local or imported chassis and fitted them with bodies made and shipped from the King William Street works in Adelaide.

The location may not have been very salubrious, as Therry St was directly across from the Victoria Markets which were described at the time as being "dirty and rat ridden".  On 1st June 1920, a 14 year boy riding his bicycle was killed in Therry St when a cloud of dust whipped up by a strong wind obscured his vision so that he ran into a Market Gardener’s wagon and fractured his skull.

There was little (if any) product advertising from Therry St, that being left to the various Dealers. The first recorded instance of a direct HMBB advertisement mentioning their premises in Melbourne was on the 10^th September, 1920 for a Motor Painter.

Another advertisement followed on 1st November 1920 for the sale of a Wolseley Landaulette. There then seems to be a lack of any publicity until the end of May 1921, when the same advertisement ran on consecutive days from 26^th May to the 30^th May: “To Let, Building suitable for store or workshop, Therry St, City. Apply Holden’s Ltd., 406 William Street.”

HMBB had purchased a large site at 406 William Street on 1^st September 1920, so it seems that Therry Street was only a stop-gap measure until the William Street plant was ready for work. 

Interestingly, their pitched roof work space still existed until a redevelopment in 2019 demolished the whole of the Munro buildings, with the exception of  a bluestone store on the corner of Therry and Elizabeth Streets, which is now a McDonalds’ outlet.

 406 William St, Melbourne

A small notice had appeared in The Argus of 1^st September, 1920 to the effect that HMBB had purchased the site of 388-406 William Street, Melbourne, with the intention of demolishing the existing buildings and erecting a ‘modern, up-to-date, motor body factory”. The site was opposite Flagstaff Gardens and had been previously occupied by Fowler Foundry, brass moulders.

The Therry Street site was probably intended to be only temporary until their new William Street premises were built.

Frank Daley, in his unpublished manuscript "A History of GM-H", records "Interstate expansion likewise was arranged for the Melbourne Depot by erecting an additional two-storied building there".

The first advertisement found to date for the new factory was “For Body Repairing and Painting, Holden's Motor Body Works, 406-8 William Street, City,” published on 23rd June, 1921. Presumably this was soon after the opening of the William St premises as it follows quite closely on the advertisements quitting Therry St.  Interestingly the address used in this advertisement and the others to follow, was 406-8 William Street.

This same advertisement ran on four more days in June.

On 4^th July, 1921, a large display advertisement ran promoting the new premises.  Amongst other things, it boasted:

“The main garage has spacious front and side entrances, and the wide granolithic floor (clear of pillars or other obstructions) permits easy manoeuvring of as many as two hundred cars. The saw-tooth roof gives a flood of natural light during the day, and at night the electric service is searching and powerful. Galleries of cubicles entirely enclosed and dust proof share the full flood of light with the general building and are in addition electrically heated for drying purposes.”

“The manager, Mr. J. G. James, has been with HMBB since its inception four years ago and has been closely identified with its miraculous growth. He has seen service in both Sydney and Melbourne, as well as at headquarters in Adelaide, and is a popular figure in the motoring world of Australia.”

A press article on 7th May, 1925 says the Manager was now Mr. A.B. Hardie.

In 1922, in a curious parallel with the Sydney Branch, HMBB hired another War hero, Captain Robert Rainy Herbert, DSO, Croix de Guerre.  He became Sales Manager by 1924, and was Manager of Holden's Melbourne branch from 1928 until his death from Meningitis on 2 May 1941.

[In December 1914, Robert Rainy Harper (1894-1941) joined the 26th Infantry Regiment (militia), Australian Military Forces, as a second lieutenant. In January 1915 he enlisted in the 18th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, but on 10 May was commissioned in the 20th Battalion. He embarked for Egypt in charge of the unit's 1st Reinforcements in June, and served on Gallipoli from August until the evacuation. He was promoted lieutenant in November.

Harper sailed from Egypt for France in March with the 20th Battalion. Though wounded in action at Bois Grenier on 5 May, he remained on duty and on 26 July, while participating in the taking of Pozières, was promoted Captain. He led one of four parties in an attack aimed at capturing the Old German lines south of Pozières and, although the other parties were checked, he and his men took their objective and held it for an hour under heavy fire. Harper was wounded in the head and leg but continued to direct his troops until they ran out of grenades; his party then retreated across no man's land with Harper refusing to be removed until he had seen all his men to safety. He was evacuated to England late in August. For his leadership at Pozières he received the Distinguished Service Order, a decoration rarely awarded to a lieutenant; he also received the French Croix de Guerre and was mentioned in dispatches. He was invalided to Australia in December 1916.

Harper's A.I.F. appointment ended on 1 May 1917. By this time he had recovered sufficiently to join the staff at Liverpool camp near Sydney and trained reinforcements for the Western Front. In 1922 he was placed on the A.M.F. reserve of officers when he moved to Melbourne to work for Holden's Motor Body Builders.]

More advertisements through July and August followed, promising top class repairs and repaint jobs for low prices.

In December, HMBB found the premises too restrictive and moved to their home until after the Second World War, at the corner of Ferrars and Munro Streets, Melbourne.

 Cnr. Ferrars and Munro Streets, South Melbourne

In December 1923, Holden’s Motor Body Builders purchased land in South Melbourne.  The site was bounded by Ferrars Street, Munro Street, Lorimer Street and Ford Street, and is usually referred to as the Ferrars Street Plant.

According to the Sands directory of 1920, the site had been occupied by Saw Millers, Jason Moore and Sons, whose head office was in City Road (very close by the premises of John Sharp and Sons, which were later taken over by GMA for their Melbourne Plant).  However a newspaper report says it had been occupied as a timber store by the War Service Homes department.  Either way, HMBB occupied the site around Christmas time, 1923.

However, a few weeks later, on the night of Monday, 14^th January 1924, a fire broke out which caused the loss of 40 motor chassis, and damage to a number of others.  It is reported that there were over 600 chassis on site awaiting work, plus a number of bodies!

The factory is described as being a number of corrugated iron sheds covering about four and a half acres. The fire occurred in a large corrugated iron building in the centre of the yard, which had not yet been completed and had only been occupied for a couple of weeks.  It was confined to the north east corner of the large building, which contained the Car Delivery Room and a number of dust proof varnish shops. The building was fitted with Automatic sprinklers, and the damage was limited to an estimated £25,000, all covered by various insurance policies.

Full production resumed on the Thursday morning.

Another small fire occurred only weeks later.  On the night of 1^st February, 1924, six wooden lockers in the Paint Shop were slightly damaged by fire. Compared to the January fire, there was little reporting of this, except that the Fire Engine collided with a motor cycle on the way to the fire.

0n 7^th February 1927, HMBB advertised a new Body Repair Service, able to completely repaint cars in the new Lacquer finish, in one day. A press article says that body orders had increased by 80 percent. Some 32,000 bodies were completed during 1925-26, and this was expected to rise to 50,000 bodies over 1926-27.

Similar advertisements advertising their services were published occasionally in the Melbourne newspapers, including one for an eighteen foot boat for sale in 1939!

In common with all HMBB sites, the Ferrars St site was taken over by GM-H as part of the merger in 1931.  However, they all continued to trade as Holden's Motor Body Builders, which was now a Division of GM-H.

When War came, as with other Holden Plants, Ferrars Street joined in the manufacture of equipment required by the Armed Forces.  The list of items handled at Ferrars Street includes:

Dinghies, Tool Boxes, Canvas Pouches, Assembling and Painting Steel Helmets, Trench Mortar Carriers,

Refrigerators - 100 Cu Ft., and Reconditioning vehicles for the US and Australian Services.

On 1 February 1944, Bulletin MD11 advised that a new manufacturing unit would be setup to make parts and accessories for NASCO and the newly formed Industrial Equipment and Domestic Appliance Company. It was "therefore proposed to gradually change the character of the Melbourne Body Service Station so it becomes a self-contained manufacturing unit."

"This new manufacturing unit will handle particularly, those products, which although  low in volume and consequently difficult to handle economically through  our normal manufacturing organization are nevertheless very important to the sales effort of Sales Divisions such as NASCO and to the maintenance of our position in the market as a whole."

Bulletin MD422 on 15 October, 1945 advises that effective 1 November 1945, the Melbourne Body Service Station will cease to be known as such, and henceforth be called the Ferras Street Plant.

It is not clear exactly when the Plant was closed. An advertisement appeared for a political meeting at the site is dated 4^th September, 1946.  The Sands Directory for 1950 does not list them, so apparently they closed down in that period, probably closer to 1946 than 1950. There is no mention of them being involved with the New Australian Car project.

The Ferrars Street site no longer exists in that form.  The construction of the Lower Yarra Crossing Freeway (now Westgate Freeway) cut Ferrars St short, leaving the HMBB site on the northern side of the freeway.  The construction of the Exhibition Centre and the South Wharf Car park completely removed those portions of the streets and rerouted some others.  Munro Street now stops short and Normanby Road and Lorimer Street have been rerouted.

The HMBB Plant would now be approximately under the South Wharf parking area, behind the Exhibition centre.

 602 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

On 5th October, 1931, Holden’s announced the opening of a City Depot at 602 Little Collins St, Melbourne.  They advertised this in large Display advertisements, which included a map of the new site, and explained:

“THE opening of this city branch marks a further progressive step by HOLDENS in the greater service of the motoring public. Convenient though HOLDENS main Body Building Workshops in Ferrars Street, South Melbourne, undoubtedly are, nevertheless, the directors, being offered first refusal of a commodious and central location in the city, instantly accepted same, and now have pleasure in offering a 24 HOURS REPAIR SERVICE.

For Your “Repairs” Convenience.

 Any minor body repairs will be executed within 24 hours at HOLDENS City branch, 602 Little Collins St. and also Holdens clients will now have the most convenient location in the city, where they may leave their cars for major repairs and pick up the completed job with the least possible trouble.”

There was considerable advertising for the new Depot from October until December 1931, all advising that smaller jobs could be taken to the Depot, but larger jobs should still be taken to the "Main Works", in Ferrars St.  Alternatively, you could drop your car off at the Depot and Holden would transfer it to the Main Works and return it to the Depot when finished.

These advertisements continued until around the end of February 1932, when they ceased, the last one found to date was published on 22^nd February.  The HMBB advertising in March now still referred to their “Main Works” in Ferrars St, but there was no further mention of the Little Collins St Depot. By April, advertising had lost the "Main Works" tag, and referred only to their premises on the corner of Ferrars and Munro Streets.

The Little Collins Street premises were then later occupied by R. Werner and Co, Refrigeration specialists.

 Photographs:      

References:

(Note: In most cases, there were many more advertisements for HMBB in local papers than are recorded below.  However, they were repetitive in nature, so only sufficient to illustrate their style and to attest to where HMBB was located at that time, are shown.)