Holden Retirees Club News
Please use the link below to send us news of people or events of interest to our members which we may use in the Newsletter and/or on the website News page. This is your page, please feed us with your interesting news.
To send news of people or events:
Click on the link and an email form will open for you.
4th December 2025 Lunch report
Some 120 members attended the Mulgrave Country Club for our December Lunch.
The MCC had decorated the Mulgrave Room for Christmas, and the tables all had bonbons and decorations to add to the festive atmosphere.
President Bill Hooper opened proceedings as usual at 12:30 sharp by welcoming our Speaker, Stewart Underwood and GMANZ Director, Tim Price.
We did not have any new members this quarter, but Bob Kirkwood, Engineering, Fishermans Bend, rejoined after some years' absence.
Bill named the colleagues who had passed away in the last three months, and we paused for a minute of silence to remember them.
Our three-course Christmas Lunch was then served.
ooo000ooo
Following lunch, Bill introduced our guest speaker, Stewart Underwood.
Club member Stewart Underwood was born in England in 1953.He developed an early interest in cars and this continued to expand on his migration to South Australia in 1968.
He started work at GMH Elizabeth in May 1969 in the Production Control Dept, which was part of the Assembly Division. HT Holden was in production, and LC Torana was in Pilot.
Stuart worked in Elizabeth on all the subsequent local models except for a short stint in Woodville Finance Dept in 1973. He has worked as a Planner, a Senior Planner, a Manufacturing Engineer and was South Australia Co-ordinator for Commodore VR, VT and VY11 Adventra. For the last few years of his career, Stewart worked on the General Assembly Upgrade programs.
Stewart retired in Dec 2009 following almost 41 years of service and now keeps himself busy with volunteer work. This includes being a guitarist in a Senior Citizen's Rock Choir band, a driver for a Mental Rehab club, and a volunteer at the National Motor Museum, Birdwood. Additionally, he conducts Holden History Tours of all the original Holden sites in and around Adelaide in conjunction with Don Loffler (the well-known Holden historian and author) each May, as part of the South Australian Government’s ‘History Week’ celebrations.
Stewart’s presentation was "A Holden Heritage/History Tour of Adelaide", a virtual representation of the tour, visiting the original Holden sites in and around Adelaide and illustrated by many 'then and now' photographs.
Unfortunately, the MCC's sound system was playing up, with the microphones dropping out and with variable sound quality. This resulted in the quality of our usual recording of the presentation being poor in places, for which we apologise. It can be heard here.
Stewart was warmly thanked for his presentation and was given the usual gift in appreciation.
ooo000oooo
GM ANZ Discounts
Tim Price was then handed the microphone, where he gave a brief outline of the ex-employees' discounts now available on GM ANZ vehicle sales. Details are available on the HRC website and were also published in the December Newsletter; Tim can be contacted for further information. His presentation can be heard here.
Tim also mentioned that he had brought a Cadillac Lyric and a Corvette for members' viewing at the front of the building.
ooo000ooo
Neil Pogson made Life Member
(by Bill Hooper)
In an infrequent ceremony, our long serving Treasurer, Neil Pogson, was presented with Life Membership of the Holden Retirees Club.
President Bill Hooper presented the award, on behalf of all members, for Neil’s many years of dedication and service to our club.
By way of background, Neil started with Holden back in March 1964 at the Pagewood plant. As Production Engineer, he transferred to GM NZ when Pagewood closed in 1980 and then moved on to Fishermans Bend 3 years later.
Whilst starting in Manufacturing Engineering at FB, it was not long before he moved to the Planning Department to handle problems related to the Family 11 engine production. He then moved into full time Program Planning for vehicle programs.
He went on to handle all non-Commodore Product Programs and Commodore-based Export vehicles.
As import models and volumes grew, Neil made a number of visits to overseas Plants. He pioneered contact with Opel Plants in Spain, Portugal, England and Poland, as well as introducing Holden operating procedures and quality plans in these and other plants, including Opel Antwerp, Vauxhall Luton & Ellesmere Port, GM Thailand, Daewoo Korea and Isuzu Japan.
During the UAAI Joint Venture, Neil was the official Holden point of contact for Toyota on all Engineering and program matters, working daily with Toyota and closely with Holden versions of advanced Toyota models in a secure studio in Design Staff. He made a number of visits to Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan to negotiate these matters on behalf of Holden.
Neil championed and then managed the Holden side of a co-operative venture with Jakab Pty Ltd to import GMC Sierra trucks for conversion to Ambulances and a later program to lengthen and convert Holden Utilities for Ambulance use. This latter program alone sold over 500 Utilities, all plus volume, and changed the concept of ambulance fleets all over Australia.
During his career, Neil has represented Holden working directly with Nissan, Toyota, Daihatsu, Daewoo, Isuzu, SAAB, Opel, Bertone and GM Corporation!
When he retired in December 2005, after 42 years of service, Neil was responsible for the Program Management of all Holden Vehicles that were not V-Car based, including Light Commercials.
In 2009, Neil became Treasurer of the HRC, a position he has held ever since (16 years to date). He is a pivotal and enthusiastic member of the Committee and he can always be relied on for excellent and well-considered advice and input whenever we have an issue.
In 2011, Neil launched our own excellent HRC website. This website not only contains information of immediate interest to our members, but also a wealth of historical Holden knowledge and memories. It is recognised as a valuable resource for those researching Holden historical information.
Bill closed by telling Neil that for all his long, long years of service to the Committee and to the Club, plus his magnificent work in setting up and maintaining our first-class website, he had much pleasure in presenting Neil with Life Membership.
Neil's response can be heard here.
ooo000ooo
General business
Departmental Representatives.
In response to our search for Departmental Representatives, Tony Hyde has agreed to represent Engineering, for which we thank him.
The Departments where new representatives are STILL needed are Sales and NASCO/HSPO.
ooo000ooo
Subscriptions:
Annual subscriptions for 2026 are now due. If you have not already paid your $10, please do so to support your club.
Your current status and "How to Pay" were included in a direct email sent to members in November, and on the mailing address sheet for the posted newsletter copies.
ooo000ooo
The Lucky Door prize draw was next with a Cadillac Gift Pack donated by GMANZ, three prizes donated by Russell Nainie, plus the usual $30, $20 and $10 cash envelopes from the Club.
All prizes were happily received.
Bill thanked everyone for attending and closed the lunch at 3:30 PM.
Some Happy Snaps:
The Gold Coast Retiree Lunch was held at the Parkwood Tavern, Southport, on 4 December 2025.
From L-R :-
Ted Bryant, Graeme Roberts, Garry Newsome, Bevan Rawson, Grant Hewitson, Basil Hickey, Christine Hewitson, Sue Bryant, Maureen Roberts, Carol Hickey.
Thanks to Ted Bryant for this information.
Sydney group General Motors & Associated Trades Luncheon
The group now meets on the first Friday of June and December at the Sydney Juniors Club (South Sydney Juniors), in the Bistro.
Brief video of the guests at the 5 December Lunch : 
Participants in sequence are: Tony Connolly, Marcus McInnes, Peter Cohen, Michael Minatti, Geoff King, (Coffs Harbour Dealer), Ron Gailey, Mike Fittler (hidden), Phil Virgona (Dealer Service), Stan Kennedy, Tony Hamilton, John McLachlan, Brian Kelly (Dealer Service), Tom Southwood (Dealer Service).
Thanks to Marcus McInnes for this information
Ex-Holden Employee Discounts on GMANZ products
"General Motors Australia and New Zealand (GM ANZ) are pleased to now offer exclusive discount certificates on the full range of GMSV and Cadillac vehicles to all former Holden and GM ANZ employees, offering attractive savings.
Over the years, we’ve seen how much value an employee discount program has brought to our people, and we are excited to now be able to extend these discounts to all former GM Holden and GM ANZ employees."
For details of how the scheme works and how to apply, download the brochure here.
Trafalgar Holden Museum 2025 Ex-Employees day
Another great ex Holden employee’s day was held on 15 June 2025 at the Trafalgar Holden Museum. The incredible vision of its founder Neil Joiner, it is now the most significant and largest dedicated Holden museum in the country.
As was the case last year, the museum had another unique artefact of Holden Engineering history on display: the mobile dynamometer, used extensively around the globe for drivetrain testing of specific Holden models.
A fascinating insight into its build and data recording capabilities was delivered by Mathew Rossignoli and Stuart Redpath, who purchased it from Holden in the sale of assets from Lang Lang. Holden’s drivetrain guru Warwick Bryce then rounded off the talk with some interesting and amusing anecdotes on its journey with Holden team members.
Another great contributor to the afternoon was the duo of ‘Simply Bushed’ who performed a great rendition of songs including their popular track ‘No More Holden’s’.
Then, it was the retreat to the Kingswood room where everyone enjoyed some good food and good company with former work acquaintances - which is precisely the focus of the day.
As with any good museum, it is in a constant state of evolution. Trafalgar Holden Museum is very much one to embrace that approach with an incredible new wing, appropriately named the Neil Joiner Holden Heritage Centre, opening for the first time to the public on Saturday the 28th of June.
The museum and its dedicated team of volunteers look forward to greeting you as you explore this great new addition.
Thanks to Brett Murray for this report.
Members who are users of Social Media might like to know that there are some pages of interest to both current and retired Holden employees. The first is the “GM Holden Alumni Group” on Facebook, which at the time of writing, has 1,647 members. This is a Private Group, so you must apply on the site to join, but only other members can see who is in the group and what they post. It is a lively group, started and moderated by HRC member, Thalia Abramzon.
The second is the “Holden Engineering Alumni” Group, which also a Private Group on Facebook, but you must have been a member of Engineering at some time to join. It currently has 465 members and is moderated by Sharmy Francis and Rod Pettit. Quote: “The aim of the Group is to share photos, news, stories & thoughts between past & current Holden Engineering team members. Any group member can invite others to join. All members MUST have been Holden Engineering Team members. Please ensure that people you invite to join meet this simple criteria. Posts must be positive, professional & appropriate. No GM Confidential information.”
Lastly, for users of LinkedIn there is a “GM Holden Alumni” page with 367 members in the network at present, again administered by Thalia Abramzon. The direct link to the Group is: www.linkedin.com/groups/12295307.
All these groups are recommended to interested members who want to keep in touch with current and past mates.