| Holden
In 1856 James Alexander Holden established J.A. Holden & Co., a saddlery business in Adelaide, Australia. James' son, Edward Holden, joined the firm in 1905 with an interest in automobiles. Various partnerships evolved until 1908, as Holden and Frost, the company moved into the business of minor repairs and car upholstery. They began making motorcycle sidecar bodies in 1913 and Edward experimented with fitting bodies to different types of carriages. After 1917, wartime trade restrictions required the company to produce vehicle body shells. In 1919 J.A. Holden incorporated Holden's Motor Body Builders, Ltd (HMBB). HMBB made bodies for several imported chassis from manufacturers such as Buick and Dodge. In 1931 General Motors purchased the business and formed General Motors–Holden's Ltd. In 1944, after GM won the government contract to produce Australian automobiles through questionable methods, development on the first natively mass-produced automobile started. The first Holden, designated the 48-215 and fondly know as the FX, was unveiled on 29 November 1948 and the model was a success. In 1998 the company became Holden Ltd until May 2005 when it became GM Holden Ltd.
http://www.holden.com
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