Holden’s greatest TV ads of all time

Holden has announced it is leaving Australia for good by the end of the year, but the Lion brand has given us some terrific memories during the past 72 years. Here are some of its best.

• ‘Holden is walking away from Australia’
• Holden’s Supercars future in doubt after shock axing

Holden has announced it is quitting Australia after being a huge part of our automotive landscape for more than 70 years, and in that time it has spawned some memorable ads.

Holden in the ‘70s

A classic Holden ad from the 1970s that placed Holden among the country’s most famous icons including AFL, the humble meat pie and one half of Australia’s coat of arms. The ad combined the latest Holden cars with plenty of shots of Sydney Harbour, girls in bikinis and speccy marks. Even sports legends including tennis ace John Newcombe and motorsport champion Peter Brock made an appearance.

Holden Monaro: “Game over”

The Holden Monaro was one of the most loved cars of the 1960s and ‘70s. But after production ended in 1977 Holden decided to bring the Monaro back in the early 2000s. The video game themed ad showed the new Monaro beating some of the world’s best sports sedans and declaring the Monaro is back, “game over”.

Holden SS ute

Holden whipped up massive support for its turn of the century SS performance ute with an ad for the ages. The ad would have been sure to draw the ire of the advertising standards panel with arm chair critics complaining of the depictions reckless driving. Holden combined ACDC’s Thunderstruck with a hot ute doing doughnuts in a dry field to produce a storm which brings drought breaking rains.

Holden Caprice

The Holden Caprice was the brand’s flagship luxury car, promising lots of space and the latest, cutting edge technology. It was so good even an evil genius wanted to get his hands on it during this Mission Impossible themed ad.

Holden Statesman

This ad from 1998 brought in the big guns, using Greg Norman to promote the new top-shelf Statesman Series 3. The ad had Norman talking up the car’s tech and pushing the premium lifestyle that comes with it.

Originally published as Holden’s greatest TV ads of all time