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| HK Holden year 8 Project |
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| Bianca |
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| Group | : Unregister User |
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| Posted : 22 May 2008 13:27:13 | "Reply With Quote" |
My name is Bianca, I am a Year 8 student at Colac Secondary College.
As part of an integrated unit I am required to research a Big Question of my
choice. I have chosen to answer the Questions who came up with the HK Holden
design?,Where was the first one produced?,Why did they name it the HK?,How
long did it take to come up with the design?,Who was it aimed at? and Where
did the idea come from?
I am wondering if you could send me information relating to the question or
you viewpoint on the question. |
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| Unique Cars and Parts Editor |
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| Posted : 22 May 2008 13:28:25 | "Reply With Quote" |
Hi Bianca,
They are pretty hard questions to answer! The HK was designed by the styling team at GMH's Fishermans Bend facility in Melbourne. The very first Holden, the 48/215, was based on a pre-war Chevrolet design, with varying degrees of input by Australian designers. In fact, the first Holden was tested in the US.
Following the release of the first Holden, it was determined that each different model would need to be made easier to identify, and so a two letter designation was introduced. From the FJ model onwards, every Holden would be given a two letter code. As you can appreciate, the original 48/215 was quite a mouthful, and dealers around the country found it expensive to advertise at a time when the only way to sell a car was via print media, and the cost of each letter in print was expensive. It is widely thought that it was the used car yards that unofficially re-named the 48/215 to "FX", so that it could be identified from later models they were advertising.
While each Holden was designed at Fisherman's Bend, there was significant influence and assistance provided by GM's head office in Detroit, USA. The HK Holden was released in January, 1968 and featured a longer, wider and lower body style than any previous Holden.
It was also the first model to introduce new model designations to identify specification levels. For the previous 20 years, Holden's had been known as "Standard" or "Special". With the HK, there would be the Belmont, Kingswood - although the Premier moniker was introduced with the EJ.
Holden designers would start on the design of the next model even before the latest model had been released. It can be surmised therefore that design of the HK began in the mid 1960's. It was an era of prosperity, and the larger size of the car was designed to reflect this. Not only was the HK the largest Holden to date, it was styled to look even bigger than it actually was.
Naturally every large Holden was designed to appeal to the family man, the "baby-boomers" era then in full swing with Australian families aspiring to a quarter acre block, brick veneer house, 2 to 3 children and a Holden in the drive. In global terms Australia is a relatively small market, and the car manufacturers needed to manufacture cars that would have the widest appeal.
We hope this covers your question. There is plenty of information on the site in relation to the different Holden models, specifications, trim levels etc to help with your assignment. |
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