The Cars of the 60s

Gavin Farmer looks at the history of car manufacturing and assembly in
Australia in ‘Cars of the 60s’. Following the boom times of the fifties,
the sixties became a decade of consolidation on the one hand and a series
of challenges on the other, some economic and some political. It marked the
beginning of a very real challenge from Ford on GM-Holden as well as from
Chrysler and several Japanese manufacturers who had quietly entered the
Australian market. The decade began with a Federal Government credit
squeeze which created difficult times for the whole industry. The sixties
saw the beginnings of Australia’s power wars with the likes of the Ford
Falcon GT sedan, Holden Monaro GTS coupe, and the Chrysler Pacer sedan. The
big story in Australia in the sixties was the emergence of the compact
class of car epitomised by the Holden Torana that evolved out of the dull
Vauxhall Viva. By 1968 it had been developed by Australian engineers into a
compact six-cylinder car that opened a new market segment missed by its
rivals; Ford entered the small car market with a dual attack. It was also
in the Sixties when the Japanese manufacturers really established a
foothold in Australia. In the Sixties Australia lost its innocence and life
changed in every way; the “good ol’ days” as they were remembered were
gone. Established companies were floundering and failing as they were left
behind in the dash to modernise and re-equip old factories—the Germans and
the Japanese all had brand new factories full of the latest technology
equipment that meant parts could be made faster and cheaper—and so the old
order rather quickly changed.