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HOONIES: FALCONS & COMMODORES

Holden and Ford sit at the heart of adlay culture, with Commodores and Falcons dominating the stereotype of the default adlay vehicle.

The Ford Falcon first hit Australian dealerships in September 1960, assembled at the Melbourne Broadmeadows plant. The Holden Commodore followed in October 1978, assembled at Sydney’s Pagewood plant and Melbourne’s Dandenong plant. Locally built, they were more affordable than European imports and marketed for Australian road conditions - rough backroads to city streets. Offered with six-cylinder and V8 options, they carried muscle-car energy without supercar prices. For many adlays, a Commodore or Falcon was the dream first car.

The Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama supercharged the rivalry, with Commodores and Falcons battling for supremacy. Fans were forced to pick sides, Red Lion for Holden or Blue Oval for Ford, and the tension briefly blended into everyday life. Beyond the track, they became part of the fabric of Australia: the family sedan, the tradie’s ute, and the P-plater’s pride and joy.

Part of the appeal was how cheap they were to buy second-hand and how easy they were to modify. Loud exhausts, subwoofers in the boot, slammed suspension, chrome rims and body kits that were often not road legal - all contingent pairings of hoonies. They were blank canvases for self-expression crossing into the streets and becoming icons in the culture.

But all good things come to an end. Ford ceased Falcon production in 2016, and Holden retired the Commodore in 2017, closing the chapter on an era of Australian hoon car culture.

Police, Media and the “Hoon” Narrative

With popularity came attention, and with attention came stigma. The term “hoon” was weaponised by police and mainstream media to demonise the subculture. Car meets were painted as crime hubs, and every burnout clip on the news reinforced the stereotype. Operation after operation was launched to crack down on street gatherings, defect modified cars and seize vehicles.

The Last Cars and the End of Local Manufacturing

The decline of Australia’s automotive industry reached its symbolic end in the mid-2010s. Ford was the first to bow out, shutting its Broadmeadows and Geelong plants in 2016 after more than 90 years of local production. The final Falcon, a blue XR6, rolled off the line and was signed by workers who had spent decades building the nation’s most iconic family car.

Just a year later, in October 2017, Holden followed. The last Holden Commodore, a red VF Series II SS V Redline was built at the Elizabeth plant in South Australia. Workers gathered to farewell the car, many of them second- or third-generation employees who had spent their lives on the production line. It wasn’t just the end of a car model, it was the end of Holden as an Australian assembled brand.



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