Mr Barrett's first car was a Holden - and that Holden was one of the first to roll out of the showrooms of Victoria.

A cadet civil engineer for the-then Shire of Heytesbury and based in Cobden in the late 1940s, 21-year-old Newell Barrett soon realised he was unable to pursue promotion if he was without a vehicle to travel for jobs further afield.

Accordingly, and with the foresight and planning that would later serve him in his engineering career, he looked carefully at what was available at the time.

"I really did fall in love with the Holden," Mr Barrett says.

"I went down to Melbourne and had a look before they had actually released them. I went to one of the motor dealerships down there, and they had it covered with cloth sheets so you couldn't see in. But I managed to get in, and I had a good look at this car."

Mr Barrett managed to place an order for one of the new General Motors-Holden 48/215 cars, which had been released by then prime minister Ben Chifley in November 1948. Although the vehicles would be considered primitive by even the standards of US cars of the same period - they had no heaters or demisters, no indicators and a relatively straightforward 132 cu inch cast iron engine - they were regarded as hardy and easy to drive and were very popular.

Newell Barrett says he paid 'something over £600' for his new Holden, a sum approaching the $40,000 mark in current values and far beyond the wage of a young civil engineer. Accordingly Mr Barrett's parents guaranteed the cost of the vehicle for him, his father, a renowned doctor in the region, being somewhat of a motoring fan himself.

There being no car dealership in Cobden, Mr Barrett took possession of his new Holden in Camperdown from the local agency of Airey and Hildebrand, two mechanics who formed a partnership to sell vehicles.

Newell Barrett's Holden was the first car they sold.

"The registered number was OC-001," he recalls, "so it was very early."

The Holden lasted five years with Mr Barrett. A career travelling the many rough roads of country shires inspecting bridge and building sites for the Shire of Otway soon racked up both the mileage and the wear-and-tear on the car, and other Holdens followed it.

Newell Barrett is sad to see the GM-H brand go.

"I'm absolutely devastated, particularly for the fellas losing their jobs. I thought Holden was there for good. I'm 92 now, and I still think it's the best car on the road."