Mr Holden T-Shirt

This little fella hasn't recovered and he never will. Mr. Holden still remembers exactly where he was when they announced they were shutting down the factory, and he talks about it the way people talk about a death in the family — because that's exactly what it was. He's got a Torana in the shed that's worth more than the house, an HQ he's been "restoring" since 1997, and a Commodore in the driveway that he refuses to trade in because "they don't make 'em anymore and they never bloody will." He's got a Lion and Flag tattoo on his forearm, a Peter Brock poster in the toilet, and a framed photo of the 05 at Bathurst that makes him emotional after three beers. He can tell you the difference between a VK and a VL from two hundred metres in the dark. He doesn't trust anything that wasn't built in Elizabeth, South Australia, and he reckons the day Holden died was the day Australia lost its soul. He won't drive a Ford. He won't sit in a Ford. He once refused a lift home in the rain because it was a Falcon. He'd rather walk. And he did. Don't feel sorry for him. He's got the keys to a Monaro and a memory full of V8 thunder. They can close the factory, but they can't close his heart. Holden till death. And after.

Part of The Little Fellas collection — 20 original characters inspired by the little books that shaped a generation.