Culture shock: Holden boss to restore a 1964 classic

There's new hope that the fifth boss of Holden in four years plans on hanging around for a while. Mike Devereux, one of three former Detroit-based executives to run Holden since 2007, plans to restore one of the classic Holdens of all time, an EH Premier.

But even that is no guarantee that the British-born, Canadian-raised and eventually Detroit-based Devereux (pictured) will stay local for long. One of his American predecessors Mark Reuss started to restore an FC Holden, but Reuss was promoted to a more senior job in North America soon after work began on his 1950s classic -- and he took the car with him.

Devereux, however, is adamant he will serve out his time at Holden. "Running Holden is one of the most sought after jobs in General Motors," he said at an end of year media function last week. "They're going to have to drag me away from here." Devereux's previous post was running GM in the Middle East.

When asked if it was compulsory or a coincidence -- or even part of a PR strategy -- that two foreign bosses of Holden in recent times planned to restore one of the company's Australian classics, Devereux told the Carsales Network: "Not at all. Maybe it's a stage of life thing. We're both in our 40s. I've never restored a car before, this will be my first. But people in my family have restored six or seven cars over the years, maybe more."

Devereux is yet to find a car worthy of the project but he has his heart set on a 1963 or 1964 EH Premier sedan, in green or blue -- with a white roof.

"I researched the entire back catalogue of Holdens and I just love the look of the EH," he said. "Plus it's kind of symbolic as one of our most popular models of all time."

Holden might not have sold as many EH models as it did HQ Kingswoods, but the EH held a special place in the hearts of many Australians in the booming 1960s.

"I'm not going to do anything mechanical to it, except get it running right and tidy it up. I'm going to leave the engine stock. But I am going to lower it a little and put slightly larger wheels on it, but ones that look like the original steel wheels. And I'm going to tidy up the interior. I'm going to be respectful of the car's heritage, I'm not going to chop it up."

Devereux's recently arrived counterpart at Ford Australia, Robert Graziano -- formerly of Detroit and a second generation Ford executive with a lifetime career in the automotive industry -- has a slightly different after-hours hobby, making finely crafted timber furniture.

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