Holden’s last Australian-built model confirmed

It's official: Holden will farewell 69 years of car manufacturing in Australia with a high-horsepower salute.

Motoring.com.au can confirm a manual Commodore SS-V Redline sedan will be the final vehicle to leave the Lion brand’s storied South Australian production line when General Motors officially closes Holden's Elizabeth factory's doors today, October 20.

Holden insiders revealed the plans earlier this year, though wouldn’t disclose the exact colour combination or who would ultimately take possession of the highly-prized model.

Following several social media leaks this week, which revealed the vehicle was a red Redline sedan, our sources have confirmed the car in question will be fitted with a six-speed manual and that Holden will retain ownership of the vehicle as part of its Australian Heritage collection.

Featuring a 6.2-litre Chevrolet-sourced LS3 engine, the final-hurrah model makes a nostalgic nod to Holden’s long performance history. With 304kW/570Nm on offer, it bows out as the fastest and most powerful production Commodore ever built, aside from heavily modified HSV derivatives.

Brembo brakes, uprated FE3 sports suspension, head-up display and a sunroof will be fitted, as is standard on all MY17 VFII Redline sedans.

In addition, the Adelaide plant will today wave off final iterations of the Caprice (a Caprice V V8 automatic finished in silver), Calais (a V6 wagon finished in navy blue) and the Ute (an SS-V Redline automatic in the hero Light my Fire hue).

In total, Holden's shutters its Australian manufacturing operation after the construction of some 7.6 million vehicles. It will move purely to importing cars after today.

Holden has been tight-lipped around the final details of its closure. It is understood the final car was actually completed on Wednesday, but will drive off the production line in a ceremonious farewell around lunch time today.

The Holden factory closes with record levels of quality control, beating every other GM plant in the world this year against the company's key metrics.

Media has been shut out of the Elizabeth plant's final day of operations out of respect for Holden's factory workers, the final 950 of which leave the company today, following a similar protocol from both Ford and Toyota.

Holden is in the final stage of a six-month process to sell off its Elizabeth manufacturing site in the north of Adelaide, which will become a “master-planned innovative business park”.