Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Titles tagged with ‘motoring’

18 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year

1920s

Building a Motor Body sponsored film – c1925

The South Australian Government commissioned this promotional film to attract workers to the Woodville car plant; at the time, the second largest in the British Empire.

1940s

Birth of a Car sponsored film – c1948

Birth of a Car, made in 1948, proudly details the planning, testing and production of the first locally-manufactured Holden model sedan.

1950s

Overland Adventure: The Story of the 1954 Redex Reliability Trial documentary – 1954

Jack Murray earned the nickname ‘Gelignite Jack’ through his habit of blowing up outback toilets, livening up his entrance to towns along the route.

General Motors Holden – FE Holden: The Average Man advertisement – 1956

This is one of GMH’s early ventures into television advertising.

General Motors Holden – Proved Dependability advertisement – c1956

This ad introduces written testimonials from 'satisfied owners’ of Holden cars, 'taxi drivers, men in the outback, commercial travellers, family men’.

General Motors Holden – To Suit All Family Needs advertisement – c1956

In this mid-1950s Holden car ad, the cloud background makes the family look like they’re floating through the sky rather than driving on the ground.

Let’s Go sponsored film – c1956

This film promotes the Shell Touring Service and Shell’s nationwide network of road-related services. Shell maps were produced from the 1920s until the late 1970s. Shell has deposited a significant amount of film with the National Film and Sound Archive for preservation, with a range of excerpts on this site.

General Motors Holden – Australia’s Ideal Family Car advertisement – c1957

This goes to great lengths to reiterate the key features on which Holden built its reputation – economy, dependability, performance, styling and comfort.

1960s

Shell Animated Commercial: Poster Man advertisement – 1960

This advertisement was made to screen only in cinemas prior to a feature film program despite being made after the introduction of television.

General Motors Holden – John Fisher, Another Holden Driver advertisement – 1962

This 1962 Holden ad offers a good example of associating a product with a well-known personality, in this case Hawthorn AFL footballer John Fisher.

General Motors Holden – Holden’s Got More Horses advertisement – 1966

By the 1960s, Holden had added theme music and jingles to the devices used to make their brand memorable.

General Motors Holden – Holden’s Number One advertisement – c1966

By the mid-1960s, Holden’s consumer base was broadening to include an increasingly affluent younger demographic.

General Motors Holden – Monaro, Three New Models advertisement – 1968

With this ad Holden shifted away from promoting reliability, functionality and economy to marketing the car as an object of desire.

1970s

Championship Chase documentary – 1970

Norm Beechey retired soon after winning the1970 Australian Touring Car Championship.

HQ Kingswood Sedan: Holden, the Great Way to Move advertisement – c1971

Released three years after the iconic Kingswood sedan, the 1971 HQ was Holden’s biggest selling model to date.

Metric Motoring advertisement – 1974

This is one of the two television advertisements produced to facilitate the change to metric on Australian roads in July 1974.

Torque – Series 1, Episode 8 television program – 1974

Peter Wherrett, a former racing car driver and motoring journalist, praises or blames car manufacturers without fear or favour.

General Motors Holden – Football, Meat Pies, Kangaroos and Holden Cars advertisement – c1976

This memorable advertising jingle from the 1970s was adapted from the American Chevrolet campaign, 'baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet’.