Australia at the forefront of motorization
03/19/2012
In 1958, ADAC Motorwelt (No. 12) reported that Australia was one of the best motorized countries in the world, with four people to every car. This is hardly surprising, however, as cars are indispensable for covering the vast distances of this large country. At that time, only the USA (2.5 people per car), Canada (3.7) and New Zealand (3.8) were even more motorized.
At the top of the registration statistics in Australia in those years was Holden, a GM subsidiary that built purely Australian vehicles for the local market.
Ford and the British were also heavily involved in Australia. Volkswagen built Beetles in a plant in Clayton (see picture above) and Lloyd produced the "Golden Boomerang" in cooperation with a local manufacturer.
The Australian car industry planned to produce around 300,000 vehicles by 1960, which was a proud increase of at least 30%.
Of course, Australian products were also used in motorsport events, both in hill climbs and in circuit races and rallies.
More about motorization in Australia in 1958 can be found in the ADAC Motorwelt article in the Zwischengas archive.
