Holden museum showcased

The Trafalgar Holden Museum has featured front-and-centre in a new music video created by Melbourne singer-songwriter Les Thomas.
The museum's historic vehicles were showcased in the video for Les' new song, "The Last of the Old Holdens", an emotive musical tribute to the days of local car manufacturing.
The song is about a beloved family Holden passed down through generations, becoming a symbol of endurance, identity and changing times.
The music video featured Les sitting in an immaculate HD Holden parked in the Trafalgar Holden Museum, interwoven with footage from the former Fishermans Bend Holden factory.
Les said couldn't have imagined a better location for the music video that the Trafalgar Holden Museum, describing it as "a real tribute to the local community".
"I'd never been to the museum in person, but I just wanted something that could kind of make these vehicles the star of the show, and I don't think I could have imagined a better location," he said. "(Filming there) was so much fun. I think anybody who has that connection to the cars, to the history (of Holden), hopefully they enjoy it as much as I did."
Les said he found the footage of the former Fishermans Bend Holden factory while walking around the Trafalgar museum.
"I saw this factory line footage, and I asked if it might be possible to get a hold of that and kind of work it in," he said.
"The song very much centres on the people that made the vehicles themselves, that way of life and the relationships, friendships and camaraderie that existed there and that survives through organisations like the Trafalgar Holden Museum."
Sung in a folky, story-telling style, "The Last of the Old Holdens" speaks to the lives of ordinary Australians navigating economic uncertainty, social change and the erosion of community connection. The idea for the song grew from a conversation between Les and his friend and fellow musician Roger Joseph.
"He asked if anyone had written a song about the collapse of the Australian car industry," Les said. "I wasn't aware of any song that told that story."
So, Les set about creating that song, drawing on his personal experience growing up in a working-class family who owned a lot of Holdens.
"When telling stories like this, I think it's a good idea to approach it from that personal, kind of real human angle because a company like Holden really gave a way of life to many thousands of people and families," he said.
"My dad was a sheet-metal worker. He drove a Holden, as did my granddad. I used to drive a VP Commodore with a red spoiler, so for me, this song is deeply personal."
To create a sense of familiarity and resonance within the lyrics, Les started to develop nods to Holden and the small ways it filtered into everyday life, like keeping a "Monaro parked out in the drive" and cheering on Peter Brock at Bathurst.
"It's really about the fabric of our lives," Les said.
"I feel like there aren't enough current songs that just get straight to those sorts of real, genuine connections. I think they're totally worthy things to sing about and write about."
Despite its uniquely Australian themes and references, Les said the overall story of the song will ring true for international audiences. He is set to perform the song during his upcoming tour of the United Kingdom.
"A lot of first world industrialized countries have had similar patterns where manufacturing has disappeared over time," he said. "Different government policies have meant that more of these manufacturing industries have moved offshore. It's not a dissimilar story in any way."
Les said he was looking forward to performing the song during his set at the Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival in Dorset.
"It's a festival that celebrates a very formative event in the union movement as we know it - we wouldn't have unions if it wasn't for a group of six labourers from Tolpuddle who formed a union back in 1834," Les said. "I think this song will be of great interest to that audience."
You can listen to "The Last of the Old Holdens" and watch the music video at https://lesthomasmusic.com