The Holden EH is a 4-door sedan / 5-door station wagon / 2-door coupé utility / 2-door panel van from Holden, built from 1963 to 1965, in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. Under the bonnet: 2.4L GMH 149 I6. Stan Parker drew it. The total made was 256,959.
Where it came from
The Holden EH is an automobile produced by Holden in Australia from 1963 to 1965. The EH was publicly released on 26 August 1963, replacing the Holden EJ series, and was the first Holden to incorporate the new red engine, with a seven main bearing crankshaft instead of the four main bearing crankshaft used in the grey engine. The newly released Red engine initially came in two capacities that being the 100 hp 149 and the 115 hp 179 cubic inch displacement. Standard issue on all models (except Premiers) was the 149 CID in either the manual or Hydramatic transmission. A lower compression 95 hp 149 was also available as an option, except on Premiers. The Premier models only received the larger 179 (HP cast block) and initially only with the Hydramatic transmission.
The Hydramatic was a four-stage automatic transmission with a column shift although it effectively worked as a three-speed unit, except at full throttle. The manual transmission was a 3 speed column shift with non synchromesh first gear with synchromesh only on the second and third (top) gear. The first EH with a 179 CID engine combined with a manual gearbox was called the "EH-S4", (officially EH225M-S4) and was fitted with an upgraded manual gearbox, having stronger gears than in the 149 gear box. Other upgrades included clutch and brakes and a few other minor changes. The mainstream release of the 179 engine mated to the three speed manual transmission option across all models occurred on 10 February 1964. A total of 256,959 EH Holdens were produced and sold from 1963 to 1965, when the EH was replaced by the
Under the skin
Power comes from 2.4L GMH 149 I6; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 2464lb. It shifts through a 3spd manual / 3spd Hydra-Matic automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 106.0 inches (2692mm). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Holden EJ; its successor was the Holden HD. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Aston Martin DB5, the Maserati Quattroporte, the Pontiac GTO — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Holden catalogue sit the Holden 48-215 and the Holden Adventra.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Holden EH has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.