The aesthetes of far away Port Melbourne would surely shudder, if only they knew.

For more than half a century, each Holden ever designed in the auto company's Victorian inner-city studios was crafted and refined to survive the wear and tear of uncompromising owners.

But a six-cylinder mobile monkey cage? It does not compute.

Dewa Arthur is a Jakarta resident, a one-time gibbon owner and a die-hard third-generation Indonesian Holden devotee.

Dewa is the proud owner of three Holdens — including a monkey-scratched Premier HQ. ( ABC News: Ari Wuryantama )

He has so many fond memories of a life spent in Aussie muscle machines he could fill three boots full — one for each car he owns today.

The tale of the wayward pet gibbon that almost trashed the interior of his beloved Holden Premier HQ is just one of them.

"I had a gibbon for a pet before I was into this car," he recalls with a timid grin.

"I let the gibbon out of its cage and, at the time, the situation was chaotic because it began chasing my housemaid around.

"In the end, my mum trapped the monkey and put it inside that car because no-one was using it anyway."

Famously built to last, Holdens can withstand a beating. But two to three hours of incarcerated gibbon nails clawing at the crisp white vinyl interior was too much, as the tattered lining in Dewa's 1972 heirloom still proves.

Gibbon scratch marks in Dewa Arthur's 1972 Holden Premier HQ. ( ABC News: Ari Wuryantama )

Indonesia's Holden heartland

Monkey mayhem aside, Arthur is the modern face of a Holden heartland in Indonesia stretching back to the brand's halcyon days in the 1960s.

His life-long fascination with the brand began at the peak of its success, when he was a Year 5 school student in 1972.

Dewa's father was given the car as a graduation gift when he was a child. ( Supplied )

Back then, his grandfather splurged on what was then an expensive new model as a graduation gift for his son, Arthur's father, paying just over 5 million rupiah, equal to about $550.

"Because he saw the neighbours were driving Holdens such as the Statesman station wagon, he was inspired to get one for his son," Arthur said.

Just as Australian and New Zealand car-lovers slumped into public grief at General Motors' recent decision to axe the brand, many of the 500 or so owners in the archipelago to their north are also lamenting in the only way they know how — loud and proud on the streets.

Arinaya, head of the Holden Indonesia Club's Jakarta chapter, is disappointed Holden will be discontinued. ( ABC News: Ari Wuryantama )

The first public gathering of the Jakarta chapter of the Holden Indonesia Club since the news broke prompted six owners of gleaming vintage models to fire-up on a tribute street cruise: two Kingswoods, two Statesmans, a Monaro and a Torana.

Local branch chairman Arinaya, who like many Indonesians only goes by one name, drives a striking orange Kingswood ute he painstakingly repaired from "rubbish" rusted parts and proudly wears his official "Holden Indonesia" tunic for this impromptu wake.

The Jakarta-based Holden enthusiasts held a street cruise to mourn the end of the brand. ( ABC News: Ari Wuryantama )

"We as club members are very disappointed knowing that [Holden is ending the brand]," he said.

"It's like you've been hit by a lightning strike in the rain. [We are] shocked and disappointed when the Holden brand is gone from the motherland."

Made in Australia, built in Java — since the 1960s

As they grew in popularity, Holdens became prestige cars in Indonesia. ( ABC News: Ari Wuryantama )

Beyond Indonesian shores, the story of Holden's successful export foray into the tropics over more than three decades isn't widely known.

It started in 1959, when shipments of the FC model arrived in Jakarta in what the industry calls a "Completely Knocked Down" state — simply a box of factory new parts and pieces to be put together at a plant in the capital.

At its heights in the late 1960s and 1970s, the company was shipping thousands of cars, having become a prestige marque.

The Aussie cars found favour as status symbols for wealthy government officials and military top brass; some were even released for private sale to colonels and civil servants as their mileage built up.

The runaway success of the Kingswood, popular among taxi drivers, prompted the opening of a second assembly factory in Surabaya, East Java.

Despite early success, Holdens were soon challenged by other foreign-made cars. ( ABC News: Ari Wuryantama )

But by the time the Gemini and Commodore brands were developed in the late 1980s, European and Japanese carmakers had swept the country with smaller, lighter and cheaper options than the high-powered Australian offerings.

Holden sales soon crashed to fewer than 500 a year and the Australasian export experiment was over.

From monster truck fodder to thriving fan subculture

Holden enthusiasts in Indonesia hold regular events celebrating the Australian-made cars. ( ABC News: Ari Wuryantama )

Old Holdens never die, they just get flattened in monster truck shows.

At least a few Indonesian relics met their end as mangled wrecks for public entertainment when touring American-inspired monster truck shows were all the rage in the early 2000s.

If they were spared that inglorious fate, most of the surviving cars were garaged in the care of enthusiasts who still gather regularly for local branch rallies of the owners' club, burnout exhibitions, or an annual national "jamboree".

Despite the imminent death of the brand, Holden fans in Jakarta are also hoping the vehicles' scarcity could actually increase the value of their cars.

Indonesian Holden owners often struggle to source second-hand parts.

In fact, to maintain their value and keep them running, they're pleading with both the Australian and Indonesian Governments to relax customs and shipping restrictions that have long been a bugbear when trying to obtain second-hand parts.

"We from Indonesia hope very much they will change, to allow Australian fabricators and wreckers to sell parts here, especially for models from the FB Holden to the VL Commodore," Holden Indonesian National Chairman Boim Solihin said.

Fuelled by nostalgia — Holden memories outlive the cars

Whether they win the battle for free trade in parts, this Javanese corner of "Kingswood country" is a diaspora driven by cherished memories of the "Lion" badge.

Holdens like this are now a 60-year-old automotive threatened species. ( Supplied )

Stories from long-completed road trips still loom large in the rear-vision mirrors of these roaring automobiles, just as they do for Australian and New Zealand brothers and sisters of the brand.

"I proposed to my wife in that car," entrepreneur and Jakarta entertainment director Udzir Harris recalls of his 1960s FB panel van.

"I proposed to her in the car while we were driving. I guess it's very romantic, driving along in Bali, the moment was just right. Holdens are just so special."

He's an owner of an almost 60-year-old automotive threatened species, determined to keep his car going longer than the Holden company itself.

With motivation, maintenance and a little money to grease the wheel, there's every reason to believe he will.