HERE it is: the last car to ever be manufactured in Australia, and the last Holden to roll off the Elizabeth production line.

About 1000 Holden workers past and present were there to farewell the final vehicle — a red Commodore V8 — in a private ceremony about 10:45am Adelaide time today.

It marks the end of 69 years of local production for Holden and almost a century of car making for Australia.

The final tally for Holdens built since the first car was assembled in Port Melbourne in 1948 is 7,687,675.

The total of more than 7.6 million vehicles — including just shy of 1 million exports — eclipses the local production figures for Ford (5.9 million) and Toyota (3.4 million), both of which closed their Australian factories within the past 12 months.

The second last Holden built was a Commodore ute, which followed a Commodore wagon and a Caprice limousine. All four cars will be kept by Holden as museum pieces.

In the end Holden built more than 2.3 million Commodores in Australia, not including models exported to the US and the Middle East as Chevrolet and Pontiac sedans.

The biggest selling Holden of all time was the HQ Kingswood from 1971-72, of which more than 485,000 were built.

The highest selling Commodore was the VT model series from 1997 to 1999, with more than 303,000 built.

At its peak, Holden employed 23,914 workers across seven factories in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia in 1964.

The number of factory workers employed in the lead-up to the final day in Elizabeth plant was 945.

The Holden assembly line shutdown — and the send-off for the final four vehicles — was held behind closed doors, as was the case with the Ford and Toyota factory closures.

In a statement issued to media Holden Chairman and Managing Director, Mark Bernhard, said: “Treating our people with dignity and respect was always our number one priority during this transition and we’re all proud we were able to achieve that”.

The company claims “85 per cent” of workers have either found new jobs or are training for a new career.

The Holden statement thanked “the partnership and assistance of the state and federal governments, along with the unions, over many years”.

Holden will continue to sell cars after the factory shutdown — and its network of 200 dealers and their 6000 employees will remain — but the model range will be imported from Thailand, South Korea, Poland and the USA.

“The best way we can honour our people and our heritage is by building a successful future and that’s exactly what we’ll be focused on when Monday rolls around,” said Mr Bernhard.

“Today, however, is about paying tribute to the generations of men and women across Holden and our (parts) supply network who have given so much to our company. Holden is the icon it is today only because of these passionate people. On behalf of everyone at Holden, I thank you for your service from the bottom of my heart,” said Mr Bernhard.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling