Holden cars were an Australian government initiative in the late 40's to establish a 'local' car company. The original 48-215 (Often mistakenly known as an 'FX') was designed with help from Chevrolet (USA), and in fact the first Holden's were registered as Chevrolets.
There were some truly Australian car companies, such as Bolwell which produced sports cars out of the Mornington Penisula until relatively recently; Lightburn (A washing machine company) which produced the Zeta - Its main claim to fame (besides almost total obscurity) was the fact that the driver made the car go in reverse by turning the ignition key in the opposite direction, thus making the engine run in reverse. There is one in the Birdwood museum in South Australia; and Hartnett - again small, strange-looking cars.