AROUND 180 Holden owners took the chance to give the outgoing car brand a cheery local send off at an event in Gawler on Saturday.

Steinborner Gawler, a long time Holden dealership, is preparing to take down its red lion branding ahead of reverting to a used car dealership.

To celebrate the end of the iconic car brand, the Steinborner team held an event for local Holden owners to take a snap of their cars in front of the company’s famous red signage.

Steinborner Gawler new car salesman Ben Rasmus said it was great to see car enthusiasts getting together and swapping stories about their drives.

“It was an awesome day,” he said. “The atmosphere made it a joyous occasion.

“It did take a bit of time to get everyone through, but the patience was there because everyone just wanted to get their photo in front of the signage.

“There was a lot of iconic cars that were from throughout Holden’s history. There was some tour cars, (Peter) Brock Toranas and some old drag cars.

“There was also lots of passion from people who spent a lot of time and money making their cars their own.”

Event organisers estimated around 180 cars were involved in the day, with even more missing out as they did not pre-book a time slot.

Mr Rasmus said the event grew larger than expected and it was proof of how much locals loved the Holden brand.

“This is Holden country,” he said. “Yes the badge is disappearing, but Holden will never die and will be around forever.

“It was just a good day to celebrate that.”