Keeping the valuable Holden historical collection together and held in Australia is seen as a priority for federal Arts Minister Paul Fletcher, who said he can use legislative powers to stop it going offshore.
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And with the demise of the Holden brand in Australia and the break-up of its heritage collection, Canberra's National Museum is a certain front-runner to become the key repository of the cars and material.
The Arts Minister has opened discussions with Holden to acquire the collection which not only includes its milestone cars but photos, documents, and memorabilia.
Parent company General Motors announced it would make most Holden staff redundant in June and leave the country by 2021. It ceased manufacturing here in 2017.
Mr Fletcher described the brand's heritage of "immense importance" to Australia's history, a sentiment echoed by the director of the National Museum, Matt Trinca, who is likely to chair the advisory committee to oversee the collection.
"This collection speaks to the very core of our industrial history in the 20th century and more broadly, to a great sense of self and identity for many Australians," Mr Trinca said.
"We are committed to ... come up a solution that sees this collection retained in Australia for the national interest.
"And I can't imagine any solution would omit us but I'm not insistent for us [the NMA] to be the sole solution."
Mr Fletcher said that the provisions of the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986 will protect most of the cars and historical material from being exported without a permit.
Revealing the depth of the Federal government's annoyance at not having sufficient warning from General Motors that it was folding the brand, Mr Fletcher wants GM to be active participants in assisting the preservation.
"The government expects to see a clear plan from GM about how this significant material is to be preserved and maintained in Australia," he said.
"As part of this plan, GM should also make sustainable arrangements for funding the preservation and storage of this material."
GM can also take advantage of the cultural gifts program, and receive a tax deduction of up to the market value of the donated items.
The National Museum of Australia already holds a number of significant Holden vehicles in its collection including the Holden prototype number 1, the sole survivor of three cars built by hand in Detroit, then secretly shipped to Melbourne to provide the test bed for Australia's first Holden car, the 48-215.
Every time the museum shows its remarkable car collection to the public, it draws a huge crowd. In August last year, thousands of people flocked to Wakefield Park race circuit, near Goulburn, when the museum took 12 cars from its collection and drove them around.
Holden's collection, held within its former factory premises at Fishermans Bend, in Victoria, and at Elizabeth, in South Australia, includes many one-off models including the swoopy 1969 Holden Hurricane, the 1970 Holden Torana GTR-X and the locally-designed, award-winning 2005 Efigy. It also includes engines, period posters and designs.
