The Leyland P76 is a large

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

that was produced by

Leyland Australia British Motor Corporation (Australia) was a motor manufacturing company formed in Australia in 1954 by the merger of the Austin Motor Company (Australia) and Nuffield (Australia). This followed the merger in 1952 of the Austin Motor Company and ...

, the Australian subsidiary of

British Leyland British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...

. Featuring what was described at the time as the "standard Australian wheelbase of 111 inches", it was intended to provide the company with a genuine rival to large local models like the

Ford Falcon The Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate by Ford Motor Company, Ford that applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford ...

, the

Holden Kingswood The Holden Kingswood is a full-size car that was developed and manufactured in Australia by Holden, from the beginning of the #HK, HK series in 1968 through to the conclusion of the #WB, WB series in 1985. Prior to 1968, the full-size Holden ra ...

, and the

Chrysler Valiant The Chrysler Valiant was a full-size car which was sold by Chrysler Australia between 1962 and 1981. Initially a rebadged locally assembled Plymouth Valiant from the United States, from the second generation launched in 1963, the Valiant was fu ...

. But, due to the first real fuel crisis and demand far exceeding the supply, Leyland rushed the assembly process with the first of the P76s to come off the assembly line, resulting in poor build quality and some reliability problems. The combination of the rushed assembly, fuel crisis and strikes at the component manufacturers' factories, resulted in the Leyland P76 being labelled a lemon, despite being named ''

Wheels A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axl ...

Car of the Year Car of the Year (COTY) is a common abbreviation for numerous automotive awards. The "Car of the Year" phrase is considered to have been introduced by '' Motor Trend'' magazine in 1949 when the new publication named Cadillac as Motor Trend Car of ...

in 1973. By 1974, sales of the P76 had slumped and BMC decided to end the production of the P76. Although the P76 has been labelled a lemon in Australian motoring history, it is viewed by some as an iconic Australian car and has a loyal following. In 1969, Leyland Australia was given the go-ahead to build a large car for Australia. At the time of the car's launch, it was reported that Leyland Australia had an accumulated deficit equivalent to £8.6 million, and had borrowed the same amount again in order to fund the development of the P76. The P76 was designed and built from scratch with a fund of only A$20m. This was also a decade of serious financial and operational challenges for parent company

back in Britain. Commercial success for this car was therefore seen as crucial to the survival of Leyland in Australia. Launched in 1973, the P76 was nicknamed "the wedge", on account of its shape, with a large boot, able to easily hold a

44 gallon drum A drum (also called a barrel) is a cylindrical shipping container used for shipping bulk cargo. Drums can be made of steel, dense paperboard (commonly called a fiber drum), or plastic, and are generally used for the transportation and storage of ...

. Although

station wagon A station wagon (American English, US, also wagon) or estate car (British English, UK, also estate) is an automotive Car body style, body-style variant of a Sedan (automobile), sedan with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo ...

and "Force 7"

coupé A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

versions were designed, these never went into

mass production Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines ...

Naming the P76

The name of the P76 derived from the car's codename while in development (Project 76). The official line was that the P76 was an original Australian designed and built Large Family Car, with no overseas counterpart and that P76 stood for "Project 1976". The

Rover SD1 The Rover SD1 is both the code name and eventual production name given to a series of executive cars built by the Specialist Division (later the ''Jaguar-Rover-Triumph'' division), and finally the Austin Rover division of British Leyland from 1 ...

(released in 1976) shared several engineering features with the P76 – including

MacPherson strut The MacPherson strut is a type of automotive suspension system that uses the top of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in the front suspension of modern vehicles. The name comes from American automotive engineer ...

front

suspension Suspension or suspended may refer to: Science and engineering * Car suspension * Cell suspension or suspension culture, in biology * Guarded suspension, a software design pattern in concurrent programming suspending a method call and the calling ...

, the

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...

and a live rear axle. The P76 itself was, however, out of production by 1976. An alternative theory is that P76 were simply the first three digits of Lord Stokes' National Service number (Donald Stokes was Chairman of British Leyland at the time).

Automotive forebears

Before the P76, Leyland Australia and its corporate predecessor BMC (Australia) had not successfully fielded a direct competitor in the large-car sector which then dominated the Australian car market. Previous attempts had been mounted with the 1958

Morris Marshal The Morris Marshal is a large six-cylinder vehicle which was produced by the British Motor Corporation (Australia) between 1957 and 1960. The car was a Morris branded version of the Austin Westminster which was marketed by BMC Australia's Aust ...

(a rebadged Austin A95); the 1962

Austin Freeway The Austin Freeway is an automobile which was developed by BMC Australia, based on the British Austin A60 Cambridge. Introduced in 1962, it was marketed under the Austin name in both four-door sedan and five-door station wagon body styles. U ...

and

Wolseley 24/80 The Wolseley 24/80 is an automobile produced by British Motor Corporation (Australia) from May 1962 to October 1965,Austin A60 with

Riley 4/72 Riley may refer to: Businesses * Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 * Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969 * Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob Ri ...

tail lights, a unique full-width grille and a 2.4-litre 6-

cylinder A cylinder () has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infinite ...

version of the 1622 cc B-series engine; the Wolseley was a 6-cylinder version of the Wolseley 16/60); and the 1971

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

"X6" Tasman and

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

(facelifted

Austin 1800 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 18), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 12 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 16), ...

with the 6-cylinder 2.2-litre E-series engine). Each of these cars was a compromise and the motoring public overwhelmingly preferred the locally established

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. Founded in Adelaide, it was an automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter that sold cars under its own marque in Australia. It was ...

and

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

products. Nonetheless, the Freeway, 24/80 and the X6 each developed a loyal niche following.

Design and engineering

The car was designed by

Giovanni Michelotti Giovanni Michelotti (6 October 1921 – 23 January 1980) was one of the most prolific designers of sports cars in the 20th century. His notable contributions were for Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati and Triumph Motor Company, Triumph marques. He was ...

. The entry-level P76 featured an enlarged 2663cc 121 bhp (83 kW) version of the 6-cylinder engine from the smaller

Austin Kimberley The Austin Kimberley and Austin Tasman (sold by Morris in New Zealand alongside the Austin models) "X6" models are a pair of Leyland Australia-designed front-wheel-drive sedans based on the Austin 1800 (ADO17) platform, that were produced from ...

and Austin Tasman. The top-of-the-line 192 bhp (143 kW) aluminium 4416 cc V8 unit was unique to the P76, and was a derivative of the ex-

Buick Buick () is a division (business), division of the Automotive industry in the United States, American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American automobil ...

V8 that was powering the Rover 3500 and Range Rover. Leyland Australia cited a weight advantage approaching for the P76, most of which was attributed to the lighter weight of the aluminium engine block when compared to the cast-iron blocks (with bigger displacements) of the V8s from Chrysler, Holden and Ford. It was hoped that the weight advantage would feed through into superior fuel economy and extended tyre life. Nevertheless, the car was a full-size car in Australian terms, for which class leading boot/trunk capacity was claimed. Leyland P76 with 44 gallon drum

Safety equipment preceded the forthcoming Australian Design Rules, and featured front discs as standard on all models, recessed door handles and full-length side-intrusion reinforcements on all doors. Transmissions for the car were all bought in from Borg-Warner Australia who were already also supplying transmissions to Ford and Chrysler. Notwithstanding the advertising slogan ("Anything but average") the P76's engineering followed conventional lines. It did offer a combination of features which were advanced in this category in Australia at the time: rack-and-pinion steering, power-assisted disc brakes, MacPherson-strut front suspension, front-hinged bonnet, glued-in windscreen and concealed windscreen wipers, as well as the familiar Australian-made Borg Warner gearboxes (including 3-speed column shift) and a live rear axle. Particular attention was paid to structural rigidity, a British Leyland engineering strength. This goal was aided by a conscious effort to reduce the number of panels needed to build the car's body—a remarkably low 215, reportedly only five more than for a

Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

. At the time P76 production ceased, Leyland was developing a V6 version to replace the E6 variant. The V6 was derived from the 4.4-litre P76 V8, with the two rear cylinders chopped off.

Performance in the marketplace

Despite the V8 model winning the ''

for 1973, sales of the P76 were adversely affected by a variety of issues. The controversial new Labor government was fuelling rapid inflation; industrial action was affecting component manufacturers and production at Leyland Australia's plant in Zetland. Also, the release of the P76 coincided with the

1973 oil crisis In October 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) announced that it was implementing a total oil embargo against countries that had supported Israel at any point during the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which began after Eg ...

, when fuel prices increased dramatically. As a result, demand for all larger cars subsided. Hence, notwithstanding generally favourable press and public reaction to the car, sales did not reach expectations.

announced plans to sell P76 in the UK. However, production ceased before these plans could come to fruition. The car achieved success in the 1974 World Cup Rally—winning the Targa Florio section and placing 13th overall. Leyland Australia celebrated this victory by releasing a limited edition

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo, Sicily, Palermo. Founded in 1906 Targa Florio, 1906, it was the oldest sports car ra ...

model: the V8 Super with a limited slip differential, sports wheels and steering wheel, as well as special paintwork, including side stripes. Gerry Crown and Matt Bryson won the Classic Category of the 2013 Peking to Paris Endurance Rally in their Leyland P76 with a time of 237:30:10 Gerry Crown and Matt Bryson also finished Second on the 2015 Road to Mandalay classic car rally, winning the Malaysian Cup for being the fastest car.

Unreleased P76 derivatives

Although development had started much earlier – the Force 7 coupé was announced in 1974 but eventually only 10 pre-production coupés survived. By the time of the factory closure in 1974, one Force 7 was already in England for secret testing, Leyland Australia kept one example and finally donated that coupé to an Australian museum with some other components of the P76 production line and the remaining eight coupés were offered for sale to private buyers in an auction after the factory had closed. The handbooks had even been printed and were offered for mail order sale by the auctioneers. There was to have been a base six-cylinder Force 7, a more powerful Force 7V with the V8 unit, and a range-topping Tour de Force. All the surviving cars are the "mid" range Force 7V. It was unusual in that it had full seating for five adults and a large rear hatchback, the first of its kind produced in Australia. It shared few body panels with the sedan. At the time of launch, the company announced the intention of introducing a station wagon/estate version later that same year, and at least three, prototype station wagons (estate cars), which shared much of the sedan's structure and body panels but with more upright rear door frames, were built: one was broken up by Leyland Australia for examination of the body strength, one was crash tested by Ford Australia for Leyland to gain part of the registration certification and the last and only surviving example was eventually used as a factory hack until it was sold at the same auction as the Force 7s as part of a pair of cars which included the last car made. The wagon and the "last" car remain in private collections and the wagon is currently undergoing basic restoration. All of the coupés sold at auction did not have registration compliance plates fitted to them as final registration testing and approval had not been completed on either station wagon or coupe bodies. Currently – in 2018 all 10 coupés and the single wagon survive.

New Zealand and the end of the line

The Leyland plant at Zetland closed in October 1974, and production of the P76 ceased, although CKD ( completely-knocked-down) assembly continued in

Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...

, New Zealand, in exchange for NZ-assembled

Rover P6 The Rover P6 series (named as the 2000, 2200, or 3500, depending on engine displacement) is a Sedan (automobile), saloon car produced by Rover Company, Rover and subsequently British Leyland from 1963 to 1977 in Solihull, West Midlands, England, ...

s that were shipped to Australia. In New Zealand, the P76 was successfully sold in V8 form only in Deluxe, Super and Executive forms, until August 1976. Other P76s were imported into NZ as complete cars. NZ-built P76s can be identified by a 'Z' stamped onto the chassis plate immediately after the 076 model designation – i.e. 076Z. After production ended, surplus V8s were sold off by local distributor

New Zealand Motor Corporation The New Zealand Motor Corporation was the New Zealand representative, importer, distributor and retailer of a number of the best-known British automobiles. It carried out the same functions for a wide range of manufacturers of industrial machi ...

, and were popular as boat engines. Leyland Australia produced 56 or more Force 7 coupés, the majority of which were crushed at the factory to enhance the value of the eight that Leyland auctioned in 1975. All of them still exist, and are regularly driven by their private owners. Another car, an Omega Navy one with white trim, was sent to Britain and used by Lord Stokes for some time. It was later sold to a private collector, who later sold the car to a collector in New Zealand, which is where it resides now. Another one is at the

National Motor Museum, Birdwood The National Motor Museum, formerly also known as The Old Mill and Birdwood Mill after its initial location, is a social history museum of the History Trust of South Australia focused on Australian motoring history and automobile museum in the ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, on permanent loan from Leyland Australia. A smaller, medium-sized car was also planned, called the "P82". Styling for that car became a competition between Michelotti and Leyland Australia's own design department. In 1982, claims were made in some motoring media that Leyland in Britain had decided on Michelotti's version, but the ex-head of Leyland Australia's design department was unaware of any such decision. The car was intended to replace the

Morris Marina The Morris Marina is a front-engined, rear-wheel-drive C-segment, small family car that was manufactured by the Morris Motors, Austin-Morris division of British Leyland from 1971 until 1980. It served to replace the Morris Minor in the Mo ...

in Australia, but only one prototype and some styling mock-ups were ever produced. At least two experimental V6 engines were made, one being based on a cut-down Rover V8 of about 2.6 L capacity, and another based on the actual P76 V8 motor at about 3.3 L. Conceived as a high volume/profit car, the P82 was supposed to have many body styles over the same basic structure, and was to be offered in 4, V6 and V8 forms, dependent on body style. After the Australian plant closed, the prototype car was reported to have been sent to Rover in Britain for examination before being destroyed. Just before the plant closure in 1974, and its subsequent takeover by the Australian military, Leyland Australia's styling department were still working on the P82 styling, and one single 1/5 scale clay model of the P82 survives, in the sedan "short front and rear" variant.

P76 today

The P76 continues to have a loyal following of owners who have great enthusiasm for the car. There are at least seven P76 owners clubs in Australia and New Zealand. The New Zealand P76 Owners' Club was founded in 1983. After production of the P76 ceased, Leyland Australia limited its local production to the

and

Mini Moke The Mini Moke is a small, front-wheel-drive utility and recreational convertible, conceived and manufactured as a lightweight military vehicle by British Motor Corporation (BMC), and subsequently marketed for civilian use under the Austin Moto ...

, both produced at Enfield, along with commercial vehicles and buses.

Total P76 production numbers

*Model, Version, (Model Code), Production *Deluxe, Column Auto 6, (2C26) – 2118 *Deluxe, Column Manual 6, (2N26) – 2342 *Deluxe, 4 Speed Manual 6, (2M26) – 516 *Deluxe, Column Auto V8, (2C44) – 1532 *Deluxe, Column Manual V8, (2N44) – 1281 *Deluxe, 4 Speed Manual V8, (2M44) – 380 **Deluxe Total – 8169 *Super, Column Auto 6, (3C26) – 1132 *Super, T-Bar Auto 6, (3A26) – 380 *Super, 4 Speed Manual 6, (3M26) – 719 *Super, Column Auto V8, (3C44) – 1928 *Super, T-Bar Auto V8, (3A44) – 2256 (including 488 Targa Florio model) *Super, 4 Speed Manual V8, (3M44) – 1047 **Super Total – 7462 *Executive, T-Bar Auto V8, (4A44) – 2376 **Executive Total – 2376 Production Figures provided by James Mentiplay and the Leyland P76 Owners Club of WA.

References

Notes

Bibliography

Books

* * * *

Articles

External links

National Web site for P76 OwnersStuart Brown's P76 Website
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060427081920/http://www.austin-rover.co.uk/index.htm?p7682p82f.htm Leyland P82 history on Austin-Rover.co.uk {{British Motor Holdings and British Leyland cars, 1966-1986 P76 British Leyland vehicles Cars of Australia Cars introduced in 1973 Cars discontinued in 1975 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Police vehicles Hatchbacks Sedans