Leyland P76- Was it really that bad?
August 17th 2008 11:44
No, my eyes did not deceive me. Burbling away in the rush hour traffic was one of Australia’s motoring icons. Its once proud Avocado green paint, looking a little faded and in dire need of some polish.
AUTLOUD got excited because it is not every day that you actually see a Leyland P76 in the flesh, is it? It seems hard to fathom that this car is now thirty five years old!
The P76 was released in 1973 by Leyland as a direct competitor to the big three, namely Ford, Holden and Chrysler. On release the P76 was an advanced motor vehicle compared with its direct competition. Features such as Rack and pinion steering, McPherson Strut front suspension and an Alloy engine were considered normal fare for European cars, but not for the Big Aussie six.
Styled, if that is the right word, by the Italian design house Michelotti, the P76 was, to be polite, unusual looking. The advertising of the time crowed about the Leyland’s ability to carry a 44 gallon drum in the boot. Of course, they never actually told you why you needed to carry one, but there you go!
If nothing else the names of the colour range proved that Leyland had a sense of humour. Shades such as Am eye blue, The Lone oranger and Plum loco must have kept the marketing department in fits of laughter for a fair while!
The original grand plan was to offer a complete range of P76 derived vehicles. This never came to pass. Tucked away in a garage in Sydney to this day is the only Station wagon version built.
The more famous variant was the Force 7 coupe. They built around 80 of this good looking three door hatchback, most of which were scrapped when the P76 was cancelled. Eight survived and are now spread over the globe.
The P76 ceased production in Australia in 1974. Production continued in New Zealand until 1976 and all up they built a total of 18000 vehicles.
The P76 was no better or worse then the Kingswood, Falcon and Valiant. Although like the majority of British Leyland products of the era, the P76 wasn’t a bad car, just a badly built one!
AUTLOUD got excited because it is not every day that you actually see a Leyland P76 in the flesh, is it? It seems hard to fathom that this car is now thirty five years old!
The P76 was released in 1973 by Leyland as a direct competitor to the big three, namely Ford, Holden and Chrysler. On release the P76 was an advanced motor vehicle compared with its direct competition. Features such as Rack and pinion steering, McPherson Strut front suspension and an Alloy engine were considered normal fare for European cars, but not for the Big Aussie six.
Styled, if that is the right word, by the Italian design house Michelotti, the P76 was, to be polite, unusual looking. The advertising of the time crowed about the Leyland’s ability to carry a 44 gallon drum in the boot. Of course, they never actually told you why you needed to carry one, but there you go!
If nothing else the names of the colour range proved that Leyland had a sense of humour. Shades such as Am eye blue, The Lone oranger and Plum loco must have kept the marketing department in fits of laughter for a fair while!
The original grand plan was to offer a complete range of P76 derived vehicles. This never came to pass. Tucked away in a garage in Sydney to this day is the only Station wagon version built.
The more famous variant was the Force 7 coupe. They built around 80 of this good looking three door hatchback, most of which were scrapped when the P76 was cancelled. Eight survived and are now spread over the globe.
The P76 ceased production in Australia in 1974. Production continued in New Zealand until 1976 and all up they built a total of 18000 vehicles.
The P76 was no better or worse then the Kingswood, Falcon and Valiant. Although like the majority of British Leyland products of the era, the P76 wasn’t a bad car, just a badly built one!
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Comment by Magna Madness
Don't believe me? Compare the features!
PS Love this column
Comment by Magna Madness
Don't believe me? Compare the features!
PS Love this column
Comment by Patrick
Auto Loud
Thanks for the comment, glad you like the blog!. I guess they do look a lot a like, if you squint!
Both the P76 and the Magna (as well as the Avalon) suffered from being in the marketplace at the wrong time. They are not bad cars, just the timing was bad!
The Magna on release was not a good car and really it suffered from that reputation all its life. I will say that the TR-TS Magna Elite was one of the most refined cars ever built in OZ, no argument.
Dont care what anyone says, as a long term prospect to make money, my bets are on the P76.