Built on an A$20 million budget with an aluminium V8, it still won Wheels Car of the Year before being branded a lemon.
Lead trim: P76 2.6 E-Series six (121 bhp) · up to 192 hp
Leyland P761973–1976
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Leyland P76 yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactBuilt on an A$20 million budget with an aluminium V8, it still won Wheels Car of the Year before being branded a lemon.
The Leyland P76 is a large car produced by Leyland Australia (the Australian subsidiary of British Leyland) at Zetland, New South Wales, from 1973 to 1976 (18,007 built; also assembled in Petone, New Zealand), designed by Giovanni Michelotti with David Beech, on the "standard Australian wheelbase of 111 inches" to rival the Ford Falcon, Holden Kingswood and Chrysler Valiant. Leyland Australia had won the go-ahead to build a large car in 1969 and designed it from scratch on only A$20m, with an accumulated deficit of £8.6 million at launch. The entry-level P76 had an enlarged 2663 cc, 121 bhp version of the six-cylinder E-Series engine of the smaller Austin Kimberley and Tasman, and the top-of-the-line 192 bhp aluminium 4416 cc V8 was unique to the P76, a derivative of the ex-Buick V8 that powered the Rover 3500 and Range Rover; Leyland claimed a weight advantage approaching 500 lb from the aluminium block. It offered rack-and-pinion steering, power-assisted front discs on all models, MacPherson-strut front suspension, a front-hinged bonnet, a glued-in windscreen and concealed wipers with a body of a remarkably low 215 panels, with Borg-Warner Australia transmissions and a live rear axle. Despite the V8 winning Wheels Car of the Year for 1973, rushed assembly, the fuel crisis and strikes at component makers led to poor build quality and sales slumping, so it was labelled a lemon and BMC ended production in 1976 (a V6 derived from the V8 to replace the six was under development). It won the Targa Florio section of the 1974 World Cup Rally (13th overall) and Leyland celebrated with the limited-edition Targa Florio model, a V8 Super with a limited-slip differential, sports wheels and steering wheel and special paintwork; the Force 7 coupé was announced in 1974 but only 10 pre-production coupés survive, and a wagon prototype was built. Crown and Bryson won the Classic Category of the 2013 and 2019 Peking to Paris rallies in one.
Collectors Spotted in the Leyland P76 Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Leyland P76 yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P76 2.6 E-Series six (121 bhp) | 1973–1976 | 2.7 L Inline-6 | 121 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| P76 4.4 aluminium V8 (192 bhp) | 1973–1976 | 4.4 L V8 | 192 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
Owning one
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Owners’ builds
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Photographs
Rivals
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