Ever Seen a Leyland P76?

The 22nd of this month is going to be a great day for me—there’ll be two car shows in my home town of Geelong! Firstly there is the Jaguar National Rally and Concourse and then there’s the Leyland P76 National Meeting. The Leyland P76 is probably Australia’s biggest "what if?" in motoring history. Released at the height of the oil crisis in 1973, it was British owned BMC-Leyland’s attempt to break into the Australian full-size market. Some claim that the P76 was Australia’s Edsel, while others argue that it was simply bad timing that killed off what could have been a great motoring dynasty. Buyers had the option of an automatic or a stick shift with either a six cylinder OHC 2.6 L or an all-alloy 4.4 L V8 to power the slab-sided sedan. Unfortunately, the six cylinder was prone to overheating, but the V8 was years ahead of its time, and although it didn’t produce quite as much power as Leyland’s competitors it was more than sufficient for the relatively light P76. Nonetheless, plagued by quality control problems, bad press, and parts supply issues, Leyland ceased production of the P76 in ’74 and closed its Australian operations. One of the quirks of the P76′s story is that the names Leyland used for its paint colors mirrored those used by Mopar in the US: Home On Th’Orange, Hairy Lime, Peel Me a Grape, and Bold as Brass. I can’t wait to see them all at the show!