Javillac
Before creating the industrial conglomerate that was British Leyland, the company BMC (British Motors Corporation) had a significant presence in Commonwealth countries, including Australia. The company was looking to renew itself at the end of the sixties, and they began the development of a new car designed for this market that would compete directly with the Ford, Holden and Valiant that were manufactured there.
The idea that BMC Australia carried out in its last years of existence before becoming part of British Leyland, was that the company had to create its own exclusive models for this market, instead of creating Australian versions of existing cars as had been done until then.
The original plan was for Australia to manufacture two saloon cars, one medium-sized and one large. After a visit by Australian executives to the United Kingdom in 1968, they decided that the Morris Marina, which was still in development, would be the mid-size saloon that they would manufacture in the southern hemisphere. starting in March 1969 the design of the future large sedan.
ITALIAN DESIGN FOR AN ENGLISH CAR IN AUSTRALIA
The limited budget of 21 million Australian dollars at the time, and with the aim of carrying out all the engineering work in Oceania, the car would end up inheriting many mechanical components already existing in other British Leyland products, something more than logical if they wanted to make this project profitable.
The Australian division of the company had determined that the future sedan had to be front-engine and rear-wheel drive. Giovanni Michelotti, a regular figure at BMC, was in charge of the design., and the car he designed ended up bearing a great resemblance to the Triumph Puma, in what was his proposal for what could have been an alternative SD1.
The front of what ended up being the Leyland P76 turned out to be very similar to the Puma prototype. The rear was redesigned by David Beech, development and production director of the Australian division Of the brand. The car had a characteristic wedge shape, with a huge trunk capable of carrying a 166-litre jerrycan, something that Australian drivers apparently demanded.
AN INSUFFICIENT DEVELOPMENT FOR A CAR WITH POTENTIAL
The new Australian car It was presented in the summer of 1973 under the name Leyland P76., a most curious decision since it could have been marketed as Austin, Morris, Triumph among many others, since Leyland was a brand that was reserved for vans, trucks and other industrial vehicles.
The P76 shared many components with other British Leyland models, but this car featured a unique version of the Buick-sourced aluminum V8 engine that Rover used, increasing the displacement to the 4.416 cubic centimeters and developing 192 HP of power.
In Australia they were accustomed to engines larger than five liters for saloons of this type, but the reality was that the smaller displacement P76 produced more power than some of its most direct competitors. In the most basic models, an inline six-cylinder engine of 2.663 cubic centimeters and 121 C was offered.V, and also considered developing a V6 from Rover's V8, cutting the two rear cylinders.
The P76 was designed as a robust and simple car. The Leyland pleased the press, winning Wheels magazine's award for car of the year in 1973, as well as achieving very good results in the 1974 World Rally Cup, achieving a victory in the Targa Florio that the brand would celebrate with a limited edition.
However The P76 launch could not have been more unfortunate, coinciding with the beginning of the oil crisis and a controversial government that caused inflation to hit the country hard, sparking strikes across the country, including at the Leyland Australia manufacturing plant.
Production of the model ceased in October 1974, just over a year after its introduction, although manufacturing briefly resumed in New Zealand until 1975. In total Only 18.007 Leyland P76s were manufactured, costing the company more than £15 million in losses.
RARITY AMONG RAZERAS: COUPÉ AND RANCHERA VERSIONS
The short-lived commercial life of this Australian model meant that any plans to launch new versions did not materialize. Michelotti had already worked on a three-door coupe version that would make the P76 an Australian-style muscle car.. It was going to have been marketed as the P76 Force 7 V and ten units were produced in Australia, of which eight went on sale at auction and without a frame, but they managed to be registered later.
As a curiosity, one of these cars was secretly taken to the United Kingdom and used as a test bed during the development of the Rover SD1. It is estimated that At least 56 coupes were manufactured, but they were destroyed by the company to increase the value of the auctioned cars.. The good news is that the units that were saved from being crushed survive to this day.
The plans were to market the Force 7 V and a family variant of the P76, manufacturing at least three units of the latter, two of which were destroyed in collection tests, with the survivor sold at auction along with the coupés. A curiosity to note about this variant is that the rear doors are different from the sedan, a decision that would have increased the production cost if it had been marketed.
