1974 Leyland P76 Executive from Australia and New Zealand - Comments

The mechanical clutch linkages gradually disintegrated because the mounting brackets were too weak.

The power steering pump constantly leaked.

A head had to be replaced because the plug threads were so damaged that a spark plug blew out of the head and dented the bonnet!

This car has ridiculously good handling for a worn out old heap, because the suspension is better designed than its competitors, and because even though it looks so big it should weigh near 2 tonnes, it only weighs 1250kg!

These cars have a reputation in Australia as a lemon, but that is for reasons other than design.

It is serious fun blowing away drivers who were sitting at the lights laughing at your choice of car!

My parents had two P76 Executives back in the '80s. The first had to be sold as my 3 yr old brother crawled in and yanked the gear shift out of park while it was parked on a gradient. It ended up down a bank (he was OK) and although repaired was never the same. It ended up being stolen from the dealer and the cops recovered it burnt out with engine missing, probably because the alloy V8 was quite sought after. The second one suffered from power-steering, auto choke and auto trans problems and parts were getting very hard to find. They ended up trading it in a used Jap import Mitsubishi, which had been clocked, but ran beautifully when it worked, which wasn't very often. Maybe should have kept the P76. I still get a pang of nostalgia whenever I see one, which unfortunately isn't very often.

The author hit the nail on the head when describing the P76. I can still remember the days when the P76 was often referred to as the " P38 " which is a most unfair comment about the car. The P76's design was MOST certainly light years ahead of its time when introduced in 1973, most notably the rack-and-pinion steering which wasn't available on any other Australian-made car at the time. When fitted with the optional 4.4 alloy V8, the P76 was just about the equal of any Ford Falcon GT or V8-engined Holden Monaro and could blow both those cars away on tight, twisty roads! A friend of mine once owned a P76 Targa Florio until it was written off in an accident in 1994 and the looks on the faces of Ford and Holden drivers as the P76 screamed away from them at traffic lights... priceless!!!

I have owned many P76's over the years and can comfortably say that they are a superb car.

With a base model V8 4 speed weighing in at just 1200kg they have helped me bruise many an ego at the traffic light drags. The alloy engine responds well to even mild modifications and is virtually unbreakable.

Do yourself a favor and buy one of these great Aussie cars and join a P76 club for easy availability of spare parts.

I am currently restoring a p76 Executive it was my dads before mine.

He done a lot to the driveline, but nothing in the way it looks.

So now it gets a full retro rebuild. I am 20 and I think I’m one of the last remaining people in my age group that knows what a Leyland p76 is.

I just love blowing new so called performance cars away. You see people pull up next to you in there twenty/thirty thousand dollar cars and get all posh. I’m shore you know the type they sit there in a fancy imported car and give you and your car the eye, you know that’s the I’m better than you look.

Then the lights change and my tyres fry. Once they catch up they never make eye contact.

So what I’m saying is I’m proud to own my p76 cause so fare with the power to weight and the car being unknown to the younger drivers. It’s a menace something they’ll remember.

And just so they know what beat them my large custom Leyland p76 badge lets then know.

So if you can ever own one that runs a v8 jump at the chance even if its not an executive.

The only thing you won’t get is power steering. But you’ll still have fun 192 BHP of stock fun.

If you need any extra info on a leyland p76 feel free to email me on orangep76@bigpond.com James.L.H.

No power steering?? you can get a p76 with power steering, just keep looking.

It's a pity we never got the P76 in the uk, it sounds like a stormer. I don't suppose it would have sold with out petrol prices, closest we got was the Rover sd1 which used a smaller version of the same engine.