Leyland P76
The Leyland P76 is a lairge caur that wis produced bi Leyland Australie, the Australien subsidiary o British Leyland. Featuring what wis described at the time as the "standard Australian wheelbase o 111 inches"[1], it wis intendit tae provide the company wi a genuine rival tae lairge local models like the Ford Falcon, the Holden Kingswood, an the Chrysler Valiant.
Launched in 1973, the P76 wis nicknamed "the wedge", on accoont o its shape, wi a lairge boot, able tae easily hold a 44 gallon drum. Although station wagon an "Force 7" coupé versions wur designed, these niver went intae mass production.
Namin the P76
[eedit | eedit soorce]The name o the P76 derived frae the caur's codename while in development (Project 76). The offeecial line wis that the P76 wis an original Australien designed an built Lairge Family Caur, with nae overseas counterpart an that P76 stood for "Project 1976". Motorin writer Tom Davis suggests that the project number came frae the back o Leyland chief Lord Stokes' watch which he read durin a business meetin.[2]
The Rover SD1 (released in 1976) shared several ingineerin features wi the P76 — includin MacPherson strut front suspension, the aluminium V8 ingine an a live rear axle.
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