Banging the drum

The Leyland P76 was an advert for British engineering wrapped in Aussie-friendly style and it could perform an odd trick with its boot

- SIMON HUCKNALL

As far as high-risk strategies go, this one was a corker. When the Leyland P76 was launched, 50 years ago, Leyland Australia was not only beleaguered by debts of £8.6million (equivalent to more than £100million today), but had also bet the farm on its new model, borrowing the same amount again to bring the car to market. Everything was riding on the P76's success; failure was not an option.

The business case for what was to be Leyland's first all-round bespoke model for the Australian market looked as watertight as the 44-gallon drum it was designed to carry in its capacious boot. The British Motor Corporation (Australia) had first been established Down Under in 1954, and since then it had relied upon a succession of adapted models from its UK parent to sustain sales. Mutant offerings, such as the Morris Major and Austin Lancer - in effect, lengthened versions of the Wolseley 1500 and, into the 1960s, an extended and hatchback-tailed Austin 1100 known as the Nomad, were all staples from a company satisfying demand for small- to mid-sized cars for Australian buyers.