Gavin Farmer — who co-wrote, with Gary Bridger, the excellent book Hey, Charger! — is back in print, this time looking at another Aussie icon, the Leyland P76. Considered by many to be a bit of a lemon, today the P76 has a strong following with classic car circles in both Australia and New Zealand. Part of the P76’s attraction was its Buick/ Rover-derived V8 and, perhaps, its much vaunted ability to swallow up an oil drum in its boot. But for everyone who loved the P76, there were a dozen who hated it — some detractors even accused the P76 of being the car that killed Leyland in Australia.

However, Farmer easily blows that theory out of the water as he delves back into the Aussie history of Leyland, covers the development of the P76 — and its semi-legendary Force 7 derivative — and charts the rise and fall of the Leyland marque in Australia.

All in all, this is a book that is very easy to recommend — with informative, well researched text and a boot-load of rare photographs (many of which I’ve never seen before). It even comes with a reprint of Leyland’s contemporary booklet, Leyland P76: Comparative Information. My only gripe would be the book’s lack of an index — a minor point when you consider the amount of detailed information on offer. It’s definitely anything but average!

(* Our review copy of this book came from the author via Techbooks. The latter does not currently stock it — so it’s up to Kiwi P76 owners to band together and contact Techbooks with their orders. Healthy orders may even result in knocking down the RRP.)

Leyland P76: Anything but Average by Gavin Farmer
Review copy supplied by Techbooks
Review by Allan Walton