Featuring what was described at the time as the "standard Australian wheelbase of 111 inches",[4] it was intended to provide the company with a genuine rival to large local models like the Ford Falcon, the Holden Kingswood, and the Chrysler Valiant.

The combination of the rushed assembly, fuel crisis and strikes at the component manufacturers' factories, resulted in the Leyland P76 being labelled a lemon, despite being named Wheels Car of the Year in 1973.

At the time of the car's launch, it was reported that Leyland Australia had an accumulated deficit equivalent to £8.6 million, and had borrowed the same amount again in order to fund the development of the P76.

This was also a decade of serious financial and operational challenges for parent company British Leyland back in Britain.

[4] Launched in 1973, the P76 was nicknamed "the wedge", on account of its shape, with a large boot, able to easily hold a 44 gallon drum.

The official line was that the P76 was an original Australian designed and built Large Family Car, with no overseas counterpart and that P76 stood for "Project 1976".

Each of these cars was a compromise and the motoring public overwhelmingly preferred the locally established Holden and Ford products.

It did offer a combination of features which were advanced in this category in Australia at the time: rack-and-pinion steering, power-assisted disc brakes, MacPherson-strut front suspension, front-hinged bonnet, glued-in windscreen and concealed windscreen wipers, as well as the familiar Australian-made Borg Warner gearboxes (including 3-speed column shift) and a live rear axle.

This goal was aided by a conscious effort to reduce the number of panels needed to build the car's body—a remarkably low 215, reportedly only five more than for a Mini.

The controversial new Labor government was fuelling rapid inflation; industrial action was affecting component manufacturers and production at Leyland Australia's plant in Zetland.

Gerry Crown and Matt Bryson won the Classic Category of the 2013 Peking to Paris Endurance Rally in their Leyland P76 with a time of 237:30:10 Gerry Crown and Matt Bryson also finished Second on the 2015 Road to Mandalay classic car rally, winning the Malaysian Cup for being the fastest car.

By the time of the factory closure in 1974, one Force 7 was already in England for secret testing, Leyland Australia kept one example and finally donated that coupé to an Australian museum with some other components of the P76 production line and the remaining eight coupés were offered for sale to private buyers in an auction after the factory had closed.

At the time of launch, the company announced the intention of introducing a station wagon/estate version later that same year,[4] and at least three, prototype station wagons (estate cars), which shared much of the sedan's structure and body panels but with more upright rear door frames, were built: one was broken up by Leyland Australia for examination of the body strength, one was crash tested by Ford Australia for Leyland to gain part of the registration certification and the last and only surviving example was eventually used as a factory hack until it was sold at the same auction as the Force 7s as part of a pair of cars which included the last car made.

The Leyland plant at Zetland closed in October 1974, and production of the P76 ceased, although CKD (completely-knocked-down) assembly continued in Petone, New Zealand, in exchange for NZ-assembled Rover P6s that were shipped to Australia.

After production ended, surplus V8s were sold off by local distributor New Zealand Motor Corporation, and were popular as boat engines.