A blue "Lemon"

[Horace]

I was driving down Geelong Road last Sunday when to my astonishment I saw a blue Leyland P76.

Now many who frequent these parts will be far too young to know what I am talking about but the Leyland P76 came out in the 1970's I think as a direct competitor to Holden Kingswoods/Commodores and Ford Falcons. It was made by British Motor Corporation, or whatever they were called, at a time when their ability to make good cars was on the slide.

The car was indeed a lemon. I worked with a bloke who actual was silly enough to buy a lemon version of the "Lemon". In most situations he made good sound decisions but that was not one of them. It gave him no end of trouble.

i have to say I was rather surprised to see one of them still on the road. This one was in very good order and the owner must be an enthusiast as it had the numberplate LEY *76. That is dedication if ever I have seen it as Leyland P76's were absolute crap cars.

And apologies to the bloke who owns it. I hope he is not a poster around these parts.

 

[ShinbonerBaz]

I was driving down Geelong Road last Sunday when to my astonishment I saw a blue Leyland P76.

Now many who frequent these parts will be far too young to know what I am talking about but the Leyland P76 came out in the 1970's I think as a direct competitor to Holden Kingswoods/Commodores and Ford Falcons. It was made by British Motor Corporation, or whatever they were called, at a time when their ability to make good cars was on the slide.

The car was indeed a lemon. I worked with a bloke who actual was silly enough to buy a lemon version of the "Lemon". In most situations he made good sound decisions but that was not one of them. It gave him no end of trouble.

i have to say I was rather surprised to see one of them still on the road. This one was in very good order and the owner must be an enthusiast as it had the numberplate LEY *76. That is dedication if ever I have seen it as Leyland P76's were absolute crap cars.

And apologies to the bloke who owns it. I hope he is not a poster around these parts.

A real lemon, it's greatest claim to fame was the fact that you could fit a 44 gallon drum in the boot.

 

[Mr Reliable]

The Leyland P76 was the big daddy of lemons.

Speaking of slightly smaller lemons, what about the Lada Niva and the Lada Samara from the USSR, Shinboner Baz?

I remember hearing the story about a Samara being collected from the distributor and taken out for a test drive by a motoring journalist. He reported that as he left the premises he went to wind down the window and the handle came off in his hand. Nice attention to detail.

 

[ShinbonerBaz]

The Leyland P76 was the big daddy of lemons.

Speaking of slightly smaller lemons, what about the Lada Niva and the Lada Samara from the USSR, Shinboner Baz?

I remember hearing the story about a Samara being collected from the distributor and taken out for a test drive by a motoring journalist. He reported that as he left the premises he went to wind down the window and the handle came off in his hand. Nice attention to detail.

Both still in production apparently . I actually toyed with the idea of buying a secondhand Niva for a bit of "bush bashing" in my youth. My wise Old Man talked me out of it thankfully.

 

[Hard_to_Beat]

I would have been more astonished by a blue lemon.

 

[The Dice Man]

Both still in production apparently . I actually toyed with the idea of buying a secondhand Niva for a bit of "bush bashing" in my youth. My wise Old Man talked me out of it thankfully.

My girlfriend's uncle has one of them and I got to have a drive of it in the midi-pyrenees. Feels like you're driving a boat and everything is bizarre in it


On another note my first car was a Leyland Marina, which ironically ended up in port phillip bay. A marina till death.