3 Most Rare Australian Muscle Cars That Will Blow Your Mind!

3 Most Rare Australian Muscle Cars That Will Blow Your Mind!
Get ready for a wild ride through Australia's car history! We're talking about three awesome muscle cars that changed the game Down Under.
The Leyland P76 Force 7V: The Car That Almost Was
First up, we've got the Leyland P76 Force 7V. This car was supposed to be Australia's answer to the big boys like Ford and Holden. It had some cool features for its time, like better steering and brakes. But here's the crazy part - they only made 10 of these bad boys before the whole project got shut down! Talk about rare!
The Ford Falcon XW GT-HO: The Race Track King
Next, we're revving up with the Ford Falcon XW GT-HO. This beast was built for one thing - winning races. It had a massive V8 engine that could pump out around 300 horsepower. That's like having a whole herd of horses under the hood! It wasn't just fast; it was a champion, winning the famous Bathurst 500 race.
The Holden HQ SS: The People's Muscle Car
Last but not least, we've got the Holden HQ SS. This was the first time Holden made a four-door sports car, and boy, did people love it! It sold out in just one week! It came in some wild colors like "Ultra Violet" and "Lettuce Alone" (yeah, that was a real color name).
These cars weren't just about going fast. They were part of Australia's identity. They showed that Aussies could make cars just as cool as anyone else in the world. Even today, car fans go crazy for these models.
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[@Leftfield71]

The Chrysler E49 Charger is a rarer muscle car than both the GTHO and Monaro, but because it wasn't a V8 is commonly excluded even though it is a faster accelerating car than the Phase I, II and III GTHO's. Only 149 E49 Chargers were built, and they were the fastest accelerating 6 six-cylinder car in the world until Porshe brought out the 959, and it need a turbo and 4WD to beat it.

[@davidagenda1564]

The E55 and E57s were monsters too... being a v8 man... and always a soft spot in my heart for the Drifters, which I thought was the best of the big3 panel vans.

[@anhedonianepiphany5588]

Yep. I find it hard to fathom how anyone could leave such Australian Chargers out of a video like this.

[@davidagenda1564]

Don't forget the Centura too, well the 245 version anyways. Dad had one prior to his p76. Top of the range. Put on a 4barrel and it too was a rocket, with all the lux. Took a while to sort out the suspension though. Not quite as mean looking as the charger, but a perfect sleeper.

[@Lucerd127]

I guess in Mainland Europe we missed a lot of great muscle cars.

[@TheXiphaus]

The Charger was quicker accelerating but it was all in the gears. They didn't have anywhere near the legs the Falcons did.

[@MichaelBraid-xf3dw]

The Chargers are best looking of all the Aussie muscle cars Sharp looking design even to today

[@stephencox4224]

When I grew up a neighbour was a Leyland Australia Engineer and he bought home the Force 7 V among many specials including a Marina with triple webers that was faster than an XU1 that also had much improved suspension so it actually handled quite well plus a 4WD Moke they knocked together as a black ops project

[@russellhammond4373]

I was at the auction where the last of the Force 7V were sold off. Never thought it would be part of Australian car history.

[@davegoldspink5354]

Did my Pre-apprentice course in 1980 here in Wollongong. One of my instructors actually worked for BMC later British Leyland and actually worked on the P76 and its variants there was also a station wagon P76 that never got past prototype. When you look at BMC and Leyland’s whole operation you can definitely see why the British car industry collapsed.

[@georgemaragos2378]

I went to school at Sir Joseph Banks at Revesby / Milperra - the leyland / JRA office and factory was basically across the road and a few bulidings down Many Force 7's were made but most were test units for evaluation and were basically crushed and a auctions was organised for the 10 so complete ones that were used by management and journalists. 3 wagons existed that i know of, 2 x white and a light blue, i would see them some times waiting at the bus stop to go home, say the 2 white ones at the same time, and only once or twice i saw the light blue one.

[@FromTheGong]

My uncle was the head instructor at Dapto TAFE around the same time retiring in the 90's. It was handy for me because if I needed mechanical work on my Holdens it became a class project. Work guaranteed at no cost.

[@kallekas8551]

There’s a Leyland collector in Mt Colah In Sydney’s north, he has a couple of P76 sedans, one of the wagons and a Force 7V.

[@BearHilda]

You seem to be confused with the XW and later XY model Ford Falcon. You show examples of both. Also the XY was the one with the shaker bonnet scoop, not the XW.

[@assininecomment1630]

It's important to remember that you're commenting to _nobody._ Obviously, neither this video nor the entire channel, is produced by any people. It's just rubbish content, posted regularly by a 'bot.

[@sophdog1678]

I remember seeing a Force 7 on display at the old Top Ryde shopping centre. As a car-mad kid, I was amazed that Leyland were having a go at making a Mach 1 lol! That's what it looked like to me at the time. The HQ SS was test marketing for a four-door GTS which was indeed eventually launched before the end of the HQ. Would love a 4-door HQ GTS in red with the orange block stripes.

[@dust-dog]

The HQ 'SS' models seemed to be plentiful and definitely affordable when I was a teenager in the late 80s (a lot of the late 60s/early 70s muscle cars were), but I wasn't a 4 doors guy. Today I have an XC coupe (GS/Rally Pack) and an EK Special, so I can't complain.

[@GregoryBamber]

The XW Windsor HO sounded a lot meaner than the XY Cleveland HO.

[@jangles1839]

It seems to me that you don't get a lot of response here but, I wanted to let you know that I appreciate you bringing us these obscure vehicles and such. Keep 'em comin' and I'll certainly be here for it! God bless! ~ Scott 💙🙏🏼

[@top.intel0]

Thank you❤️

[@froginasock8782]

About 15 years ago I saw a Leyland Force 7V just parked on the side of the road in Corrimal (near Wollongong) NSW the owner no doubt just going to the shops. I just about turned myself inside out to look at it as I drove past. My poor father, who was with me and was not a car nut, had no idea why I was jumping out of my socks with excitement! Also, the XW Ford Falcon GTHO was never officially called the Phase 1, just GTHO.

[@Gscalenut]

I recall seeing two Force 7V models. First was in the early 1970's being unloaded from a truck at the BMC dealership in Miranda (Sydney). From memory this was a lime green model. The second one (orange from memory) was in the mid-1990's at a used car dealership in Rockdale (Sydney). While rather bulky due the design requiring full headroom for back seat passengers and being able to fit a 44-gallon drum in the boot, I always considered it a dream car to have. Due the gestation period of getting the car to market (I believe that it was supposed to be released in the late 1960's) by the time it did enter the market the cars that it was originally designed to compete with had changed, making them more competitive from a design point.

[@david.m.304]

How come at 6:46, you mention the 4-speed manual gearbox, yet the display shows a centre console gear change lever for an automatic transmission? I won't mention the other issues I noticed. Still, despite that, this is a pretty good representation of these three brands so many thanks and take care.

[@simonf8902]

Good job 👍 P76 looks better now than then😂 there were a few wagons made too.

[@GregoryBamber]

The HQ SS may have been loved but I had a 1962 Holden ute with a hot six that could eat many V8s and all 253s without raising a sweat.

[@Tk-ou9ec]

I believe that! Back in 1993 I had a LH Torana with the sluggish 253 and 4 speed. Did not go well and I broke three diffs due to dropping the clutch and trying to do burnouts. Piss weak in this area.

[@georgemaragos2378]

@@Tk-ou9ec If it was like the HQ etc, the 253's always had the trimatic auto and the 6 cylinder diff - the running gear was not V8 proof and just normal 6 cylinder items (ok the trimatic had a different bell hosing but the unit is the same ) I owned bout 5 or 6 253's, HG Premier, HQ LS Coupe, 2 x HQ GTS, HJ Premier and VB commodore. - All except one were very sluggish, they drove ok and nice up a hill as they did not die off, but sluggish. They are went through fuel even when driving slow 15-18mpg, lucky to get 300-350k's per tank of fuel. The LS coupe was upgraded to 350 holley it sounded great and drove fine - but my dads stock 245 valiant was faster let alone the stock 265's VB commodore had ticking in the rockers, so new set of rockers and then decided to do the cam and lifters, nothing sever i think about 260/270 lpg towing cam, it drove much better , then i actually used a VC or VH 253 factory 4bbl setup as the quadrajet was different for the 253, it drove really nice - then the issues with the blown trmatic and the 6 diff came up, i got them fixed but stopped driving that car to its limits

[@alanm2809]

They had minor problems due to assembly line issues but once rectified they were absolutely reliable and long lived, chronically under rated they were far superior to offerings from the other manufacturers.

[@Tonymarony5113]

Did you own one? Have you owned any leyland or British car?

[@alanm2809]

@Kunt5113 yes 4

[@Tonymarony5113]

@@alanm2809 4 leylands?

[@paultanker5606]

G'day to you! IF is such a big Word, If only this Car was Produced ,I for one think its one of the Best Looking Aussie Cars ever, shame it was not to be! Perth West Aust.

[@keithwilson1554]

My Father bought a P76 Targa Florio New in 74. We never had problems with it and I got my Licence in 75 with it. Much better ride and handling than it's contemporaries. Seem to have more space especially in the Boot. We overtook a Torana SLR 5000 and Falcon GT having a drag between towns.

[@Gough-jf9zf]

They did have quality control issues with _some_ of them. The rest were good cars. But sadly, history has been rewritten, often in tacky trivia lists and by people who weren't born when the cars were sold. Now they're made to sound like Ford's Edsel, a disaster. Think it was a Rover V8 in the cars, a small block GM donk which has appeared in Top Ten engine lists (oh, shit, trivia list!). A smooth, light, gutsy engine with good torque across the bandwidth. Saw a lot of them in outback Qld, where it was a long way between towns. I'd say most people were happy with them.

[@davidagenda1564]

​@@Gough-jf9zfyes rover v8 based (based again on buick/olds v8) stretched to 4.4L increased deck height by 0.5 inch giving square bore/stroke ratio. (More torque)

[@Gough-jf9zf]

@@davidagenda1564 Thanks. The Brits knew how to design cars. Build reliable ones? Less often. Is my memory correct? B. Leyland didn't have to pay loyalties for Buick's engine?

[@xbgtfella]

Dont forget to carry this rare Aussie muscle car series on. You have the FORD XA Phase 4 GTHO, CHRYSLER VF VH Valiant pacers. VH E37 E3😮8 E49 Chargers HK 327 and HQ 350 Monaros just for starters. If the peeps have others feel free to chime in...

[@thomaschivers7883]

You need to read your research better and do your editing better so your showing the right cars with the proper pictures you phase one and phase two pictures are the reverse order

[@magillanz]

Didn't even mention the Phase III GTHO which is way rarer

[@shaynejones830]

yeah bro a very tidy vechile even a ford man can appreciate. that bloody beast.hey.mate.

[@DemopVWgarage]

There's another force7 out there, well parts to make a complete one ;)

[@chrisrumble2665]

Huge number of factual errors in the GTHO piece.

[@GregoryBamber]

The actual video of the Bathurst race shown here was from 1977.

[@TheBousouzoku]

8:32 is a die-cast model

[@GregoryBamber]

The alloy V8 P76 was a good car, the sixes were a bit slow. They were the only car you could put 44 gallon drum in the boot/trunk and shut it.

[@CathodeRayNipplez]

How do you get a full 44 out of a boot? That's seriously heavy!

[@Joe-jd4pn]

Is Aloominum like aluminium?

[@johnperry1334]

Leyland Australia made more than 10 Force 7s, they crushed heaps of them. Also there was a station wagon version even more rarer.

[@derekhobbs1102]

All the car manufacturers in Australia had rectification sections.

[@GregoryBamber]

I knew a guy that had a Force 7V. It was a cool car.

[@Eskay1206]

at the time the P76 was a joke, and if you bought one, you were a laughing stock. along with the Marina

[@user-pf3dz7gi4r1]

My grandfather's neighbor bought a p76. It overheated constantly and was off the road within 2 years. I remember this car as a heap and the rust you could here it rusting overnight. If it ever fell from an ugly tree it hit every branch on the way down.

[@philipreiffel5077]

Nothing wrong with a p76 in v8 4 speed manual, after 51 years my old girls still on the road with no issues, it did take many previous owner to get it right with better carb and exhaust all the things that leyland would of done if they were able to sort out if they had of stayed in production and didn't go broke. Now, my one is far from an exellent example but a very popular car at a car show or just cruising the streets.

[@mikeythehat6693]

The P76 was a dog, and everyone knew it. I do remember seeing a couple of them driving around from time to time but, even when they were still on the road, their reputation preceded them. Hardly a muscle car to "blow your mind". The GTHO on the other hand, well.......now you're talking. My favourite, however was the Phase 3, the Phase four was actually banned by the government when in production because......well they just got scared of all the power. There were about 4 Phase Fours built (if memory serves) so....imagine how much rev-heads would pay for one of those.

[@nycmaverick]

Looks like a Mustang II

[@iancole931]

Interesting commentary except for one major mistake. 9:07 shows Moffit and Bond racing their 1973 XA Ford Falcons at the 1973 Bathurst event.

[@top.intel0]

Sorry, this was an editing mistake by my editor I'll let him know. Thank You sir!

[@robertcooper7157]

The boot (or trunk as they say in America) was so big, you didn’t have to consider buying a Ute.the old say when this was launched always Don’t buy a Ute, buy a P76. By the way, it was a POS, thats why it failed.

[@bossdog1480]

I've had 2 P76's. They were brilliant cars, way ahead of their time in 72-73. The GTHO's were the bomb for sure. The SS Monaro was a base model Holden tarted up. It was NOTHING special at all, just a paint job and a small V8. Basically, what some young bloke WOULD have done if he'd had the time and money. Worth a fortune now days. Surely the most easily faked Holden sports out there.

[@Jasper9000-wd5sm]

Lol 9-10 seconds to reach 100kmh, back then we thought that was so fast, now its pretty much average for a small hatch or SUV

[@davidagenda1564]

BTW... cool vid. There was actually a carpark full of force7s that were bulldozed when the then government decreed that oz would only have 3 major car manufacturers and pushed leyland out of the picture. Hence only 9 or so f7vs released. Leyland australia was the only truly australian major car manufacturer as opposed to us supported GM(H) / Ford / Chrysler, and later subsidised by aus gov. The p76 was designed and built for only several (cant remember exactly) million dollars in house in australia, by australians with minor british leyland input. Initial styling by Michelotti. Less body panels than a mini. ts been verified of the big3 smear campaign at the time of such things like 'bursting into flames', overheating issues, breaking in two, etc etc. Definiately QC issues due to inexperienced workforce etc, but for a first series of a completely new model and manufacturing plant/process, that was to expected, and was corrected at dealer level at the time. The overall engineering (mc pherson front end, R&p steering, sprung rear, disk brakes, alloy v8) and safety (side impact protection, crumple zones, padded dash, breaksway mirrors, recessed wipers, almost 50/50 weight distribution etc) was exceptional for its day, and copied in the rover sd1(same mechanicals, similar layout as F7V), and copied mechanicals in the opel/holden commodore. Cool colour names too... like hairy lime, home on the range, peel me a grape...

[@BatMan-oe2gh]

The Govt didn't force Leyland out. British Leyland was having major issues in the UK and really lacked money. They had issues with the workforce as the other Car Manufacturers were paying more due to selling more cars. And as British Leyland had money issues, that impacted on Leyland Australia. The fact they couldn't afford to build a new assembly line to build the P76 on was a major issue. Australian manufacturers of the 70s were Holden, Ford, Leyland, VW, Chrysler, Nissan, Renault, Peugeot, Toyota and Mitsubishi. Poor management in British Leyland killed the P76. And I am old enough that I was around then as a teenager, and your claims of a smear campaign are wrong. Demand for the P76 at first exceeded supply, but before long quality control problems emerged (including one which reportedly caused the wheels to fall off!). These were compounded by simple bad timing: the P76 appeared at a time of unprecedented industrial unrest in Australia and Leyland was further hampered by strikes at component suppliers. Its failure was due to several factors including poor production planning, poor assembly quality, and problems with reliability and parts supply. These in turn led to bad press and consequent poor sales. All of this regrettably, failed to reflect the car’s many innovative qualities, but in the long run the public was convinced that the P76 was a “lemon” and they simply stopped buying it.

[@davidagenda1564]

In general, true. But look deeper into the changes to the Australian gov Motor Vehicle Plan (MVP) 1964 with respect to local content and tariff on imports (1969). Then the Whitlam Labor government came to power and incorporated the Prices Justification Tribunal to exercise control over manufacturer profits, then in late 1973 the Industries Assistance Commission (IAC) was established. The IAC recommended the MVP be discontinued and the car industry be protected by tariffs. The IAC stated THERE WASNT ROOM IN AUSTRALIA FOR FOUR MANUFACTURERS meaning Leyland would be the company to be dropped, leaving Holden, Ford, and Chrysler manufacturing family cars in Australia. (Read into that subsidised by the gov). Somewhat echoed by what happened to Chrysler, and in more recent times by the loss of Australian manufacturing of cars by Ford and Holden. Same game play. Don't forget adding fuel to the funeral pyre was prime minister Gough Whitlam calling the p76 a "lemon" in Parliament (1974) , the funny thing being his government turned out to be the "lemon" and was soon voted out of business. Strangely if the buying public regarded the p76 as being poorly built/a lemon, they would not have rushed out and continued to purchase the car after the factory had declared it was closing , yet sales rose considerably after the closure announcement. Sales increases did not occur at Chrysler when the last valiant rolled off the line, nor did it occur when Nissan or Volkswagen (assembly) or more recently Ford, or Holden closed their Australian Australian manufacturing.

[@davidagenda1564]

Saying there was no smear campaign is incorrect, the socialist prime minister Whitlam calling the p76 a lemon not bad enough, being parroted ever since, and how about the GMH booklet released around that time called "selling Holden against P76" which was quite dishonest and untruthful and was intended to assist their sales people to discourage customers from buying the P76. A lot of the rubbish I hear about the P76 stems from this booklet parroted by 'car experts' who have never owned let alone driven a p76. And yes my father was an insider to the industry at the time, and myself an apprentice mechanical engineer, both of us owning several p76s for many years. His p76 executive v8 clocking up over 250k kms with nothing more than regular servicing, 2 fuel pumps, and minor electrical gremlins. And my last p76 targa florio, 300k kms with similar issues only. Admittedly I rebuilt the motor for performance at around 200k (hepolite flat top pistons, headwork bigger valves,cam, sd1 oil pump,4barrel intake mods, headers) but the bottom end was still to as new specs. How many have you owned or even driven?

[@PUNCHARD800ftlb]

the casting quality of these engines was barely passable

[@rosskennedy]

P76 Lemon, one worst car in 70ies.

[@davidagenda1564]

Haha... 2 responses from experts who have never owned, let alone driven a p76. Typical parrots.

[@markaylott1780]

You Americans need to do better research on the cars your reviewing. There is so much misinformation here, to much to correct!

[@top.intel0]

I told my script writer. He said, he gathered everything from popular and reputed articles and websites from internet. Can you pls point out some of the misinfo you found. It would be helpful. Thank you Sir!

[@dazsmith690]

@@top.intel0 i can guarantee that not all the ten survivors were sold at the auction ,,read my comment above..it has phone number of one of the original force 7v dealers who got one for money they owed him..and u can ring and speak to him..ask for david

[@GregoryBamber]

Ford, GMH and Chrysler didn't help either, they didn't like the competition.

[@seanhershey3390]

So many 4 drs ..that would never fly in the US ..muscle cars were always coupes.

[@JosephCowen-fz8vj]

Might want to tell Mercedes and BMW that ! The 1972 4 door 351 Cleveland powered Falcon was the fastest production 4 door in the world ! But all the Falcons, Holdens and Chrysler's had 2 door versions , ! And tray back , wagon , Panelvan versions of the same car .

[@iancole931]

Had a 4-door Force 7V been the prime production car it would have sold well as it certainly was a good looker. The P76 on the other hand was the ugliest thing on 4 wheels, which is why it didn't sell well.

[@JosephCowen-fz8vj]

A P76 is the 4 door version of the Force 7V !

[@richardwood9177]

It had the suspension as a Commodore, ahead of anything in Australia at the time. It was built as rubbish. Zetland wasn’t big enough to engineer and build these cars. And they looked ordinary.

[@neilasd3043]

They were junk I was a mechanic then & still tinker they fell apart a joke people did not want them...I never met a mechanic who had a good thing to say about them..

[@davidagenda1564]

Haha yea hated them because because major mechanical problems were rare and they couldn't price gouge the customers. So how many have you physically seen fall apart? Or you just relying on mate of a mate experiences?

[@neilasd3043]

@@davidagenda1564 They were junk!!

[@davidagenda1564]

So you owned one? Driven one?

[@neilasd3043]

@@davidagenda1564 Mechanic for 43 years . THEY ARE JUNK..

[@davidagenda1564]

So I take that as a no then. Strange that the gearboxes and diffs were used by Ford and Chrysler and a multitude of other manufacturers, and the rover based p76 v8 was in production from 1967 to 2006 and used in everything from trucks to landrovers and TVRs. Not to mention the planform being copied by the commodore, rover, and a multitude of other 80s 90s + cars. But yea junk, and you cannot even back up your assertion. And you call yourself a mechanic... sounds more like a grease monkey who did oil changes on Datsun 120y's.

[@shanehansen3705]

our neighbor had a P76 every time he pulled into his drive or started the damned thing the TV went heywire and that is one ugly coupe you forgot to mention the Targa Floria and how someone hiested the alloy engines

[@GregoryBamber]

The XY HO was the fastest 4 door sedan in the world in its day.

[@stevedriver1476]

the P76 junk and 2 door variants look like something from the Soviet Era,, they were junk when new and even the Targa Floria was laughed at when released. People laughed at anyone who thought about buying anything from Leyland, from the Marina to the oil leaking lucas electric range rover, With in 5 years of being sold you never saw these cars on the roads as nobody wanted to fix them , trade them ,, sell them used or own them. I worked at JRA in 1987, my friends worked in sales at hollywood motors liverpool who sold this junk and there kids were aprentice mechanics at leyland. we all still laugh at the junk they made and tried to sell. there are pleanty of old holdens, valiants and fords still driving around, where are the old Kimberlys, Marinas, even series 3 jags and the woefull Jag XJ40,s, To call the P76 a muscle car is a disgrace, I allways thought a muscle car was a Boss 302, 428,429 Mustang, a 440 6 pac Charger or a 396/427 Camaro.

[@hankcuccina5260]

Leylands were a terrible car.

[@darrylmackie9184]

Heaps of SHIT The Rover Engine Confirmed It, and Leyland Couldn't Build a Shoebox.

[@JosephCowen-fz8vj]

Are you referring to the Buick/Oldsmobile Alloy 215 ci V8 , a heap of shit , you do know that motor won Formula 1 !? In the Brabham , you are also aware that motor was the first factory Turbo V8 in the US , it's also the V6 motor that the is in every Commadore from 1988 to 2004 , same motor Buick just cut 2 cylinders off it ! One of the longest most reliable engines ever produced ? Rover bought it from Buick in the 1970s and the only reason it went out of production was Rover was bought by Ford and Ford refused to build a General Motors engine . It's also the smallest of Buicks Smallblocks the 300, 340 and 350 came from that engine .

[@davidagenda1564]

Rover v8 in production for 30+ years...yea obviously a dud..😂

[@davidagenda1564]

Thought we talking cars not what u keeping your stilettos in darling...😂