For sale is one of the rarest Australian muscle cars ever produced. The Leyland Force 7V Coupe, now for sale from Gippsland, Victoria.

Leyland's answer to Ford's GT Hardtop, Holden's Monaro GTS Coupe and Chrysler's Valiant Charger R/T. With Leyland's decision to close their Australian manufacturing plant, the Force 7V development was halted and only 10 Force 7Vs escaped the corporate crusher. These were sold in September 1975 by auction to the Australian motoring public. One of three Survivors painted in Home On Th'Orange and the only one built with Arctic White trim, this SURVIVOR Aussie Muscle Car is without doubt a collector's jewel in the crown.

The P76 and the Coupe version known as the Force 7V were Leyland's attempt to take on the might of the Falcon, Monaro and Charger. The P76 Sedan was an Aussie-built large family car famously with enough boot space to fit a 44 gallon drum. And as an Aussie first, Leyland spec'd the model with an all-alloy 4.4-litre V8. But quality control issues hampered sales even through Wheels magazine awarded the P76 its coveted 'Car of the Year' in 1973.

Unlike its rivals, the Force 7V featured a liftback hatch, another Australian first. There was comfortable seating for five adults and the second row could be folded flat to open up a huge cargo area. Leyland scheduled the Force 7V to hit dealerships in June of 1974 and produced 56 prototypes. However, with Leyland's parent company in the U.K. struggling financially, the Australia division was forced to shut down their plant. By November, 1974, the last of the Aussie built Leylands were rolling out of BMC's Zetland plant in Sydney. And the P76 and Force 7 projects were dead.

All but 10 of the 56 prototypes were crushed.

Of these 10 cars, one was sent to the U.K. for testing and evaluation, before finding a home in the garage of Leyland boss, Lord Stokes. One was kept by Leyland in Australia and the remaining eight V8-powered Force 7Vs were sent to auction in 1975. Remarkably, ALL of the Force 7V cars that escaped the crusher survive to this day.

For sale is the last of the 8 Force 7Vs auctioned on that day back in 1975.

A three owner car with full ownership history, this rare car was actually used as a daily driver by the second owner. Now safely stored in a large private car collection in country Victoria, this very special Aussie built muscle car is presented in excellent maintained condition. The Force 7V has been repainted in acrylic approximately 20 years ago in the original Home On Th'Orange and features day one interior including the unique Force 7V steering wheel, seat coverings, hood lining, door cards and carpet.

The 4.4 Litre All Alloy V8 engine is all matching numbers and all mechanicals have been rebuilt to factory specifications. The Force 7V is showing 101,773 Kilometres on the clock and the car has been featured in numerous publications including Survivor Car Magazine which ran a full story on the Force 7V. The Force 7 has won many trophies at various car shows and comes with the Force 7 handbook, historic documentation, two sets of keys, registration paperwork and other paperwork.

The Force 7 is fitted with unique to the Force 7V 14" alloy rims with new 215/65R14 tyres all round. The original spare is in the boot with factory tools.

We will never know if the Force 7V could have stolen the crown from the Falcon, Monaro or Charger, but for one brief moment in our automotive history, the Big Three came close to becoming the Big Four.

For sale from Gippsland, Victoria. (Ref. 6372)

And if you like we will gladly arrange a video inspection/road test of the car using WhatsApp and of course there is no issue with door to door freight delivery anywhere in Australia or New Zealand.

View on the Australian Muscle Car Sales website