In 1971, Leykor, which was the South African arm of British Leyland, came up with a surprise new model to replace the Austin 11.55. The 11/.55 was the last of the Austin 1100-based models to be manufactured in South Africa and eventually only the Austin and Wolseley models remained. Because sales were falling, a replacement was uirgently needed.
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Leykor's executives saw the design of a sedan version of what was internally known as the ADO 16 in England. British Leyland rejected the design, by Giovanni Michelotti, and Leykor decided to manufacture it as an indigenous South African model. In the January 1971 issue, Car Magazine speculated that a replacement for the 11/55 would be introduced and the Austin Apache made its debut in November that year. In fact, the magazine published a scoop road test in the December 1971 issue and the car was also featured on the front cover. The Apache had a similar apearance to the Triumph 2000 Mark 2, which was also a Michelotti design, and it used the same tail lamps. Unlike the 11/55. it was powered by the 1,3 litre engine that was also used in the Mini 1275 GT at that stage, and it was available with a manual or automatic transmission.
The first small change made to the Apache was the introduction of a new steeering wheel, and the strip speeedometer was replaced by round instrument dials soon after that. In 1972, the car was also introduced as a locally-manufactured model in Spain. The Spanish version was known as the Austin Victoria and the most important difference was that the Victoria had round headlamps instead of the rectangular headlamps of the Apache.
Austin Apache TC, as used in the February 1974 issue of Car Magazine
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The Apache range was extended in 1973 when the more powerful TC was introduced. The TC had the same twin-carburettor engine as the Mini GTS, which was introduced at the same time. It was fitted with Rostyle wheels, a vinyl roof and a centrally-mounted exhaust pipe. The TC also had a three-spoke sports steering wheel, cloth and vinyl upholstery and a full instrument panel with a rev counter. The maximum power output of the TC was 55 kW at 5 800 r/min.
The Apache 35 was a limited edition of which only 300 were manufactured.
This was the advertismenent that appeared in printed media.
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A limited edition was added to the range in 1976. The Apache 35 was a more luxurious model with automatic transmission as standard equipment. It was only available in Harvest Gold with a beige vinyl roof and cloth upholstery was used for the seats and the steering wheel boss. Only 300 of these cars were manufactured.
The Apache's most successful year was 1973; 4607 units of the standard version and 649 of the TC, whuch was only introduced in July that year, were sold. The total number of units sold dropped to 4 031 in 1975 and 2 347 in 1976, which included the 300 Apache 35's. In 1977, Leyland South Africa, as Leykor was known at that stage, decided to replace the Apache and the Leyland Marina 1300 was belatedly introduced. During its final year of production, a total of 985 units were sold. Amazingly, 91 units left dealership floors in 1978.
The introduction of the Apache was perhaps one of Leykor/Leyland South Africa's better marketing decisions, considering that the ADO 16 replacement, the Austin Allegro, was a failure. Unfortunately, Car Magazine's prediction that it would be suitable for markets like Australia came to nothing as that country had its own models and Leyland Australia eventually closed down after the Leyland P 76 disaster.
Daantjie Badenhorst
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