Summary

Designed around a modified Rover 4.4 litre V8 engine fitted to the Leyland P76, the Ilinga was designed by British-born racing car driver and engineer Tony Farrell in partnership with Melbourne businessman Daryl Davies. The name 'Ilinga' was chosen as an aboriginal word from one of the Victorian First Peoples languages, reputedly with the meaning 'distant horizon' or 'towards the horizon'.

The Ilinga AF2 was intended to be a high-performance two-door luxury sports coupe and touring car using aluminium body panels over a steel chassis and sub-frame fitted with three roll-over bars and crumple zones for added safety. The steel sub-frame was based on a Ford Cortina floor plan, fitted with aluminium alloy body panels instead of the originally envisaged Noryl plastic material. The chassis design in many respects was ahead of its time with a rigid passenger cell strengthened by three roll bars and crumple zones.

The Ilinga AF2 was designed to be fitted with a four-speed manual or three-speed automatic Borg Warner transmission, all-coil suspension, pop-up headlights and central locking doors. Illinga Pty Ltd was incorporated in May 1973 and established a factory at 30 Beaconsfield Parade, Port Melbourne in 1974. It publicised the Ilinga as "the name for a car which has brought true luxury into the Australian car industry". The firm had plans to build two cars per week (100 cars per year) but ran into financial difficulties associated with staff and tooling expenditure for production not assisted by supply and warranty problems with the Borg Warner 35 transmission which failed to cope with the Ilinga's additional horsepower. The demise of the Leyland P76 led to the loss of the local engine supply source and the oil crisis of the early 1970s caused a consumer preference for more fuel efficient cars.

The local selling agent was Bainbridge Motors, a Mercedes dealership with a proposed retail price of AUD$16-18,000. Ilinga Pty Ltd ceased trading in late 1975 after two complete Ilinga AF2 vehicles were built, one of which was displayed at the March 1975 Melbourne International Motor Show at the Royal Exhibition Buildings following a public launch event held at Ripponlea mansion. The Museum acquired the first of the two prototype cars in 1992 from Mr Ian Dodd who had owned it since 1977.

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