The car was styled by
Michelotti, and based on the chassis and various other components of the
Austin/Morris 1100.
Leykor executives saw Michelotti's prototype in England and chose it for production in South Africa, where ADO16 sales had been dropping. While the car's centre structure was that of the
Austin/Morris 1100, its front and rear styling was all-new, styled (particularly at the rear, where the boot was a notchback) to resemble a scaled-down
Triumph 2000/2500. The tail lights, and outer sections of the rear bumper were the same as those used by the
Triumph 2000/2500. See also the more comparably sized
Triumph Dolomite and
Triumph Toledo. In 1973 the Apache received a minor facelift, introducing proper
CV joints, round
Smiths gauges and a rod linkage for the gear shift. Originally, the ADO16 used rubber drive joints, a strip speedometer, and a remote extension gear lever. All versions of the Apache and Victoria used the 1,275 cc version of BMC's venerable
A-series four-cylinder, with a variety of outputs. ==Production==