The civil Lynx was offered for sale under the name of the 'Westland 606' and was marketed either with the 'standard' RR Gem or the P & W PT6 - 34B but it would seem no orders were forthcoming although it would have been smooth, quiet and faster than an S76.
And yes you could fly it solo; flying from Farnborough I spent over an hour in XZ180, an AH1 crewed by a Royal Navy test pilot with myself in the left had seat and a couple of 'boffins' in the back operating 'special equipment'; I only had a PPL and glider pilot's wings and was thus deemed to be non qualified.