Analytic expressions for the thermodynamic properties and elastic moduli of molecular fluids interacting with steeply repulsive potentials are derived using Rowlinson’s hard-sphere perturbation treatment which employs a softness parameter, lambda specifying the deviation from the hard-sphere potential. Generic potentials of this form might be used to represent the interactions between near-hard-sphere stabilized colloids. Analytic expressions for the equivalent hard-sphere diameter of inverse power [epsilon(sigma/r)(n) where epsilon sets the energy scale and sigma the distance scale] exponential and logarithmic potential forms are derived using the Barker-Henderson formula. The internal energies in the hard-sphere limit are predicted essentially exactly by the perturbation approach when compared against molecular dynamics simulation data using the same potentials. The elastic moduli are similarly accurately predicted in the hard sphere limit, as they are trivially related to the internal energy. The compressibility factors from the perturbation expansion do not compare as favorably with simulation data, and in this case the Carnahan-Starling equation of state prediction using the analytic effective hard-sphere diameter would appear to be a preferable route for this thermodynamic property. A more refined state point dependent definition for the effective hard-sphere diameter is probably required for this property.