Another in the occasional series...

[gforceg]

...of "I never knew that existed."

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C573405

[16VJay]

Strong hints of Scimitar GT coupe in that!

[The Surveyor]

Oh, it's not a thing of beauty is it...

First impression was 2/3rd scale 'Bristol 411' from the side.

[Riley Blue]

Looks GT Junior-ish to me - until you get to the back... yech!

[Keep it stiff]

With a hint of Gilbern too.

[gforceg]

I thought Gilbern when I saw the thumbnail image tbh.

[LarJammer]

ive driven one.
on gran turismo. ahem. there are loads of neverheardofthatbefore cars in the game.

[spoodler]

That is lovely - I thought Bristol 411ish as well. To think that you could have that for a fraction of the price of a common old Mk1 Escort, or even an MGB GT... now what do we think the spares situation will be like?

[lowdrag]

All of the above went through my head, but is there a hint of Opel in there? Or was the association forged much later? Anyway, it looks to have the motor out judging by the front suspension.

[imagineifyeswill]

I would think the spares situation would be practically non existant in the uk, dont know how easy it would be to obtain parts from Japan. Isuzus main product in this country was allways the 4x4s theyve only ever sold normal cars in very small numbers.

[lowdrag]

A friend here has a Mazda Cosmo, I think of about the same date. Rotary engine and he needed a new block. Took him a year to find one in Canada and he paid dear for it, I can tell you.

[V8 FOU]

An Isuzu Bellend..... mmmm nice!

[Spottedlaurel]

Australia or even some other European countries might be a source of parts?

It would seem an attempt was made to sell Isuzu in this country back when Japanese makes were only just coming onto the UK market. Bits and pieces I have in my archive:

Bellett_Motor_17-4-65 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Bellett_Autocar_4-3-66 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Bellett_Motor_23-4-66 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Bellett_CCC_12-74 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

DVLA does list WAR17J on its database, with a 1579cc engine. Not sure if that was its original or what the ad quotes as its British engine. Untaxed since 1982...

Bellett_PC_3-85 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Practical Classics magazine. Looks like people were finding parts an issue 30 years ago!

Bellett_Autosport_19-11-92 by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr

Interesting that one survived this long. Is it still around?

[gforceg]

Thanks Laurel for going to the trouble of digging those out and posting them.

That car does seem to have hit the UK market and bounced off again!

[tobydell]

Hi All WAR17J the isuzu bellet 1600 gt as pictured, was my car in the early 70's it was as I understand it brought over to the UK by Brabbham, for racing, he had I believe 2 of them, this one ended up on the road in the Middlesex Hertfordshire area, it had a Brabbham Alpine engine (roots ) with twin 40 DCOE webbers, I am told the suspension had been set up for Spa but who knows
all I know is that the thing sounded great and went like a rocket and handled like it was on rails, a really nice car, Rolls Royce maroon was the colour, the electrics sometimes played up, but usually a rummage around in the wiring behind the clocks sorted it out
It did have a tendency to destroy clutch plates, the only reason I sold it in about 74 was because my insurance company began to ask difficult questions, they maintained that the isuzu had never been imported to the uk (which was correct) so I moved it on
I have no idea where it is now, or even if it still exists, I guess the advertiser shown here could be the chap who bought it from me
but then wasn't life different in the early 70s

[Lynchie999]

i'm sure one of these raced at a Goodwood event (MM or Revival) not so long ago... last year maybe...

edit - https://www.goodwood.com/grrc/event-coverage/goodw...

Edited by Lynchie999 on Tuesday 20th February 17:21