I have literally been looking for this car my whole life, and here it is.
I was driving home from downtown with my family and exclaimed “Holy Cow, it’s an Isuzu Bellett!” Naturally my family was not as impressed as I was, and I returned the next day at first light to get these shots, lest my quarry disappear for another 48 years.
Yes, you heard right, it’s been that long since I saw one of these. Here’s my sister and me and Yiffee the Keeshond with my Aunt Ena’s Bellett in 1971. As you may remember I am Canadian, and grew up in a Dutch immigrant family. In the 1960’s a fellow Dutchman had a local import dealership selling Toyota and Isuzu. My grandfather bought a yellow Toyota Corona much like the blue one in the photo above, and my uncle an FJ40 Land Cruiser. Even my own father bought his used Rambler there, so I suppose it was up to my aunt to round out the selection with an Isuzu.
We’ve covered the Bellett before with one found in Japan here by TATRA87, but the Isuzu marque goes back to 1934. They made their name in commercial trucks and didn’t start making passenger cars until 1953. After building the Hillman Minx under license for several years they began production of in house designs with the Bellel in 1961, and the smaller Bellett in 1963. Isuzu translates to “Fifty Bells”, hence the bell in Bellel and Bellett.
Back to our subject car, which really is in phenomenal shape. It had received a budget repaint at some point but was clean, straight and amazingly rust free. How can this be so when most 1960’s Japanese cars quickly rusted into oblivion in my Ontario home town?
Ah, that’s why. It’s a BC car. Same healing rains and lack of road salt that Oregon receives. You can see the SAE 64 stamp on the taillight lens, that’s how I pegged this one as a 1964 model. My aunt’s Bellett had larger taillights and a different grille.
Another fun feature at the rear is the tiny 1.5 inch tailpipe.
The Bellett was built in 4 countries for 10 years, but despite looking a bit like a scaled down Italian Alfa Romeo it was not a sales giant. Speaking of giants, I should have taken a photo of myself next to it, this is a very tiny car. What do you think of the profile? I quite like the angular midsection with the more rounded ends, but I know this is viewed through the four year old eyes of my childhood.
The Bellett seems to have been mostly exported to Australia, and also to Canada and parts of Europe. I don’t think any made it to the US. Looking at old Bellett ads the word Sporty comes up in every one, perhaps it was a marketing mistake to play up the sporting aspect of the car. Toyota’s greater success would indicate that what people really wanted in a Japanese sedan was slightly boring but highly reliable with a strong dealership network.
Here’s a big part of why the Bellett was relatively sporty, that’s a semi trailing arm independent rear suspension. It has coil springs so that cross leaf spring there must be some sort of sway bar/camber compensator. Again the lack of corrosion here is staggering, this car must have spent its whole life in a dry garage.
The interior is rather sporty as well. Dual binnacles on the dash for speedo and gauges, a floor shifter and bucket seats. Look at the way the glove box is cut into the dash on the right, not only is it cool looking but the cutout is the same size as the one for the gauge cluster to cleverly facilitate left or right hand drive. Mileage was about 70,000 which also helps with the great condition.
And yes, that is a Corvette with turbine mags in the window reflection, but who cares? It’s a Bellett!
Source: Isuzu Club Holland
The sporty moniker was slightly justified, as the Bellett does have a limited amount of racing history. Bruce McLaren apparently drove one at a 1965 Goodwood meet, the first Japanese car to be raced there. Fifty years later one was invited back to Goodwood for the 2015 vintage festival, seen here fleeing for its life from a much bigger fish.
The Isuzu script on the hubcaps looks so similar upside down I hadn’t realized that I’d photographed it that way until later. When was the last time you saw a car with 13 inch wheels? They look impossibly tiny today and I’ll bet those BF Goodrich 145SR13 tires were made in the 1980’s.
Here we are again with my two aunts in Halifax, which is quite fitting because some Belletts were assembled in Nova Scotia, albeit only in 1968 with some 585 cars produced.
Not the most appealing angle for this car, but it does give us opportunity to check out some of the great details. Look at the little chrome bumps on the tops of the fenders where JDM mirrors would be attached. If I had opened the forward hinged hood I would have seen a 1500cc pushrod 4 of 60 horsepower.
More good stuff here, such delicate pushbutton door handles and the little cover for the lock cylinder.
Just look at the great trim details, I like the drip rail extending to the back of the C pillar and the exposed trunk hinges. If someone told you this was an Alfa Giulia you’d believe them.
Goodbye little Bellett, I don’t imagine our paths will ever cross again. 48 years between sightings is a long time and I don’t plan on living to 101. As we left my daughter asked me if I was going to buy it, but I can barely take care of the 5 vehicles we have now, let alone an obscure orphan from Japan. I sure was chuffed to find it though, and hope it gets a good home. Just seeing it brought back visions of childhood, family trips, and adventurous aunts. For such a diminutive car it sure carries a load of memories.
If it’s for sale, you should make it happen, Doug! You know you love it! 🙂
Was that Halifax photo taken on Citadel Hill?
Yes it was, I haven’t been back since. Mrs DougD and I had plans to go this year, but Covid 🙁
Here’s the uncropped shot of the slide. Downtown Halifax appears a bit different today.
Many congratulations for finding a car you’ve long been seeking! It is quite an adrenaline rush.
From looking at your pictures, I’m guessing this Bellett is about the same length, or perhaps a bit less, than the ‘Vette parked next to it?
What a neat find! My grandmother had a contemporary to this, a Toyota Corona T40, same color, and equally tiny by today’s standards. I would love to find one of those.
I see a lot of Rover P6 in the side profile: the roof and window shapes, character line along the side, and the rear wheel arches. Were the designers were inspired by similar 1961 prototype Rover T4? That would be close to when the Bellet design was frozen, but British influence on Japan’s car industry was still pretty strong.
Albeit cribbed from another site: Studebaker almost sold Bellets to save themselves:
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/the-studebaker-bellet
Would it have worked?
Great find!
It sure does have Rover P6 styling similarities, but even more Triumph 2000 Mk1 similarities. The rear wheel arch, glass house, front wheel arch shape.
I always thought maybe Michelotti was consulted by Isuzu? Did he design this as well (he was responsible for the Triumph shape).
Both Rover and Triumph came uit in 1963.
Wow — this is indeed the Holy Grail. Hard to top this one!
The Bellett is a car I’m familiar with only due to CC. Beforehand, the concept of an Isuzu from before the 1970s seemed almost absurd, since I had no idea the company had such a long history.
For a small 1960s car, I like this design a lot. To me, it looks like a combination of Italian and French styling themes, but not directly modeled after any single car.
I’m somewhat curious about the Nova Scotia-built Belletts. Do you have any idea why Nova Scotia was chosen as a location? As I understand, these were assembled from CKD kits (presumably from Japan), so it would seem that the Pacific coast would make more intuitive sense than the Atlantic coast. Do you know if Nova Scotia was chosen in order to build some industrial development in the Maritimes? Or to what extent the federal government offered incentives to built the plant there? If so, the very short production run must have been extremely embarrassing. Just curious about this — the location seems a but unusual to me.
And finally, I find your narrative on how you came across this car to be amusing, because I had a similar event recently. Two weeks ago we went for a hike about 2 hours from home, and while driving back from there, I exclaimed “Holy Cow, it’s a Chevy Monza!” Yes, there really was a Monza, parked for sale by the side of the road. Shockingly, my family, like yours, weren’t too impressed, and not wanting to torture them, I drove on. Dangit, I should have stopped.
Well, congratulations on finding this one!
A Corvair Monza or H-Body Monza?
H-body Monza. Judging from the tail lights, it was a later version (78-80 or so). Not the most enthralling car in the world, but I’m kicking myself for not stopping.
I’m somewhat curious about the Nova Scotia-built Belletts. Do you have any idea why Nova Scotia was chosen as a location? As I understand, these were assembled from CKD kits (presumably from Japan), so it would seem that the Pacific coast would make more intuitive sense than the Atlantic coast.
I ran across this comment at another Bellet article at another site, and it does answer your question:
Perhaps, though, he is unaware that the Bellett was assembled in Nova Scotia, Canada for a brief period in the mid 1960s. Merely google it, and you will find a few articles on the matter. Two what we would refer to as Upper Canadian entrepreneurs tried to get into an act somewhat similar to that which Volvo had established in the Halifax, Nova Scotia area in 1963. Canadian Motor Industries was their name, and if one were to be cynical about it, ripping off the provincial governernment was their game. Toyota Coronas were also to be assembled, but nobody seems to know whether any actually were. Following the two year hoopla on the Bellett, the entrepreneurs managed to get the Nova Scotia government to cough up money to build “the most advanced hi-fi in the world” as well. As a young hi-fi enthusiast at the time, my letters of entreaty to my provincial government to beware that in backing a flash-looking radiogram in a bubble container as a world beater, they showed themselves to be back country rubes. That enterprise, Clairtone, failed spectacularly a few years later.
It will come as no surprise that Canadian Motor Industries managed to assemble a mere 585 Bellets before closing their doors, although this CMI enterprise predated the Clairtone fiasco. Nevertheless, the entrepreneurs no doubt made a few bucks for their troubles raising the pulse of local politicians that Nova Scotia could become more than the bucolic backwater it was and still is. However, I like the place immensely, since it was where my family landed as immigrants from the UK in 1959. By the way, Volvo managed to stay in Nova Scotia for 36 years, only closing in 1999 after Ford bought them or perhaps more likely, because Ford was about to buy them.
So there were a few Bellets on local roads for a few years, and they really were the advance guard of Japanese cars entering the North American market. Toyota Coronas were on sale at the rural Volvo dealer in 1965 where my Mum purchased her 544 despite its additional $600 cost. A floppy bench seat, three on the tree gear change, a groaning 1900 cc engine which Toyota claimed had the same 90 bhp as the B18D in the Volvo, and obviously inferior paint meant she spent her life savings on the 544. Her confidence was entirely justified in that Coronas soon dissolved into piles of red dust as they were eaten by the tin worm in our harsh climate and salt sea air, whereas in 1971 her car looked virtually brand new.
Thanks. I had a feeling it was something like that. Last year I read a book on post-confederation Newfoundland, and in the 1950s-70s there seemed to be an endless array of industrial development prospects that were awfully similar to this — short lived, or never gotten of the ground in the first place, and often hawked to the provincial or federal gov’ts by entrepreneurs without very solid business plans. I suspect it was a similar situation in Nova Scotia as well.
My impression of the Bellett for design is that it predates the Rover 2000 that I have attached. Very interesting article on a car that I have never seen in The U.S. Good information from you, Doug! Thanks.
Excellent find! I too had plans to go to Halifax this year, but Covid stuck a pin in that idea.
The profile view reminds me of a Toyota Corona somehow.
How unlikely a find in our part of the world! I hope this Bellett finds the hands of a good caretaker.
Congrats on finding your unicorn. That is indeed an impressive find. Amazing condition as well. Hopefully the owner has plans for it that include getting it out of the eastern weather before winter hits.
Congratulations! Good things come to those that wait, and keep their eyes open.
Sweet little car. And quite ambitious for a Japanese car of the times; definitely the BMW of Japan.
Yawn, Yeah, it’s like one your aunt had, but it’s not even the right color. 🙂
Seriously, how cool to find a unicorn like this. I had never even heard of these before CC, and remember it only because of your connection. I know how excited I would be to find some of the oddish-ball cars that came into my young life, but I have nothing so oddballish as this.
But I have to ask – how do you pronounce it. Is it like “pellet”? Or like “ballet? Or something else?
We pronounced it bell-let with the emphasis on the 2nd symbol. Who knows if that’s right, but by the same token who can say we’re wrong?
Wow! I’d never heard of this car, let alone ever seen one. There’s nothing quite like the sudden appearance of something one has been waiting decades to find.
One thing:
That’s not how those lens markings work. They don’t necessarily match the model year or production date of the vehicle, they just signify the maker’s assertion that the lamp meets the version of the applicable SAE standard that was in effect in the year indicated. So the SAE STDB 64 marking on the taillight is an assertion that the lamp meets the versions current in 1964 of SAE J586 (Stop Lamps, coded “S”), SAE J585 (Tail Lamps, coded “T”), and…well, the “D” code is a bit of a question mark; currently that code is used for motorcycle turn signals. I’m not near the old docs that would allow me to decode it properly. The “B” means it’s a Class-B lamp under the Class-A/Class-B categorisations at that time—”A” was for trucks, buses, and other large vehicles; “B” was for passenger cars.
The SAE R 65 marking on the reversing lamp lens is pretty self-explanatory: the lamp is claimed to meet the version current in 1965 of SAE J593 (Backup Light).
The SAE standards aren’t revised yearly, so a given version can be current for many years, which means you can use these lens markings to get an idea of the oldest a car could be, but you can’t use them to determine a definite model year or build year.
…and now I’m on a bigger screen and I zoom in, I see an answer/reminder and a new point of info. The “B” is for a class-B reflex reflector, and the round reflex reflector itself—by Japanese law for many years they had to be round—is marked SAE B66, making this car a ’66, ’67, or early-production ’68; there would’ve been side marker lights and/or reflectors, and very probably different windshield wipers, on a car made after 31 December 1967.
That is quite a catch; I suspect it would be anywhere.
Is it me, or is there a bit of Vauxhall Victor FB series in the side profile, especially at the very front and rear and in the door shapes? Almost like a Victor that has been put in a squash press of some sort?
It’s been at least 48 years (if not longer) since I’ve seen a Bellett. I think it belonged to a new teenage driver in the neighbourhood, and in the days before they paved our gravel streets passing cars kicked up a lot of dust. I remember seeing that funny little car in a cloud of dust and the name “Bellett” on the trunk. I knew Toyotas and Datsuns were Japanese but I’d never heard of Isuzu. It’s in great shape for such an old Japanese car. I’m a fellow Ontario resident, and most cars rusted away pretty fast here with the Japanese iron even more so. I hope it goes to a good home.
Amazing find Doug! I am glad you found one after a 48 year wait. I am another person who would not know about these cars had it not been for CC. We had few earlier adopters of Japanese cars in my circle of family an friends. Most of the early adopters had mixed reviews (my dad included), but now all of my immediate family has at least one Japanese brand cars in their driveways. Any Japanese cars from before the 1980s have been long non-existence in my part of Ontario. About the only one I have come across, was an almost perfectly preserved ultra low mile 1971 Toyota Corolla about a 15 years ago. It was being stored in an old warehouse ware I had stored one of my cars one winter. I believe the car is still around, but haven’t seen for many years.
Incredible find, Doug-san!
2020 is a great vintage for Isuzus on CC, and this one is mighty impressive. Probably my favourite of the marque. I’ll try and match it as soon as. 🙂
That is a swing axle rear suspension with a transverse camber compensating spring — in other words, basically the same as a 1964 Corvair.
It’s hard to see the suspension arms in my under car photo but they have the angled pivot points of semi trailing arms. This gives some camber change under load but much less that the early Corvair, or the 1963 VW in my driveway. In the article I read about the racing Bellet they said handling was very good, but it was down on power compared to other vintage racers.
Unfortunately that does not solve the great mystery of the Bellett rear suspension. I’ have tried in vain to find pictures that show whether or not there was a universal joint at the outer ends of the shafts. No luck.
I am somewhat inclined to believe that this may well be a swing axle suspension located by the semi-trailing arms. On the only Bellett forum (very lightly used) the issue of camber change does come up once or twice, but not a definitive picture or detail of the rear suspension.
You’re the only person who can resolve this lingering mystery: go back to the car, and slide under the rear end enough to get a picture of the outer end of the drive axle(s), to determine whether there’s another joint or not.
I’m leaning towards not, given the use of the term “swing axle” in Isuzu’s brochure as well as pictures of a Bellett in cornering showing very strong camber change. But I could be wrong.
Using semi-trailing arms does not mean that it couldn’t be swing axles. The Corvair used rear arms that might well be called semi-trailing.
Ok, I think I got it here. I found a Bellett manual online in PDF form. It shows some good views of the rear suspension and there is not a joint at the outer hub. So it is a swing axle.
Of course the fact that I found an english Bellett manual means that the car could actually be maintained and repaired, but where to find parts?
But I was wondering, how do they accommodate the angled trailing arm pivots without a slip joint or something? But the pivots line up with the center of the U joint at the differential, so there’s no change in the shaft length.
Well I learned something today, and I think we can all sleep better now 🙂
But I was wondering, how do they accommodate the angled trailing arm pivots without a slip joint or something?
I’ve long wondered about that with a number of other swing axle designs. A certain degree of built in flexibility, is the only answer I can come up with.
Thanks for clearing this up finally. And i will sleep better tonight. 🙂
I remember these were reasonably common in the late 60s and early 70s when I was growing up in the Vancouver suburbs. I thought they looked quite attractive but didn’t realise that they had any advanced details such as the suspension.
IMO your find is 2nd in coolness to the Lancia Aprilia that T87 found in Thailand, which is no disgrace! Of course I totally get why it means something to you.
How long did your aunt keep the Bellett, and why did she finally trade it? Is Ena a common Dutch given name for women?
I’d guess she had it about 5 years, I don’t have any memory of the Bellett after my aunts moved back from Nova Scotia. One of my uncle’s friends told me that the engine was killed by driving back from NS with the choke partially on.
I do remember the big Dodge pickup she test drove as a replacement, which I thought was awesome. She wound up buying a 1969 Ford LTD that was very rusty and not awesome.
My Aunt’s real name is Hendrina but I never heard anybody call her that 🙂
Judging by your recent photos, the photos of your aunt’s car, and the brochure, the Bellett used what’d think of as LHD wiper positioning on RHD cars, and vice versa. A tad bit odd.
I recently saw a video of an SCCA race in Washington state that had a Bellet racing in it. Could have come south from BC or maybe they tried to sell them on the West Coast to test the waters
https://videos.pond5.com/vintage-16mm-film-1965-scca-footage-069419770_main_xl.mp4
That’s a coupe. They were never sold in NA
This is my car! It’s not my weirdest.
I’d love to see it again on the road!
And what could be weirder than this?
I found a 1965 Bellett on Craigslist here in Vancouver a few months ago and had to have it. It looked pretty rust free as well but I have since completely disassembled it. There is a little more rust deep inside than I thought but certainly repairable. It had not been on the road for at least 20 years as far as I can tell. The totally destroyed fuel tank and brake hydraulics told the tale.
I found a 1994 1.8 litre Miata engine for it to double the horsepower and add fuel injection and the 5 speed.
I expect it to take a year or two of my recent retirement to complete it but I’m looking forward to getting it back on the road. Lots of hand made and adapted-from-other cars parts to come. Who knew that the rear wheel cylinders are the same as a 1970 Datsun 1200?
Great story
Our family had a 1969 Isuzu Bellet in Oakville Ontario
I was only 7 when we bought the car and I still remember it so well
All my parents friends were driving Vailaints, Dodge Darts or Novas so our turquoise blue bellet stood out
Only now after 50 years do I realize how advanced that car was. We sadly replaced the Bellett in 1973 for a Ford Maverick 4 door sedan
Bought this 1967 Bellet second hand at a GM dealer in Kingston Ontario. It was quite peppy for the first couple of years with a prononced kick down. Drove it to Winnipeg and back. I was 18 when I bought it. Used the crank only once to start it when the battery went dead on Princess ( main street ). Actually it was a passer by that offered to crank and I had the foot on the gas peddle. I couldn’t find rear shocks for it but found a scrap yard of Bellets in a small rural Quebec town. Changed the whole rear suspension. I had moved to Quebec and brought my Bellet to La Belle province. My mom actually reupholstered the doors and seats in white tuck and roll naugahyde. It was striking beautiful. I hated to part with it but couldn’t find replacement parts so it went to the scrap yard with no rust what so ever. I waxed it every summer weekend and regularly hosed the underside. Heater didn’t perform too well and it had no block heater so winter starts were always a worry. 60 watt light bulb next to the carburator all night did the trick most of the time.
I too grew up in Canada and remember these. What always stood out for me was the one I regularly saw near my house had what appeared to be blue tinted windows. Just that car? It also looked vaguely aggressive as well. Very nice find!
Here’s a restomodded Bellett in British Columbia, with some interesting history:
https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/the-first-japanese-car-built-in-north-america-is-a-forgotten-isuzu-sedan/