Isuzu Bellett

The Isuzu Bellett is a subcompact car that Isuzu built in Japan from 1963 to 1973, its own design replacing the Hillman Minx the company had made under licence from the Rootes Group. It was sold as a four-door or two-door sedan, as a rare two-door wagon called the Bellett Express, and in sportier coupé and fastback forms led by the GT of 1964 and the racing-bred GT-R of 1969. The GT was the first Japanese car billed as a Gran Turismo. Engines began with a 1.5 litre petrol four and a 1.8 litre diesel and later gained overhead-cam units up to 1.8 litres. The Bellett was the first Isuzu exported to Europe, when a thousand cars went to Finland in 1965, and 170,737 original Belletts were built before the Gemini replaced it. The name means a smaller Bellel, the larger earlier Isuzu car.