The Isuzu Bellett is a 2/4-door sedan (car) / sedan / 2-door coupé / 2-door fastback coupé / 3-door van / 2-door coupe utility (Wasp) from Isuzu, built from 1963 to 1973, in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. Under the bonnet: 1.3 . The total made was 170,737.
The story
The Isuzu Bellett is a subcompact car produced by the Japanese manufacturer Isuzu between 1963 and 1973. Designed by Isuzu, the Bellett replaced the Isuzu Hillman Minx, manufactured by Isuzu under license with the Rootes Group. The car was available as a four-door or two-door sedan, a rare two-door station wagon marketed as a commercial vehicle, called the Bellett Express, and an even rarer one-ton commercial variant marketed as the Isuzu Wasp. There was also a four-door sedan with different bodywork and rear suspension, called the Bellett B.
Lastly there was a two-door coupé and a fastback version of the same. After General Motors acquired a stake in Isuzu, the Bellett was replaced by GM's "global" T-car, initially called Isuzu Bellett Gemini and later simply Isuzu Gemini, which technically had little to do with its predecessor. A total of 170,737 original Belletts were manufactured. The word Isuzu translated into English means "fifty bells." The nameplate "Bellett" referred to "a smaller Bellel", a previous, larger model manufactured by Isuzu.
What is underneath
Power comes from 1.3 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 921 kg. It shifts through a 4-speed manual / 3-speed automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2350 mm (92.5 in). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Isuzu Hillman Minx; its successor was the Isuzu Gemini; assembly was at Kawasaki, Kanagawa. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Aston Martin DB5, the Pontiac GTO, the Buick Riviera — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Isuzu catalogue sit the Isuzu Gemini and the 4000 Series Medium Duty.
What it costs now
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Isuzu Bellett has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.