View unanswered posts | View active topics It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 7:48 pm



Reply to topic  [ 27 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
My bellett story and pics from Japan 
Author Message

Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 1:37 pm
Posts: 11
Car(s): JZZ30 Soarer 2.5 GT-TL manufactured on June 1992.
Reply with quote
I have never expected that a very rare car's, even in Japan, site exists in Australia.
I don't have a Bellett now but I have lived with Bellett more than 19 years in my youth.
Let me introduce my beloved Bellett which I had owned from 1964 to 1983.
I'm not a Bellett owner any more but still love it. I would like to have one again if I could afford it.
My first Bellett was 1500 cc four door sedan which was manufactured in 1964 when I was 23 years old.
1964 was a start year which was called "motarization" year in Japan. In other words, time has come when you can buy a family car ( it was called that way) less than a million Yen at that time.

Next year, I got a 2 door sedan (the first pic) and a year after I owned the Bellett 1500GT. This 2 door coupe has influenced definitely to my car life later. My ideal car in those years was a Alfa Romeo 2000GT and this Bellett looked very much like it.

In 1969, the flagship Bellett 1600GTR came on the market. I bought this car as soon as it's been released. Mclaren orange colour ( it was called at the time) with mat black painted bonnet!
120 hp was one of top power at that time with DOHC.
I have owned this GTR 14 years from 1969 to 1983 until the first generation Soarer came on the market from Toyota.


Attachments:
File comment: Side view. original wheels and stripes.
Bellett1600GTR side view 2.jpg
Bellett1600GTR side view 2.jpg [ 49.84 KiB | Viewed 26694 times ]
File comment: Front face. Fog lamp was replaced one and not the genuine lamp.
bellett1600GTR front view 1.jpg
bellett1600GTR front view 1.jpg [ 91.48 KiB | Viewed 26694 times ]
File comment: Bellett 1600 GTR came on the market in Nov. 1969.
Bellett1600GTR-1.jpg
Bellett1600GTR-1.jpg [ 94.1 KiB | Viewed 26694 times ]
File comment: This red colour is my original.
Bellett1600GT in 1967.jpg
Bellett1600GT in 1967.jpg [ 222.89 KiB | Viewed 26694 times ]
File comment: Bellett 1500 GT. 88hp with OHV engine.
Bellett1600GT front view1.jpg
Bellett1600GT front view1.jpg [ 52.97 KiB | Viewed 26694 times ]
File comment: I bought this this 2 door sedan in 1965. At these years, it was a fashion to be loooked like a race car.
bellett1500 in 1966-2.jpg
bellett1500 in 1966-2.jpg [ 122.78 KiB | Viewed 26694 times ]
Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:33 pm
Profile

Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:23 am
Posts: 1816
Reply with quote
Hello Senrioka
It's nice to here from someone in japan this may be the 1st post :?: They are rare here too but they have a little group that love them and you found us. Your little red gt pr90 there are still a couple here but the others 2 door sedan was never sold here neither was the later gtr. There has been a small amount of dohc engines here that were imported after they were used in japan some got fitted into belletts.The four door 1500 sedan was the popular car here in the day and up until 15 years ago you could buy 1 any day of the week these days there are getting a little rare now also.
I was always led to believe that there was no belletts left in japan it was thought that registration issues in japan that they were destroyed after they got to a certain age. But when the internet became available it was good to see a few survived.
The toyota soarer was bought in as a used import and there are a few of them here also but we never had them imported new from toyota.


Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:47 pm
Profile
User avatar

Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2008 10:21 pm
Posts: 528
Location: Darwin NT
Car(s): Isuzu Bellett, VG Commodore Ute, Custom Chopper
Reply with quote
Welcome Sen,

I bet you had a lot of good times in your GT.

Cheers for your story.


Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:27 pm
Profile WWW

Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:39 am
Posts: 1136
Location: Adelaide Hills
Car(s): GU Patrol, AU ute, 1969 florian deluxe, 1976 Luv & 1980 KB 4x4 isuzu
Reply with quote
welcome,
Its always good to see pictures of the cars from origional owners. Thanks for taking the time to share them with us, and feel free to hang around here and comment!

_________________
I am "that" Florian guy.
never buy a car you cant push.


Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:04 pm
Profile

Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:52 am
Posts: 843
Location: Sunshine Coast QLD
Car(s): PR95 PR20 WASP SWB NH Pajero Superchrged NT Pajero BF SR6 Falcon
Reply with quote
Hi and welcome,
Thank you for your story, and would love to hear more of your stories. I also have been involved with Belletts since 1969. and Bellett GT are very few and far between, and as said we never had GTR in Ausralia, There in only a couple of them here now. I have a 1972 GT, Bellett 1500 and a Wasp.
Cheers Geoff


Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:40 pm
Profile
User avatar

Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:05 am
Posts: 620
Location: Western Victoria
Car(s): Bellett GT, Bellett Sedan, Prince Skyline GT, Porsche tractor, Lanz Bulldog, 996 Carrera 4,Prince Miler,
Reply with quote
Welcome Senrioka,
Those 1960's and 1970's photos are really good. Please post more photos if you have them. You will see many "early days" Bellett photos on this Forum incl. some of mine. It is good to be able to let other Bellett enthusiasts see these before they are all lost in time. It is great to have a former Bellett owner/enthusiast from the "Bellett Homeland " on the Forum. Please keep in touch and relay any other Bellett experiences that you may have had over the years.
KB

_________________
Around here the Laws of Physics and Reality are strictly enforced !


Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:41 am
Profile

Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:03 pm
Posts: 2419
Car(s): 1966 TEARDROP ...MANUAL ...
Reply with quote
HI SEN ...THANK YOUR FOR POSTING ON THE FORUM ..WE ALL HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON ...THE LOVE FOR BELLETTS ..WE APPRECIATE ALL YOUR PHOTOS AND STORIES THE MCLAREN ORANGE GT WOULD FIT WELL IN MY GARAGE WHAT A LOVELY GT .. KEEP UP THE PHOTOS AND ANY OTHER IMFO ON OUR CARS .KIND REGARDS DAVO


Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:46 am
Profile
User avatar

Joined: Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:17 pm
Posts: 2611
Location: Rye Park, N.S.W.
Car(s): Doris, AuntyMary, Shrek, Jimmy; GT, Wasp, Flo & Sed unrestos; 65 Elf; 82 Rodeo, 60 TX550, 72 Sport, & a Sigma.
Reply with quote
Welcome Senrioka, and thanks from me as well. It is really good to see these old photos, particularly of rare cars like your 1500 GT.
The 'Motarization' time corresponded with the big launch of Japanese cars into the australian market. They so outclassed other offerings at the time with great levels of equipment for the price, and soon earned a reputation for reliability that continues to this day.

Cheers, Matt. :)

_________________
Life is far too short not to fill it with what you love. - Jackie French.[/size]


Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:00 am
Profile
User avatar

Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:34 am
Posts: 819
Location: Bemboka NSW
Car(s): not enough!
Reply with quote
great to see and Welcome! :D :D :D

_________________
Gary & Monnica Smith
http://www.facebook.com/BembokaBellettBloke.


Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:34 am
Profile YIM WWW
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2010 5:37 am
Posts: 265
Location: Gold Coast, Qld
Car(s): 1966 Bellett GT, 1968 Bellett GT, 2017 Subaru Levorg 2.0 GTS
Reply with quote
Hi and Welcome Senrioka!
Its great you have found our forum. I am interested... Was your PR90 originally painted red from the factory?
I am one of a few owners in Australia of a PR90 1966 model GT. I fully restored mine back in 1992 and have maintained it as well as I can since then. Here is a picture from last years Bellett Nationals, which may not already be on here.

Cheers,
Lewis


Attachments:
IMG_0498 med crop.jpg
IMG_0498 med crop.jpg [ 157.91 KiB | Viewed 26601 times ]
Fri Jun 22, 2012 11:54 pm
Profile WWW
User avatar

Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:15 am
Posts: 1991
Car(s): 1965 Wasp, 1966 Bellett, 1967 Bellett, 1969 Florian, 1973 Bellett GTR, 1976 Buick Opel by Isuzu, 1978 Gemini van
Reply with quote
Wow Senrioka8,

I think I can confirm that you are the first Japanese owner to join the forum! There have been some other people in Japan, but not any previous owners and certainly not any Japanese guys who owned a Bellett from the time they were released!

Welcome and please, put up some more photos!

Cheers,

Dave

_________________
My latest automotive articles and original content shared here:

https://www.facebook.com/garageofawesome

Street Machine! Unique Cars! Awesome!


Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:10 pm
Profile WWW

Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 1:37 pm
Posts: 11
Car(s): JZZ30 Soarer 2.5 GT-TL manufactured on June 1992.
Reply with quote
Thank you very much for all of your heart warming messages.
Lewis, I was very much surprised to see such a clean and perfectly restored PR 90. It looks like a brand-new car! I do understand how you love Bellet.
About my red 1600GT.
This Bellett 1600GT came on the market in April 1964 and I bought it in 1966.
Only a week later, in September 1966, the second generation PR90 had been released.
Engine capacity has become a little larger from 1579cc to 1584cc and bore became 1mm smaller and stroke became 2mm longer, as a result, engine power became from 88ps/5400r.p.m. to 90ps/r.p.m, torque became from 12.5kgm/4200r.p.m to 13.0kgm/4200r.p.m.
Salesman didn't tell me anything about the new car that will be released within a week.
So I insisted to paint it "pure red colour" which I liked at that time as a penalty that he didn't tell me about the model change. But I liked the front grill with fog lamp very much.

I don't have many pics of this red GT but here are some other pics.


Attachments:
File comment: This is my favorite pic which was taken on a rough road to mt. Gassan. Muffler was fallen off being hit by rocks.
Bellett 1600GTR in Mt. Gassan.jpg
Bellett 1600GTR in Mt. Gassan.jpg [ 1.5 MiB | Viewed 26560 times ]
File comment: Driver's seat of 1600GTR from the brochure
Belltt1600GTR interior.jpg
Belltt1600GTR interior.jpg [ 109.35 KiB | Viewed 26560 times ]
File comment: Interior of the 1600GTR from the last brochure
Bellett from brochure 002.jpg
Bellett from brochure 002.jpg [ 243.47 KiB | Viewed 26560 times ]
File comment: This is a perspective drawing of 1600GTR
Bellett 1600GTR last model-01.jpg
Bellett 1600GTR last model-01.jpg [ 215.73 KiB | Viewed 26560 times ]
File comment: This pic was taken more than 47 years ago when I drove to Aomori prefec. 2,000kms away from home.
十和田湖へのドライブ旅行.jpg
十和田湖へのドライブ旅行.jpg [ 198.04 KiB | Viewed 26560 times ]
File comment: The first generation of the Bellett 1600GT. The white stripe line is my original.
Bellett 1600GT side view2.jpg
Bellett 1600GT side view2.jpg [ 53.8 KiB | Viewed 26560 times ]
Mon Jun 25, 2012 1:13 pm
Profile
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:52 am
Posts: 685
Car(s): 67 Bellett Auto Sedan, 65 Wasp, 73 Chev Luv, 1/2 A Chev Luv, VX Commodore
Reply with quote
Hi and Welcome Senrioka
Great Pictures, you never get Belletts out of your system.
Every time I take the Bellett out with a group or even just to get petrol you always
get people coming up to you saying they had one or new someone that had
and how great they were!
Josh :D


Tue Jun 26, 2012 3:26 am
Profile

Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2008 11:30 am
Posts: 405
Car(s): Bellett GT,
Reply with quote
:) Hi and a big Welcome,great to see your photo's,I also love the early model grill and dash,also the Tear Drop sedans,but its great to keep any Bellett alive and see the interest not just here but around the world,Gerry


Tue Jun 26, 2012 12:32 pm
Profile
User avatar

Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:15 am
Posts: 1991
Car(s): 1965 Wasp, 1966 Bellett, 1967 Bellett, 1969 Florian, 1973 Bellett GTR, 1976 Buick Opel by Isuzu, 1978 Gemini van
Reply with quote
Senrioka,

I love all these photos taken back when the cars were new. Amazing to read that one of the photos was taken 47 years ago!

As one of the founders of the Bellett.net forum, I have been very happy with the amount of people who have joined our forum from all over the world. I realistically estimated we would have about 50 members in total and now we have over 200 members - people are on here from Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Malaysia, South Africa and even a guy from Russia joined at one point!

But was was disappointed that we didn't get more members from Japan! I know that the language barrier is probably an issue, but Google Translate goes SOME way to helping with that, although it's not perfect. I'm not sure if there are any other reasons why we have not had many members from Japan.

It's been great that you've shared these awesome photos with us - Japan in the 1960s would have been such a crazy place; it would have been changing every single day.

If you find any more photos of your cars, or even other cars and places you took pictures of, feel free to put them up!

Thanks again,


Dave

_________________
My latest automotive articles and original content shared here:

https://www.facebook.com/garageofawesome

Street Machine! Unique Cars! Awesome!


Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:56 am
Profile WWW

Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 1:37 pm
Posts: 11
Car(s): JZZ30 Soarer 2.5 GT-TL manufactured on June 1992.
Reply with quote
Hi Dave,
Thank you for your comments encouraging me to post again.
As you well know, one of the largest barrier for Japanese people is langauge.
Our Japanese language has completely different and complex sentence structures and said to be one of the most difficult languages in the world. Especially "KANJI" ( Chinese character ) makes it next to impossible to translate when you use a translation software.

Isuzu Belletts fans still alive in Japan but very few. A few years ago, I have acquaited with a Bellett owner through a Japanese SNS called MIXI and met him with his red Bellett. I'll show you some pics. I read in his facebook that he knows this Bellett Forum and have some friends.
But I don't know if he is a member or not.

In those '60s when Japanese motorization started, Toyota and NISSAN were the two major automobile makers and they took more than 80% of the market shares, I presume.
Rest of the 20% were ISUZU, MITSUBISHI, SUBARU, MAZDA, HONDA and others.
This is another reason why you don't have many members from Japan.

The reason why I chose Bellett was its style, design and performance.
I have read that develop department of Bellett aimed to make a soprty sedan.
No other makers had a floor shift transmission at the time and a separate seats, I remember.

I live in Osaka which is the second largest city in Japan but hardly encountered with a Bellett in the town, althogh I often drive and go on a grand touring.
There are some magazines specialized in old cars and there, you can find some Bellett enthusiasts and fan clubs.


Attachments:
File comment: Bellett 1600GT based on 1800GT.
コピー ~ 赤ベレット 012.jpg
コピー ~ 赤ベレット 012.jpg [ 400.09 KiB | Viewed 26384 times ]
File comment: My Soarer and a my friend's red Bellett
コピー ~ 赤ベレット 117.jpg
コピー ~ 赤ベレット 117.jpg [ 229.99 KiB | Viewed 26384 times ]
File comment: My daughter and wife in 1973.
有希その9.jpg
有希その9.jpg [ 56.29 KiB | Viewed 26384 times ]
File comment: GTR and my wife. This pho was taken in 1970.
bellettGTR and my wife-01.jpg
bellettGTR and my wife-01.jpg [ 216.45 KiB | Viewed 26384 times ]
File comment: Rear view of the GTR
GTR後ろ姿.jpg
GTR後ろ姿.jpg [ 46.99 KiB | Viewed 26384 times ]
File comment: rear view of the 2door sedan
2ドア後ろ姿.jpg
2ドア後ろ姿.jpg [ 55.74 KiB | Viewed 26384 times ]
Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:47 am
Profile

Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2011 1:03 pm
Posts: 2419
Car(s): 1966 TEARDROP ...MANUAL ...
Reply with quote
excellent love the storey and photos thanks so much kind regards davo


Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:53 am
Profile

Joined: Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:39 am
Posts: 1136
Location: Adelaide Hills
Car(s): GU Patrol, AU ute, 1969 florian deluxe, 1976 Luv & 1980 KB 4x4 isuzu
Reply with quote
I recognize the red GT! it is a very nice car. I am friends with the owner on face book, and yes i use google translate alot, although the translation is not always correct! I love the model cars that you guys get over there and like following what the gt owner does with them! (and the trains!)
feel free to add me on facebook if you want, would love to see more vintage japanese cars!

_________________
I am "that" Florian guy.
never buy a car you cant push.


Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:41 am
Profile
User avatar

Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:15 am
Posts: 1991
Car(s): 1965 Wasp, 1966 Bellett, 1967 Bellett, 1969 Florian, 1973 Bellett GTR, 1976 Buick Opel by Isuzu, 1978 Gemini van
Reply with quote
Oh yeah that's Hideki's car.

He loves his Bellett! And his models. Got some great train sets too!

We have communicated a few times, but I'm not sure if we're talking via Google Translate or if his English is rough. Either way, we get the point across!

Also Senrioka, I hope you enjoy the brochures on our site; I have more to put up but have not scanned any for some time.

Thanks,

Dave

_________________
My latest automotive articles and original content shared here:

https://www.facebook.com/garageofawesome

Street Machine! Unique Cars! Awesome!


Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:45 am
Profile WWW
User avatar

Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:15 am
Posts: 1991
Car(s): 1965 Wasp, 1966 Bellett, 1967 Bellett, 1969 Florian, 1973 Bellett GTR, 1976 Buick Opel by Isuzu, 1978 Gemini van
Reply with quote
Actually, the photo of your GTR and wife from 1970 looks like it's straight from one of the brochures! Isuzu's marketing department made sure the models were seen in the latest Western clothes (snappy suits, mini-skirts, etc)... now those fashions are classic! Like the cars!

Cheers,

Dave

_________________
My latest automotive articles and original content shared here:

https://www.facebook.com/garageofawesome

Street Machine! Unique Cars! Awesome!


Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:48 am
Profile WWW
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic   [ 27 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 27 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
Designed by ST Software for PTF.