Mystery Bellett Racer

[Pombellett]

Glad to hear you all had a good time at the Nationals. I've enjoyed all the photo's.

I've been looking up the history of one time Bellett racer Keith Swisher, who helped form Nippon Racing here in the UK with Paul Wakefield. And another name has cropped up, that of Emmett Wilder. He apparently raced a Bellett in the States in the early 60s, mainly Hawaii for a few years then disappeared.

Anyone heard of him?

[PR20 Auto]

G'day Pom,
There's this "Isuzu GT" entered in type B Sedans

1968 ARRC Entry List.doc

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and this NSU ( he seems to have liked unusual (for the US) cars.

1969 ARRC.doc

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Also this which I guess was sadly the end

Emmett Wilder Funeral Notice.doc

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Also there's a mention in "Sports Car Racing" that he raced a Volvo P1800 in Hawaii in 1953 as a "novice".
Don't know whether this helps or not.
Anyway Onya,
Steve

[PR20 Auto]

Found some more

World Sports Racing Prototypes.doc

(320 KiB) Downloaded 1083 times

Also the Volvo P1800 should be 1963 not 1953

[Pombellett]

Top detective work there PR20....Mr Wilder sounds like a really interesting bloke. I wonder where his car originated from, and whether it's about now? It may have been one of the Rob Walker UK prepared cars that is rumoured to have gone to the States with Keith Swisher after their rather feeble European showing. It would be great to find some pictures.
What a massive meeting that 68 one was.....how many cars in one weekend?

[PR91]

must have been a great bloke with a surname like that.
even if it has 'er' at the end...
i have here... somewhere... an old Isuzu promo pic of him standing with the car and all the trophies.
i'll see what i can find.

[PR20 Auto]

Can't find any photos or any more race mentions. He must have gone over to the dark side, though, because the next mention of him that I can find is in the Sacramento Valley Drifter in 1979. He seems to have developed a Teutonic bent and taken up driving a Porsche 914-6. He was still at it in 1980.

[Pombellett]

Cool, do you reckon you'll still be smoking up the circuits at 56 Brett?.... I hope I am....might have learnt some race craft by then

[JT191]

I posted this somewhere, but can't find where it went.

The Isuzu Memorial book makes a single, vague reference to Belletts being raced in the US, with a picture of a car crossing the start-finish line at Laguna Seca, cited as May 6, 1967. I contacted the archivist for that SCCA region, and they were intrigued, but could find no record of an Isuzu car racing at any of their events that year.

I wonder if this might be one of the drivers mentioned.

[redback]

Nice find JT!

[PR95]

The car to the far right looks like a Hino Contessa

[JT191]

The car to the far right looks like a Hino Contessa

Should be a Chevrolet Corvair. Almost indistinguishable from each other at that angle, except for the big chrome winged symbol. That was one of the clues, and one of the dead ends, because they could not find any event on that date with a Corvair either.

[BULLITT]

trawlling this morning found some stuff even "''mr bond""gets a mention ...dont tell anyone tho he was in one of those ...belletts ..... this site has a lot of imfo on the drivers ound in early days http://racingsportscars.com/make/archive/Isuzu.html cheers davo

[PR20 Auto]

Try 60 He was fastest up this hill in 1984

KNOX MOUNTAIN HILLCLIMB.doc

(56.5 KiB) Downloaded 1184 times

[PR95]

The car to the far right looks like a Hino Contessa

Should be a Chevrolet Corvair. Almost indistinguishable from each other at that angle, except for the big chrome winged symbol. That was one of the clues, and one of the dead ends, because they could not find any event on that date with a Corvair either.

Yes can see that now, and is far to wide to be a Contessa.
Geoff