HI GUYS CHECK THIS WR.... OUT SAYS A 65 MODEL ITS NOT ITS A 2 DOOR RHD TRIM IS TRASHED CAR IS NOT MUCH BETTER ASKING PRICE $2495 US TO VIEW AND THE TAKE THE KIDS TO THIS GUYS DISNEYLAND www.pickapartauto.com/Monrovia_Vehicles/48.html GOOD VIEWING REGARDS DAVO IN QLD

I'm all for these cars gaining value, becoming collectible, and the price of the car reflecting the true worth of what it is.

But a few of the prerequisites of asking top dollar for a car is that the car actually be operable and in presentable condition. At least with Eagle, you could drive the car home under its own power. That one makes my bucket of rust and nightmares look like a cream puff. And I asked the truck driver to shoot me and the car and put both of us out of our miseries when he delivered my car. The many thousands of dollars in parts, body, and interior work that I am looking at is seeming very small compared to what it would cost to put that one back together.

Is this the same one mentioned earlier at the California salvage yard which the yard owner commented "Those go for thousands of dollars on Ebay."?

i agree it aint no glamour ..and yes it is the same one mentioned a few mths back but there was no pics or details now he has ...great ...lets go get it regards davo

It's probably worth noting the VIN for future interest...

VIN: 4088499

PICK-A-PART MONROVIA

Yes it's same car .... man that is going to need a bunch of work but in the hands of someone with alot of time and money anything is possible, I explained to these guys that parts are an issue and by the looks of it, it will be ... the bumpers are pretty straight though ....
This is a PR20 right ?

Later
Mark

Still got the plastic on the doors! Yeah O.K., it's a bit pummelled, but looks to be all there & doesn't look real rusty. Note G.T. type throttle pedal & strange location of gear lever. Does this mean G.T. 'box? And other running gear? - would be interesting to see under the bonnet (hood). Perhaps Dick could fill us in.
If this were a sedan in Aus, then $300 or so would pull it up, a little more if the motor goes. But a 2-door Sport, well, we'd have to lift our sights a bit.
Seats are easy fixed, paint applied, & bumpers chromed, & you get JDM mirrors!
But you'd have to love it! (But don't we??)
I suggest '67 model, or '68 if horns are moth on driver's side.
Make him an offer!
Cheers, Matt.

mark, it looks like a PR10. read on....

matt, the throttle pedal is a bolt in change.
no sedan ever had a GT gearstick fitted. not even the Sport. all were in the normal sedan location. no sedan ever had a GT floor hump in it from new either, as this car shows.
there are some sedans around with GT style floor humps (like my race car), but these have been fitted by owners.
this car looks like it has the stick in the GT location, but without the hump........... i'd luv to see how it's been fitted, as it'd be damn tight under there without the hump!!
the sedan 'direct acting' stick and the GT 'remote mount' stick is interchangable between the sedan and GT box's, again as a bolt in change.
also, this car has a standard bellett dash. the extra panel under the heater controls isn't factory.
the real Sport was an odd one, as it had the full GT dash and gauges, but as it had to use the sedan gearstick and couldn't use the GT's console, it had a unique heater/fresh air control panel that hung lower, and mounted the radio and clock (as the normal sedan locations housed GT gauges).
it was thought in another thread about this car that it had a GT steering wheel...... unfortunatly, no it isn't. while it's definitly similar, it's not GT. the real 'Sport' used a genuine GT wheel as well.

look closer at the pics, u'll also note that the handbrake lever and gearstick overlap each other........ this is exactly why Isuzu had to move the handbrake rearwards in the GT's.

had a quick look thru my brochures here, and got some more info.
this car is a PR10 2 door.
couple of giveaways from the pics provided..........
all PR10's had painted window surrounds, both 2 and 4 door. all PR20 standards had painted surrounds, and the deluxes had stainless, again in 2 and 4 door. this car looks like painted surrounds.
all PR10's never had the stainless trim that followed the belt line along the top of the doors. all PR20's did have it, both in standard and deluxe. this car doesn't have them.
all PR10's and standard PR20's had the basic dash, and PR20 deluxes had a clock fitted to the left of the multi gauge (or right if the car was LHD). this car has a basic dash.
all standard spec bellett, both PR10 and 20, had rubber floor mats, and the deluxes had carpet. this car looks like it has rubber mats.
all PR20's in this model had either a '1500' or a 'Sport' badge on the C pillars, depending on the spec. the PR10's were blank. this car is blank.

there are other different items between the PR10 and 20, but i'm only commenting on those visible on this car.

clincher is that Isuzu only made:
PR10 in stanard spec, never ever deluxe, in 2 and 4 door sedans.
PR20 in both standard and deluxe in 4 door's, but only deluxe in 2 door.
the question as to whether it's a 'Sport'........... it can't be, as they were only made in PR20 form in this model, as an option on the PR20 deluxe. Isuzu did make the Sport in other PR models, but the PR20 was the 'lowset' PR number used (ie: PR20, PR50, PR60, etc.), never as a PR10.
hence, as it must be a deluxe to be a PR20 2 door, and it doesn't have the defining deluxe items, it must be a PR10.

agreed.
after referencing the chassis number noted by 2ldohc, being 4088499, and the chassis number listing posted in the General area on B.net.
nov 67 saw the 1st of the late windscreen sedans appear, with chassis number 4093588, making this car earlier than that.
and it looks like the earlier screen it in too.
as a generalisation, using the chassis numbers and dates in this other thread, i'd say it's around a mid 67 car.

just found another PR10 - PR20 difference in these pics, and confirmed by reviewing my brochure mountain.......
all PR20's, both standard and deluxe, had the stainless moulding/trim around the front windscreen, while all PR10's were devoid of this mould.
again, this california car is missing the mould.

and yes, instead of looking at whacky things like windscreen moulds, i should get a more interesting life!

Brett
I see what your saying,those details you've pointed out are right on and having gone back this morning and looked at the pics of this car again I am agreeing even more.
Even though this is an older model it's clear that it has painted boot hindges and a standard dash amongst that other things you noticed & more of the interesting Bellett differences.
I really appreciate your input and value everyone here that share their experiances and photos of these cool cars.
My kid calls me a "Bellett Nerd" cause I'm on this website so much or out dicking around in the garage with the Bellett. It's all good ......

Cheers
Mark

There does not appear to have been any official US sales of Belletts. There were Canadian Belletts, with left hand steering, and there were Bellels sold in Washington State and/or Oregon. This car is a right hand drive, so it wasn't a Canadian car. There are pictures of Belletts being raced in the US in the 60's. So the transmission and gear shift arrangement observation is interesting. No engine compartment view or engine details raises questions. But even if the car had a DOHC 1.6, 1.8, or 2.0 liter engine, the value of one of these engines sitting on a pallet is in the 800-1,000 USD range and shipping to the US roughly the same.

I listen to a lot of people say things like "The part I need to buy so I can repair my car is worth more than the insurable value of the car itself, I'm junking my car and buying something else" (with a higher insurable value that will probably cost even more to fix, but short sighted thought processes guarantee more money happily wasted).
I'm looking at it from the opposite side. The amount of stuff that is broken on that car and the cost to fix those broken things. And everything might be there, but everything that is there is broken and needs to be replaced. If it's 15,000-20,000 USD to buy the parts to put that car back together, it's going to be an equal amount in shipping costs to get those parts from halfway around the world into a land where there are less than ten of them existing (five or six by my count).
And it is significant that this car is being sold at a junk yard. In this country, if a car runs, it remains in use, even if sold many times as a used car, until it is no longer drivable. If it's in a junk yard, it's there because something serious went wrong that could not be fixed. As rare a car as it is, the thing that caused it to be un-drivable might be be very small and simple like an unobtainable part, but parts aren't getting any easier to obtain...

I'm seeing the 80's and 90's cars on the short list to crush by salvage yards because people simply don't fix them any more.
There are probably three people interested in Belletts on this side of the world. The people with knowledge and connections to obtain parts and the group of people with expendable income to pay for repairs and parts do not share any of the same members.
The price would have to be a misprint by a digit, or so negotiable that the asking price is a joke if there is any prayer of selling the car. Because the location and economic situation make it so much of a white elephant that in all seriousness, they should be offering to pay someone to take it away and free up the ground beneath it for something with more earning potential.

If it was running and drivable, the situation would be completely different. If it were shiny and looked like the car that Eagle/Isuzu Sports was unsuccessful in selling at 2,600,000 Yen, the salable price of such a car in Southern California would be easily 5,000 USD more than in Japan or Australia, because it would be the only one here, and it would cost that much to transport an equal car from wherever to here. But, if you could find someone to pay that amount, would be a different question.

Brett: Mate, you're a Bellett encyclopedia! Thanks for the detailed info, I'm learning....learning.
Wanna invite myself to your place someday & check out that brochure pile!
Mark: Might be a pidgeon pair for your little car! You might have to make him an offer (not a big one!). He is dreeeamin' !
Jaytee: I totally understand your economic arguement. It's a shame you dont have a bunch of parts stashes there - we really are spoilt here. Hope some Canada expats happen your collective way.
Cheers, Matt.

Hi again,

I managed to grab some cell phone photos today (I live about 100 miles from this yard so I don't get there as often as I'd like):











I didn't check the board recently so I didn't know the junkyard link had been added. At least now you can see the engine. The white sticker on the windshield says "U.S. Forces Japan 1972". Unfortunately the Japanese license plates have been removed; California law for salvage cars, I guess - should have written the number down the first time...

Hope this helps!

-Chris

This is a original Bellett Sport (1500) for sure. They came also in 4 door ....
This one has been shipped form Japan to the States by an army officer who just liked Belletts more than Chevy's ... Getting back home he took the car with him.

CrisB thanks for putting up those pics for a good look in the engine bay and interior,some very interesting features on this car, including a radio ....
and the levers by the Steering Column ?

Mark

you're welcome matt. years and years of having no life makes you study these weird things more!


anytime mate!

Now that's a project!

I'm glad I'm on the wrong coast, otherwise I might be tempted

Looks like someone up-speced the donkey! Wonder if it's a goer? Somebody get the price down & save it, pleeeeze.
You'd have a unique little tourer.
Closer to you than me, Hudson!
Cheers, Matt.

Hey Andrew
I was wondering where you were ... I though this might answer the "Belletts in North America" post from last year ....
Matt,when I spoke with them they told me it does not run,but neither did mine when I picked it up, but what JT191 said about being in a junk yard is still ringing in my ears...cause for the most part he's right, I dont know how this pick a part store ended up with it , but I for one would think it's worth trying to save. (love to have it for parts) sadly I can't .... to far,to much money .. have four cars at the house now , this one would be on blocks in the front yard ... I know I'm in the south but ... I'd have to hoist my redneck banner on the flagpole ...

see y'all !
Mark

Mark & Farmer,

I've been busy with work and two NSU 1000s.. that it looks like I'm going to make into one.

About the car itself, It's seriously over priced in that nick IMO. It's RHD, so it's got nothing over the cars in Japan... which happen to be running if not a little further away. I've come across a couple Belletts in Canada via the Net.. they are out there.

Other than that, there's a few shells of a car that are closer calling my name at the moment..