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Australian Assembled Belletts????
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Author:  65bellett [ Thu Oct 03, 2013 3:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Australian Assembled Belletts????
During a late night conversation at the Nationals it was suggested that there may have been some Belletts assembled in Australia. At the time it seemed plausible but unlikely as those of us in the room (Who are Bellett Experts :lol: ) had never heard of it before.

I was just doing a bit of Googling and found an article in the Sydney Morning Herald on April 6th 1966 that seems to give a bit more validity to the rumor. Here is a link to the article http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Jp ... alia&hl=en

So who has the next piece of the Puzzle????????

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Author:  Glenn [ Thu Oct 03, 2013 10:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
I'm guessing it was pie in the sky.
Author:  PR91 [ Fri Oct 04, 2013 1:58 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
thinking, talking, investigating, piecing bits of info together, considering what differences we've seen in cars, noting what was available here and not shown in brochures vs what was shown and we never got...
lets just say Gav and myself are busy on the trail of strong info, and while it's a long shot that Bellett assembly happened here, it's certainly not impossible and mite explain a few things.
we'll keep u info'd.
Author:  65bellett [ Fri Oct 04, 2013 2:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
Here is a little bit more info with a few more names that might help shed light on the situation??? And the best part of all is even if there was only one car built we get to have another 50th Anniversary for the Australian built Bellett. Do you think that could get us featured marque status at the B2B again Dave ;)
Here is a link to the original article http://www.clubvw.org.au/history004

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Author:  GTtoo [ Fri Oct 04, 2013 2:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
Following this intensly Bros. What that article says, is LNC expanded diversity to take over franchises including Belletts, which hints more towards sales i guess. It doesn't (as yet) mention assembly.

Cool pics of VW's, Gav !!

B.
Author:  PR91 [ Fri Oct 04, 2013 2:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
so others know, Gav and myself have been talking about this all morning on the phone, and it's a bloody interesting story that may explain more than a few odd things we've seen over many years... but it also raises just as many questions that point to it never having gone ahead any further than what's written in the paper.
obviously the newspaper article says they planned to do it, but at this stage nothing is confirmed that it actually did happen... so we'll say it's a great story or even a rumour with reasons of the for and against, so we'll really try to get some hard evidence to say YES or NO.
one thing is for sure... this world of Bellett's gets more and more interesting almost on a daily basis!
Author:  PR91 [ Fri Oct 04, 2013 2:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
Gav... Can u post up where it says in that article about Canopus Motors closing down and LNC taking over Victorian rights too? I know it's in there somewhere, but not in the same bit that u found about NSW and Griffon's.
Author:  65bellett [ Fri Oct 04, 2013 3:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
GTtoo wrote:
Following this intensly Bros. What that article says, is LNC expanded diversity to take over franchises including Belletts, which hints more towards sales i guess. It doesn't (as yet) mention assembly.

Cool pics of VW's, Gav !!

B.


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Author:  Retroasted [ Fri Oct 04, 2013 10:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
So is there any Mitsubishi Debonair (sorry if I have spelt it wrong) here??
Author:  GTtoo [ Fri Oct 04, 2013 11:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
Awesome. The plot thickens, but did it really go ahead :|

B.
Author:  Farmer [ Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
Hmmm, sorry to be starting rumors!
The story stems from Gary Carter's memory of his brother-in-law buying a Bellett new as he liked Gary's so much. (His Bellett memory is pretty good - he's told me other things that other people have verified.) The car had a "Willy's Motors" metal plate riveted under the bonnet, and he says it was assembled in Queensland from an imported kit.
Thing about the car was, the went for a run along a very dusty dirt raod. Gary's car let in no dust, but the brother's let in heaps. On complaining to the dealer, they adjusted the doors, which didn't help with the dust but made them difficult to close.
What prompted me to mention this at the Nats was one of the sedans has the plate rivetted to the inner guard. (But I can't remember which one!)

Perhaps someone (older) from Queensland can shed some light?

Happy investigating!
Cheers, Matt.
Author:  BULLITT [ Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
hi matt I reckon the car the wreck I moved on to stickman had the willys stamp on it geez I remember seing that badge on a flywall not long ago see if stickman can confirm cheers davo
Author:  65bellett [ Wed Oct 09, 2013 4:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
Hi Matt where would the Bellett trainspotters be with out rumours and theories :lol:

Do you know if Gary Carters brothers car was 67-68 hex tail light Auto??? And was the car with the plate this sedan next to Steves car??
download/file.php?id=8698 The car can be found in this pic.
Author:  65bellett [ Wed Oct 09, 2013 4:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
BULLITT wrote:
hi matt I reckon the car the wreck I moved on to stickman had the willys stamp on it geez I remember seing that badge on a flywall not long ago see if stickman can confirm cheers davo


Davo what were the specs of this wreck??
Author:  PR91 [ Wed Oct 09, 2013 4:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
any info appreciated guys coz we're working on piecing this story together from some proof and some theories.
cheers.
oh and btw Matt... the biggest prob with that car u mentioned was it was built in Queensland, not the dust. poor little bugger never stood a chance!
*Brett now waits for the Qld'ers to chime in... :lol:
Author:  PR95 [ Wed Oct 09, 2013 4:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
In the OLDEN days the Bellett Car Club of Qld held their meetings in a room at Willys Motors at Evans Rd Salisbury, to the best of my knowledge Willys never built them, they were the Qld distributors for Isuzu Bellett and all belletts they sold had the Vin type plate attached to the inner guard on the right hand side.

Willys motors were somehow attached to SUE engineering.(Shute Upton Engineering) who are still in business today, they make winches, I was talking to one of the owners of SUE several years ago, and he informed me that all their company cars were Belletts. they could probably throw some light on it. I don't have a contact there but would probably be one avenue to find out.

Cheers Geoff
Author:  BULLITT [ Wed Oct 09, 2013 5:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
hi mate it was a66/67 automatic sedan white in colour carpets no rubber mats under the carpets sticky could get the chassis if hes in the nay.....boor hood cheers davo
Author:  CQGT [ Wed Oct 09, 2013 1:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
Regarding plates riveted to inner guards.

The car Matt. may be talking about was my '69 sedan.
Dave came and had a squizz at it on the day we were leaving and the discussion came up then about plates and Aussie. built cars. My first PR20 that I bought also had a plate. Willys Motors were the supplier on both cars. It is common practice for dealers or distributors to have a stock number allocated to the vehicles as they progress through their premises.
Now. Here is a twist. Sometime back Brett had raised a question on Bellett dealers. Who were they?. And do they still exist?. And, if not, what happened to them?.
Willys Motors comes to the forefront in everyboys mind. ie. Those people involved in the Isuzu mark in the early 60's and 70's.
I own 2 Wasps. The first 1 was purchased by my father in '64/'65. Not sure when. Supplied by the Queensland Distributor, COLONIAL MOTORS. Stock No. M347. The 2nd Wasp I bought was supplied by DOMINION MOTORS. Stock No 671.
The point I'm trying to make is that the importer, whoever they may be, appointed DISTRIBUTORS in all states and then there were SERVICE AGENTS appointed to sell the vehicles and service them at a local level. The DISTRIBUTOR would have to have a direct link with the manufacturer to assemble vehicles in Australia and would override any agreement that was originally setup with the IMPORTER. I personally do not think that this is the case. Government rules and regulation would not have allowed it to happen. I reckon it would have to refer to the IMPORTER if any Australian assembled vehicle were produced. And in saying that. I know that some of the DISTRIBUTORS were "dressing cars up". to suit the prospective buyer. Adding heaters and other accessories that were available through Isuzu.


Dave.
Author:  PR95 [ Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
I am not sure where Colonial Motors fit in, They were situated in Ann st Fort. Valley, and to best of my knowledge were the early dealers for Bellett. That was before I had Belletts. I bought my first Bellett probably 1969, and at that stage the only dealers in Qld was Willys Motor When the QLD club had runs that were started from the North of Brisbane we used Colonial Motors as a meeting and starting point.

Cheers Geoff
Author:  KJB [ Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Australian Assembled Belletts????
Just to add more confusion to the mix - I have 2 1967 Bellett GT's ,identical cars including colour and one has a factory heater and the other an Australian fitted heater ( I would argue that the Australian heater was not fitted later in life as the fittings and controls all appear to have been there since new.) The accelerator linkage is also slightly different although this appears to be an update for what ever reason (may even have been a change of supplier in Japan ) Maybe this car was supplied with Australian tyres as well - all in the quest to try and get some Australian content into the cars and lower the import duty to be more competitive price wise. Who knows .................?
KB
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