Not sure if this has been shown before but at the 63 Tokyo show they had a Bellett Rotary engine and obviously Bellett gearbox on show. It was intended to go in the Bellell. I have a scan of the article also and will upload asap.

NOTE, they call the Carby a Mitachi whereas we think its 'Hitachi' ?

well i never knew they considered that.

the fan also looks very familiar too


OZ

text, hope its readable

I will talk to fast64s when he returns from O/S he has the full story on the guy that designed the rotary [not known or related to the mazda design] that Isuzu was in negotiation with the designer of the rotary engine but Isuzu would not commit to the designers requests. It was later that he was employed to assist with the design that mazda uses today to correct their faults after being accused of copying the design years earlier. I will find the name of the book it was mentioned in. If I recall it had something to do with to do with kokoda.

That's insane Glenn! INSANE!

all the more info on this story, all the better.
amazing that they decided to design their own rotary engine.

bring it on GTorph.



OZ

They tried to buy the design I believe If I recall they were asked to leave the design in Japan and Isuzu could not make this commitment I will follow up with Glenn when he is home.

The article is a bit longer but talks of other cars. No more Bellett/rotary engine detail.

Mybe it sets a precedent for retro fitting a rotary into a Bellett Just put Isuzu on it and the engineer will be happy.

here's the rest of the article.

check the Toyota Corona Sports on lst page

The Mitsubishi Colt Debonair looks a bit like a shrunk down version of a Lincoln Continental and the Corona Sports is similar to the early Silvia

Awesome pics Glenn

OOOHhhhhh so timely, I've been working on an article for Garage of Awesome about three Japanese sports coupes that should have been made in numbers... and weren't!

I've finished the first entry; the Hino Contessa 900 Sprint, the second section was going to be on the Bellett MX1600 and the third section on the Prince Skyline 1900 Sprint, but there aren't many pics of it across the Internet.

And then this came up! CHEERS!

Don't hold your breath on the article though!


Dave

I have a Hino 900 Sprint brochure here, but I think they upsized to a 1300 Sprint eventually as well? The Hino I wished they'd always made in series was Pete Brock's Samurai!

I thought there was a few Prince Skyline Sprint pics out there (I posted one on the Aussie Frogs forum once, maroon in colour), it was one of a series of very similar cars Ghia produced, the others being Renault based.

Glad to help Dave ! This came out of the blue really. I am an Amatuer Radio operator and mention Bellett to a guy I was talking to on the Radio and he sent me the article.

glenn

Criminy; small world!!

Isuzu Bellett with a rotary engine...?
well it's time to sell up and move on to something else, because while i luv my Bellett's. i HATE those god damn engines!

Guess Mr Isuzu came to his senses also

absolutely mate! bless him.

I now have the pages regarding the rotary engine the first design was late 50s. The engine was tested at 5000rpm with a top speed of 200kph. Word of the invention was leaked to Isuzu and in 1958 Isuzu offered 20 million yen for the technology. The deal went wrong when Nishimura asked wether Isuzu could do whatever they liked with the they liked with the purchased technology and if it could be sold to a foreign company this sent the meeting silent. This was the beginning of the end to a Isuzu rotary. Nishimura was later approached by mazda in the 1960s bought a rotary design from nsu in Germany mazda had a article talking of the release of a rotary engine and nishimura advised they will have problems this caused mazda to believe he had stolen the design. nishimura's design was proven to be well before mazda and nishimura later helped mazda with advise.
This is a basic of the article from a book called [The bone man of kokoda] the story is based on a Japanese soldier that returned to kokoda to return the bones of fellow soldiers to Japan.
I will bring a copy of the pages to the nats.
Thanks Glenn