1979 Isuzu PA95 117 Coupe - Reader Ride

By: Gary Carter

Date: 10.01.2017

Gary Carter talks about his 1979 Isuzu PA95 117 Coupe

Gary Carter's 1979 Isuzu PA95 117 Coupe

We caught up with Gary at the 2016 Bellett Nationals in Albury, here's what he had to say about his '79 117 Coupe...

In 1966, my father suggested I stop buying British crap and even though he’d fought against the Japanese, recommended I buy one of those "Mitsubishi-Ikimiki things!" He meant the Bellett of course, which was marketed by Mitsubishi at the time.

That car took me to Darwin, Ayers Rock; the whole joint. When I returned to Canberra, I traded it on a nice silver Bellett 1600GT and I kept that until I decided to buy a house.

I never thought much about Belletts again until 2006 when I met my new neighbour, a bearded gentleman named Matthew Smith, who was parked at my front gate in a Bellett sedan!

He invited me to the second Nationals and although I didn’t have a Bellett, I met all these crazy, passionate people! As luck would have it, Matt’s sister-in-law had a nice little automatic for sale at the right price, so I bought it.

Many years later, we happened to see on eBay my favourite car, a Giugiaro-designed Isuzu 117 Coupe. I bought it sight unseen and had it freighted up to Borowa and fortunately the seller was very honest; I’ve done thousands of trouble free kilometres in it; it’s my favourite car to drive.

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