Dream cars: Isuzu 117 Coupé

As you've probably guessed by now, I have rather esoteric tastes when it comes to cars. I don't want to fill my dream garage with the common-or-garden Ferraris, Porsches and Rolls-Royces that most enthusiasts lust after and instead I fantasise over more left-field choices that you may never have heard of. Isuzu for instance is not a name usually associated with road cars and is better known for trucks and 4x4s like the Trooper and Rodeo. Indeed, the company is no longer active in the car market but in the past there were some little-known yet very attractive Isuzu cars, none more so than today's object of my affection, the 117 Coupé.

Isn't it a stunner? That colour is great too
(Image: eBay via taketotheroad.co.uk)

I have a fascination with early Japanese cars of the sixties and seventies, a whole other world of weird and wonderful things, many of which were never seen in the UK. '117 Coupé' hardly sounds catchy or exciting, but that bland name belies the sharp-looking GT it's attached to. Project 117 was the development code for a new range of mid-size Isuzus created in the mid 1960s, the saloon and estate resulting from this programme becoming the Florian. The related coupé however wasn't given a name and just retained its code number, and it's a shame really that the most exciting car in the range was lumbered with such a dull designation.

The 117 in its earliest, most pure form
(By D.Bellwood [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Its appearance was the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro, one of the first known instances of a Japanese car being designed by a European styling house. Unusually he was actually given credit for it as the Japanese philosophy of the time was that creating a car was a collective effort and it was unfair for only certain individuals to be recognised for their contributions. Giugiaro is of course the same man who was responsible for another of my dream cars, the Gordon-Keeble, and his work for Isuzu was another very elegant design.

One of the more successful facelifts. Not quite as attractive but not hideous either.
(Image: japanesenostalgiccar.com)

Japanese cars of the seventies aren't really known for their style: well made and reliable for sure but hardly exciting to look at. The 117 is an exception though, as apart from the typically Japanese wing mirrors it really doesn't look like a Far Eastern car. With its smooth flowing fastback lines, slim pillars and large windows it is very reminiscent of the contemporary Fiat Dino (also a Giugiaro product) and also has hints of the original Audi 100 Coupé. The 1968 original with round headlights and thin chrome bumpers is the best looker but the 1977 facelift that introduced rectangular lamps and bigger black bumpers isn't exactly ugly either.

Looks just as good from behind
(By TTTNIS [CC0], from Wikimedia Commons)

The prototype 117 Coupé was first shown at the 1966 Geneva motor show, with small-scale production beginning two years later. These early cars were largely hand-built with fewer than 50 completed each month, and were very expensive by Japanese standards but nonetheless soon became popular. After Isuzu entered a collaboration with General Motors, the 117 was put into regular mass production and annual sales increased tenfold from the 900-odd made in 1972. Although always quite an exclusive niche product It became one of Isuzu's longest-lived passenger cars and production continued until 1981, by which time 86,000 had been built. It was replaced by the Piazza, another Giugiaro design that might be a bit more familiar as it was officially imported to the UK.

For sale in the UK right now. If only I had a spare £12.5k and somewhere to keep it.
(Image: eBay)

Mechanically it is quite conventional and shares its RWD drivetrain with the Florian so the 117 is more of a grand tourer than an out and out sports car, rather like a Japanese Capri. Engines were various 1.6, 1.8 or 2-litre four-cylinder units with single or double overhead camshafts. Basic models had carburettors but the higher-spec versions were fitted with fuel injection, making the 117 the first Japanese car so equipped. It also has another small claim to fame, becoming the first production sports car to be available with a diesel engine when the 2.2XD version was launched in 1979. Why anyone would want a sleek sporty-looking coupé with a clattery old oil-burner under the bonnet is beyond me though, and I'll stick to putting a petrol one in my dream garage.

My miniature 117 is a lot cheaper to run than the real thing

Although never sold new in the UK, a small handful of 117 Coupés have made it here as grey imports and there is one for sale at the moment, priced at £12,500. That might seem like a lot of money but you could easily spend the same amount on a far more common MGB, and I know what I'd rather be driving. Think of it as a much rarer and very exclusive alternative to a Ford Capri that combines Japanese build quality with Italian style and the 117 really starts to make sense, so I want one in my dream garage for far more than just its good looks and novelty value. I've never actually seen a 117 in the flesh but I do have a 1/72 scale model. That's the closest I'm ever likely to get to owning one but I can dream of having an Isuzu 117 in my garage.

I'd take this over a Capri anyday
(By Tennen-Gas [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], from Wikimedia Commons)