About car puzzle #132: Isuzu 117 Coupe

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Last week we brought you a pleasant Italo-Japanese mix as a puzzle car, being an Isuzu with Giugiaro styling. The Isuzu 117 Coupe dates back to 1966 when the model was unveiled, but the car wasn’t available to the public until late-1968. But then the sleek design proved to have a long breath, as it lasted until 1981. Alan Spencer added the prose: “The wing mirrors scream 'Japan'. The diesel hint whispers 'Isuzu'. And the elegant Bertone-like styling proclaims 'Giugiaro' before he went all origami. But the 1968 Isuzu 117 coupe was actually Giugiaro's first commission after he moved from Bertone to Ghia.” Or was it Italdesign? B. Weiskopf wrote: “It was Giugiaro's first full design study with Italdesign and this study was said to birth the Fiat Dino.” We think Alan is right, but the Dino link is interesting. Don Siemers noted the similarity, too: “From the front view it had a face similar to a Fiat Dino.”

We also liked Tony Sloan’s answer, who added that: “Quite a few came to Australia and are much sought after as the leather trim and genuine wood dash panel put the a bit above the normal coupe.” But this week’s prize goes to ‘Luk’, who wrote: “Designed in 1966 by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who worked for Ghia at the time. Initially it was marketed as a limited-production GT, handbuilt with dashboards in Japanese wood and leather interiors. This all changed when GM took control in 1973, and the car became a mass-product. The long production run from 1968 untill 1981 gave us 86,192 units and several engines: 1600 and 1800 cc (SOCH and DOCH), 2000cc, and a 2200cc diesel as of 1979.” Well done Luk - the T-shirt is yours!

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