Model: 1975 Isuzu 117 Coupe XC
Price: 970,000 Yen
Isuzu may well be the world's largest manufacturer of light and medium duty trucks, however the last decade has seen the company gradually extricate itself from car markets around the globe. Today, all that remains of Isuzu's once distinguished passenger car division is a motley collection comprising of the odd pickup truck and a smattering of awkwardly proportioned SUVs designed for Southeast Asian consumption. This somewhat cheerless state of affairs belies Isuzu's true heritage as a uniquely characterful manufacturer of cars which were innovative from both a technical and a stylistic perspective. One only needs to look as far as the 1993 VehiCross, or 1981 Piazza to see mould-breaking examples of the latter.
If I were to choose a single representative of Isuzu's oeuvre to take pride of place in my hypothetical multi-storey of Japanese exotica, it would however have to be the 117 Coupe. While the Piazza and VehiCross may be more idiosyncratic choices, the 117's beguiling blend of classic Italian carrosserie styling - highly reminiscent of the Fiat Dino Coupe - and Japanese technical innovation render any competition sadly impotent.
The Giorgetto Giugiaro (hence the striking similarity to the Dino) pencilled 117 was first unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, with the first production vehicles completed in late 1968. In its transition to production the 117 laid claim to several firsts. Not only was the 117 one of the first Japanese cars to be styled by an Italian design house, it was also the first Japanese car to be equipped with an electronic fuel injection system. With diesel engines finding their way under the bonnet of the 117 on several occasions during its thirteen-year production run, it can also be argued that the 117 pioneered the use of diesel powerplants in luxury passenger vehicles, a trend which has finally come full circle some forty years later.
Early first generation 117s were largely handbuilt in very small numbers, and as befitting a coachbuilt Italian-styled exotic were trimmed in the finest leather and Taiwanese camphor wood. By 1972, when production of the first generation vehicles drew to a close, only 2,458 examples had been produced, and today as a result of their rarity these early vehicles duly command a premium on the rare occasion they find their way onto the open market.
For reasons of economy I have thus selected a second generation 117, which showcases some of the cost saving initiatives implemented by the pernicious hand of GM after it joined forces with Isuzu in 1971. Not only was mechanised mass-production introduced for second-generation models, but many of the tactile features which had imbued the early cars with such character were consigned to the annals of history: vinyl replaced leather on the seats, machine pressed steel replaced the hand-crafted camphor wood used for the fascia, and the intricate rear lights were replaced with chunkier standardized items from the parts bin. Despite these cost cutting measures, the second generation 117 nonetheless retains the integrity of the Giugiaro design and thus much of what made the original car so special. For the third generation of the 117, in 1977, the purity of the original was further bastardised with the addition of rectangular head lights and bulky plastic bumpers in an effort to make the already 10 year old design feel a little more contemporary. Remarkably however, notwithstanding these fussy additions and GM's best efforts to the contrary, the 117 remained an attractive vehicle for the entirety of its 13 year and 86,000 unit production run.
The 1975 second generation 117XC seen here (in blue) ironically lacks the electronic fuel injection of the XE model which made the 117 so innovative. Instead the XC was powered by a 1800cc SOHC engine with twin carburettors.
