Isuzu Moments

CLEVER MAN NABS A NOT-FOR-SALE PROTOTYPE

… and refuses to sell it back.

Bob Blackwell is no mug. The young telephone technician was working at Ericsson when a mate told him about an unusual 1969 Isuzu 117 Coupé he’d spotted in a car yard in Heidelberg, Victoria. It was 1973. The car was a hand-formed, non-production model, built in steel by legendary Italian design house Ghia.

The personal car belonging to the director of General Motors-Holden had accidentally been put out into the lot. Big mistake.

“So I just went and bought it,” says Bob. “It cost me three-and-a-half grand! When they found out, they rang me and offered me twice what I paid for it! Haha!”

Because he is no mug, Bob said no. And he’s had his special 117 Coupé ever since.

One of the last of its kind—only three came to Australia and neither of the others are thought to have survived—Blackwell’s 117 Coupé is not without its quirks. Note, for example, that it has an unusual 1600cc twin cam motor and no wing mirrors at all, a form-overfunction design flourish (later amended) from Ghia guru Giorgetto Giugiaro’s pencil. That’s okay. Bob doesn’t need a reflector to look back. He’s got the original.