Rare Rides: A Stylish and Tasteful Isuzu 117 Coupe From 1975
Rare Rides has already featured Isuzu’s mass-market successor to the 117, in the boxy and thoroughly Eighties Impulse. Let’s check out what Isuzu offered to its coupe customers a decade prior, when it aimed for a discerning, well-heeled customer.
The 117 was a new type of product from Izuzu. They’d offered subcompact and compact coupes before, but those entries were focused on being simple and economical. The 117 was designed to be stylish grand touring transportation, employing the latest technological innovations and luxury equipment.
In the beginning, 117 was a project code Isuzu used during its development of a trio of cars. A coupe, sedan, and wagon were all part of the 117 project. Eventually all three went on sale; the sedan and wagon were consolidated under the new Florian nameplate, while the 117 remained a standalone. To save some yen, the 117 and Florian models shared a platform, mechanicals, and their steering. All the sharing meant a range of gasoline and diesel engines were available in the 117. All power was in inline-four arragement; gasoline displacement ranged from 1.6- to 2.0-liters, while diesel engines were of 2.0- and 2.2-liter size.
Three different transmissions were offered: four- and five-speeds if manual, and three forward gears for the automatic.
Unlike the Florian sedan and wagon, which were pedestrian in their design, the 117 received its own unique look. Penned in Italy by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the coupe was one of the first Japanese cars designed by an Italian. Its flowing lines debuted in prototype format at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, but the 117 was slow to market. Isuzu didn’t start production until 1968, and even then the manufacturing process of the 117 was largely by hand. Seldom did more than 50 coupes exit the assembly line each month.
Aside from its Italian styling, the 117 earned other notable mentions. It was among the very first Japanese cars to offer a DOHC engine (the 1.6-liter), and the first to have electronic fuel injection. The Bosch system was available from 1970 onward and earned its own trim level – EC – for Electronic Control. On the luxury front, standard equipment was plentiful in the 117. All examples featured a laurel wood dashboard made from Taiwanese trees, leather seats, and, in an era where they were often not present, headrests.
The 117’s production remained somewhat low-volume through 1972. But in 1973 a decision was made to turn the 117 into a mass-produced vehicle. Perhaps new stakeholder General Motors had some say in the matter. The expensive 117 was a popular model already, and the increased production was a good idea. In 1972 Isuzu shifted 965 examples of their coupe, but in 1974 that figure jumped to 9,506. None were ever sold in North America.
Given its very long production period, Isuzu updated the 117 in 1977 with a refresh, giving it a more modern and Fiat 130-ish appearance. Stylistically, it was sort of ruined. Yet Isuzu kept on making the 117 through 1981, at which point it was immediately replaced by the Impulse seen on these pages previously.
Today’s Rare Ride is for sale in northern Ohio via a well-known collector. In a beautiful emerald green, the 117 asks $19,500.
[Images: seller]
Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.
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As soon as I saw this I thought "that is so very Italian looking". So of course it was penned in Italy. Absolutely lovely. Can someone PLEASE send a few cars of this era to the idiots who are currently "designing" Japanese cars with hack and slash lines and gaping predator jaws and horrid floating rooflines? This is beauty on four wheels, and we need a LOT more of it on the roads.
The second generation Isuzu impulse was sold in Canada for a short time before being rebadged as the asüna Sunfire. They were sold through the Canadian “passport” dealer network which sold Isuzu and passport branded vehicles (which were rebadged daewoo’s and Isuzu’s) My mother had a 91 Impulse RS Turbo AWD that my parents bought at Springman Passport/Isuzu/Saab in Langley BC, with a super rare factory installed spoiler sunroof. We had a very odd driveway back then...Moms Turbo impulse, and dad’s Fuego turbo that he babied.