1968 Isuzu 117 Coupe 1.9L 5MT RWD (107 HP)

Vehicle Overview

The Japanese automaker Isuzu surprised everyone in 1968 at the Geneva Motor Show when it unveiled the 117 Coupe, a vehicle meant to be a grand tourer for a budget but with a peppy engine under its hood.

After WWII, Isuzu started to build commercial vehicles. It was focused mainly on trucks, buses, and light commercial vehicles. However, the company’s management wanted something more, so it decided to create a sporty-looking vehicle that could turn heads on the streets. For that, it contacted Ghia Design Studio, where a young and enthusiastic stylist named Giorgetto Giugiaro drew the car’s lines. On the other hand, Isuzu was already good at developing and making engines and transmissions, so the drivetrain was not an issue for them. As a result, the Isuzu 117 was born and released with that internal factory code at the Geneva Motor Show as a coupe. Later, the automaker added a sedan and a station wagon to the lineup but named them the Florian.

Up front, the 1968 Isuzu 117 Coupe showed a European-inspired styling with four round headlights surrounded by chromed trims. They were visually connected via a horizontal slat that crossed the black grille from side to side. Under the headlamps, the automaker installed the parking lights, and below them was the chromed metallic front bumper. Like all cars produced for the Japanese market in those times, the car sported fender-mounted mirrors, which were considered safer.

The 1968 Isuzu 117 Coupe resembled the shape of the 1967 Fiat Dino Coupe since both cars were penned by the same hand. However, the Japanese vehicle had a shorter wheelbase and a lower height. The waved-shaped waistline and the panoramic windshield looked similar, though. Behind the flat roof, the 117 Coupe had a sloped-down rear window and a short trunk that followed the same line. At the back, the car sported a pair of slim horizontal taillights and a chromed rear bumper. Like most cars from that era, the 117 Coupe was riding on steel wheels with shiny caps, which made it look upscale.

Inside, the automaker created a modern-looking cabin with a driver-centered dashboard. The three-spoke steering wheel framed the large dials for the speedometer and the tachometer. On the right, on an angled panel, Isuzu installed a mechanical clock, while on the left were the dials for the water temperature, oil pressure, fuel level, and ammeter. Isuzu focused only on the Japanese market, so it didn’t make the car in a left-hand drive configuration. However, since it tried to make the 117 Coupe a halo car, it garnished it with leather upholstery and a pair of bucket seats at the front. Between them, it placed a tilted center stack followed by a center console that housed the gear stick and the handbrake. In the back, the 1968 Isuzu 117 Coupe had a bench seat profiled for two, with a folding armrest between them.

Under its skin, the sporty-looking coupe relied on a platform with front independent suspension and a live rear axle. The longitudinally-mounted engine up front was a twin-cam 1.6-liter unit that developed 120 PS (118 hp). It was paired with a four-speed manual gearbox that sent the power to the rear axle. However, the car underwent a couple of upgrades during its production run, and one of them included a diesel engine. In 1981, after more than a decade since the model’s introduction, the automaker decided to pull the plug on the 117 Coupe.