Australia's Favourite 'STINKY' Isuzu Bellett!

This Bellett, better known as ‘stinky’, may not be a powerhouse with its 1500cc engine and automatic transmission, but there are plans for fuel injection and possible turbo charger - this Bellet could soon be a Bullet.

Neil’s Bellett sat in a paddock for a couple of year before it was bought from his sister’s boss. He spent $63 on new plugs, leads, rotors and dizzy cap to get it running. Three crank overs and it was running. Over the next 12 months Neil rebuilt the engine with hard-to-find parts. He had to improvise a lot he told us.

Neil and the crew hit the road for their three-day road trip from Darwin to Alice Springs on the ‘Isuzu triple threat tour’. The boys, Neil ‘Redback’ Ingram, Peter ‘Dinghy Dr’ Baden, Paul ‘HJ Sedan’ McCarthy and Chris ‘Macca’ McCarthy jumped in Peter’s six-seater Isuzu truck with custom ally tray loaded with ‘Stinky’ and Chris’s 12 sec Isuzu Rodeo space cab in tow.

As a graphic designer and sign writer, Neil designed the 2019 V8 Gold Coast 600 podium ‘surfboard’ trophy. With some custom fabricated roof racks fitted to the Bellett the surfboard became the theme. Obviously, the guys found it hilarious having a surfboard in the desert and decided to start adding more quirky items like the set of secondhand snow skis strapped to the roof.

The addition of an ally iced coffee carton oil breather, a tiny NOS bottle in the boot and ally cigarette pack on the parcel shelf, the one thing that stood out more than most was the ‘sausage fest cruisers club’ and ‘stinky’ stickers.

“we’ve even used ‘Sticky’ stickers as Alice Spring currency in an auto parts store, swapping for packets of wiring and terminals.”

The guys embraced the entire event and entered Stinky in as much as they possibly could over the weekend, joining in on the Aces and eights cruise that parked up in the heart of Alice for the Thursday night Fringe Festival. The next day the Bellett headed to the show hall to put Stinky on display for all to admire, sitting pretty until the Saturday Street parade.

“The city cruise was insane, people lining the streets from start to finish at same points it was three people deep. Families, older people from care homes came out in wheelchairs and trucks with lounges on the trays. My face hurt afterwards from laughing and smiling so much.”

Sunday morning rolls around and amongst the fourteen Red CentreNATS champion contenders is Stinky, doing every event from drags, motor khana, grass driving and the iconic line up in front of the Alice Springs rock.

Having the time of his life Neil went out and gave his best and on award night was awarded ‘Spirit of Red Centre’, all weekend spreading cheer and Stinky stickers all over Alice.

This is what it’s truly about for Red CentreNATS, getting involved and having the experience and memories with great people in the centre of Australia. We can’t wait for next year’s big ten-year bash!