Hachette 1:43 1962 Isuzu BXD 30: Tokai Bus Company, Japan

This model is sold in a blister pack

Isuzu Motors’ history began in 1916, when Tokyo Ishikawajima Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. started a cooperation with the Tokyo Gas and Electric Industrial Co. to build automobiles. A technical cooperation with Wolseley Motors Ltd generated in 1922 the first domestically produced car, the Wolseley A-9. In 1933, Ishikawajima Automotive Works merged with DAT Automobile Manufacturing Inc. and changed its name to Automobile Industries Co., the following year their products were renamed Isuzu (after the river near the famous Ise Grand Shrine), that translated into English means “fifty bells”. More mergers and renaming followed and in 1953 the Hillman Minx was produced under license of Rootes Group. The 1961 introduction of Isuzu’s first own car, the Bellel, didn’t put an end to Isuzu’s never ending search for a commercial partner : Subaru, Mitsubishi and Nissan came and went, a more durable agreement was at last signed with General Motors. In the late 1990s Isuzu dropped all sales of cars and is today mostly known as a commercial vehicles and diesel engines manufacturing company.

In Japan the BXD30 is considered a real national monument, it draws its origins from the pre-war bonneted TX trucks and adopts a lowered frame behind the driver’s seat facilitating a very low step to give easy passenger boarding.

The engine is a direct injection 130 CV straight six diesel, famous for its good performance and reasonable consumption. Different bodies and interiors were available, depending upon its use. It was used as both an urban bus and a medium distance one. Like all Japanese vehicles the driver seat is on the right and the passenger access is on the left.

Tokai Bus Co. is a company owned by the JR (Japan Railways Group) providing regional, long distance, and chartered bus services) and operating in the Tokai region, connecting Nagoya with other major cities in Japan.