1969 Isuzu Florian deluxe

[dave]

Hi people,

Some of you may know and some don't that there was an Isuzu Florian for sale in Just Cars magazine earlier this year.

It was in the magazine for about 3 or 4 months and the price was coming down each month accordingly.

I spoke to the seller a couple of times; he was an older guy who had back and knee problems and could not longer drive it well. He'd only had it a couple of years, prior to that it was in a car yard for a few months, I'm told and before that who knows.

However it hasn't done a lot of work - it ticked over 57,500 miles on the day I picked it up.

I drove it straight from the freight depot to the government rego check office. They picked on the blown brake bulb and the cracked rear view mirror, but ultimately passed it.

As you can see, it's clean-as! The previous owner has done a lot of detailing work and took the head off and had it cleaned up. It drives pretty good although I did have to get the exhaust fixed. It needs the valve gear adjusted too, but it's overall excellent.

These photos were taken after I got my special-order numberplate. All cars registered in SA in the late 1960s-early 1970s had rego numbers that start with 'R'. As this car just came in to South Australia, it had a poxxy new numberplate, so I ordered this retro one. My Belletts have RPR020 and RPR091, however to continue that theme I would have to have had RPA020 (Florians are PA20s), however RPA is the name of a hospital, plus it's the name of a TV show about that hospital, so it just didn't sit right.

Given that my Mum passed away earlier in the year and handily, her initials started with "R", I got RJC348 which was her initials and her month/year of birth.

So here it is! And believe it or not, I haven't actually had time to wash it yet....

Plans include 327ci small block, 9" and a fully sick yellow custom leather interior. Nah, not really! Future plans include trying to source another or repair the rear LH tail light surround (badly pitted) and tidy up the front and rear Isuzu badges (I think they should have a black background), oh and a set of white walls and a rear venetian (yeah!).

And then some cruising.

[gt orphanage]

damm shame the previos owners never looked after it

[KJB]

Nice find - just proves that they are still out there.
KB

[mrflibbles]

About time you got these up i have been waiting too see more of this one! She is really beautiful mate, but be warned if you let me sit in the drivers seat you may not get me out! Cant wait to see her in the flesh....

[dave]

I'll take it up for a cruise your way in the next couple of weeks! PM me your mobile #.

Cheers!

Dave

[Farmer]

Dave, Maaaaate, so nice!! Better than I immagined. Florians are so scarce now, and I reckon they are realy clean looking. Could this be a concours winner?? Probably! White-ribbon cross ply spare, no less - probably original!! Luv it. (sic)
Nice tribute with the number plate too, mate.
Now I just have to go & suppress my jelousy gene............
Good on ya. & good on Sarah too for welcoming 1 more toy.
Cheers, Matt.

[GTtoo]

Wow Dave, almost in the flesh, as good as. Apart from some minor stuff she's minta. Plastic on the door trim, orginal in the boot.
That's a very farmiliar engine. The boot looks like you could camp in it. Note ther've kept that half body panel crease theme going, very classy.

Isn't she a beauty you must be stoked

if you're heading into the hills, will another sack of wheat on the back seat be too much of a problem for her ?

B.

[dave]

re:Bruno - there's plenty of space in the back, but it'll need a big run-up - it's pretty slow! To get you South Road hill I tend to start accelerating at about the Shannons Insurance building and hold her flat (not really).

Re: Matt - not quite concours; carpets are worn and covered with aftermarket rubber mats and the dash has a couple of minor visible repairs. It would go OK at quite a few shows though! I just have to resist the urge to drive it too much...

Cheers for the comments! It's a pretty amazing car. Everything clicks and clacks as it should more or less and the seats are big and comfy (unlike Bellett - which are small!). However the seats are so soft they try to turf you out when you go around corners!

More pics up in a few weeks when I whitewall it! Yeah!

[1968GT]

CONGRATULATIONS Dave well done.
I owned a Florian in 1969, nice car as your is, they drive well however they understeer badly when cornering fast so be aware. When I wound it up and to get it to corner fast, I had to make the tail light by giving a flick so that it was almost sliding, I also had wide chrome wheels on mine.
I am jealous, brings back a lot of memories for me, hopefully one day to see it in the flesh!!
Dave M.

[redback]

Patience does have it's rewards - well done on spotting this little gem.

Neil
Darwin

[dave]

No Scandinavian flicks in this baby! Yeah handling doesn't appear to be it's forte.

I think I've said it before, but I can see why the Bellett-heads would have been disappointed with the Flo-machine.

No rack and pinion, no IRS, puffy unsupportive seats and, let's face it, that weird rear door profile.

However, it's ultra-well equipped for 1969; European-style parking lights (can be put on one side at a time for parking on misty European roads at night!), full carpet, heater, illuminated interior controls and ignition switch, radio, clock and spare wheel cover.

Ace!

[michiel]

Somehow I haven't visited the forum for some months, I come back to see this - what a beauty! Wanna swap?

[mrflibbles]

I can say first hand that Daves Florian is a very nice car, I am super envious of it and i cant wait to get one drivable one of my own now! I have missed seeing updates of yours too michiel, as i have a soft spot for red florians having owned one when i was younger and possibly a little dumber!
There is just nothing quite like the awesome body roll of a florian in flight!

[dave]

Somehow I haven't visited the forum for some months, I come back to see this - what a beauty! Wanna swap?

Cheers mate that's almost tempting coz I really want a left-hand-drive car, and what better car to get than an Isuzu?

However, my wife has claimed the Florian as her own as I managed to convince her we could buy it so it could be 'her' car, so if I swapped it for a LHD 1972-model that needs a minor restoration and importation from the other side of the globe, I imagine that she'd remove my testicles and feed one each to our very small dogs.

Possible scenario detailed below:

Lenny and Turbo are hungry for testicles.jpg (83.46 KiB) Viewed 37505 times

[GTtoo]

OUCH !!!

But could be worth the pain ?

[michiel]

Ouch indeed! It would be fun though to send two Florians across the world (or if we drive we could meet up halfway, let's say in Afghanistan?), although I imagine finding a pair of lhd headlights for your model might be impossible... I don't think that one was ever made in lhd form.
(And I probably still wouldn't really enjoy driving it... although maybe I should just get over that (see thread on my Flo))

Why would you want a lhd car by the way, are you a delivery guy/postie?

[BELLQLD]

THATS A REAL GEM ....I TOLD ANOTHER FORUM MEMEBER ABOUT IT ABOUT 6 MTHS AGO WHEN ROD WANTED TO MOVE ON FROM IT THEN ...GUESS YOU ARE THE LUCKY OWNER . I JUST BOUGHT A WHEELS MAGAZINE JANUARY 68 SAID IT HAD AN ARTICLE ON ....NEW BELLETT .. TURNS OUT TO BE THE FORIAN THE MAGAZINE HAS A SIMCA 1100 ON THE COVER AND A COUPLE OF SHOTS OF THE FLORIAN THE WHEEL TRIMS ARE DIFFERENT TO YOURS ,SAME INTERIOIR LET ME KNOW IF YOUY HAVE THE BOOK OR ARTICLE AND I WILL ORGANIZE A COPY OR EVEN THE BOOK REGARDS DAVO IN QLD . STILL HAVNT GOT MY GEM YET STILL CHASING ITS GETTING CLOSE

[dave]

Why would you want a lhd car by the way, are you a delivery guy/postie?

Nah man! LHD cars are just cool here coz there're a bit different.

Most LHD cars here are ex-US cars - in South Australia they have to all be pre-1974 and unmodified. I saw an Opel GT at the Bay to Birdwood show which was great to see in the metal.

I was chasing a LHD Isuzu Bellel a while back, however the sale fell through. I just thought a car that was primilary remembered for being a JDM vehicle (although it wasn't; and realistically SFA people actually remember it - there were only about 5 exported to Australia!), would be extra cool if it was left hand drive!

Plus when I was a kid I always wanted a sick LHD Chev Impala. However, now I'm older and Impalas are now like $20,000 and everything else I own (bar a Holden SS V8 and a Suzuki Swift) is Isuzu, if I'm gonna get a LHD then I'd better get an Isuzu!

If you did get my Isuzu Florian over there, I wouldn't stress too much about the headlights. They do basically nothing anyway!

GUESS YOU ARE THE LUCKY OWNER . I JUST BOUGHT A WHEELS MAGAZINE JANUARY 68 SAID IT HAD AN ARTICLE ON ....NEW BELLETT .. TURNS OUT TO BE THE FORIAN THE MAGAZINE HAS A SIMCA 1100 ON THE COVER AND A COUPLE OF SHOTS OF THE FLORIAN THE WHEEL TRIMS ARE DIFFERENT TO YOURS ,SAME INTERIOIR LET ME KNOW IF YOUY HAVE THE BOOK OR ARTICLE AND I WILL ORGANIZE A COPY OR EVEN THE BOOK REGARDS DAVO IN QLD

Yeah man I rang Rod when it appeared in Just Cars and told him I was keen, but didn't have the money. I wanted to let him know that if it sold, it sold, but I would have the money soon enough and he can trust me as a buyer. He mentioned that one guy rang and said he'd buy it, then asked him what it looked like! Needless to say, he told the guy to piss off.

When my Mum's estate settled and I definitely had the cash, I rang him and asked him if it was still for sale - the latest Just Cars had come out and it wasn't in there. Lucky for me though, it was still for sale. He send me some more photos, then I sent him the cash and the deal was done.

He was really helpful which was great, although he had fairly random ideas as to what a 'new' exhaust was. He built up a new one himself, however it sounded fairly tinny and leaked at every join! Anyway, minor issue and now it's fixed with a really nice one. The car has had some touch ups - the guard and a couple of the doors are a bit duller than the rest, plus the bonnet has been fixed at some point as it's slightly mis-aligned and the bonnet badge is missing and the holes have been welded over.... but I've got another badge, so that's fine.

I'll have to check out that copy of Wheels Magazine January 1968. I've got about 90% of the issues from that period of time, so I'll let you know if it's missing! It would be just my luck!

Yeah, despite the touch-ups, it's a great looking car still and unbelievably turns more heads than a Bellett, which is strange. At one car show, two people told me they owned them in the past, which is two more than I thought I would hear from. Quite a few people have gotten excited about the full-width tail lights saying they remind them of the Datsun Bluebird SSS coupe (JDM Datsun 1600, P510 coupe!). Don't get too excited, I tell 'em!

And as a testament to how clean Rodney Scott-Young kept it, the damned thing hasn't been washed yet. I wiped some oil off the roof from when it was transported, then gave it a wipe with this big car duster thing I got, then gave it a wipe over with some Final Inspection by Meguires. And it looked mint! So no washing necessary at this stage. Helps I haven't driven it in the rain....

And nor shall I!

Cheers,


Dave

[michiel]

LHD cars are just cool here coz there're a bit different.

I was chasing a LHD Isuzu Bellel a while back, however the sale fell through. I just thought a car that was primilary remembered for being a JDM vehicle (although it wasn't; and realistically SFA people actually remember it - there were only about 5 exported to Australia!), would be extra cool if it was left hand drive!

If you did get my Isuzu Florian over there, I wouldn't stress too much about the headlights. They do basically nothing anyway!

In the same way I'd love a RHD JDM car some day... if my sale falls through I might have to write to your wife
The headlights do look odd but I can't see why exactly, they're like round reflectors behind square glass?