I happened upon this unlikely trio of last week, as I meandered in a part of the city I thought I knew. Talk about a trifecta! Tokyo’s full of surprises. Some areas are just a maze of tiny residential alleyways and cul-de-sacs. Take a left instead of a right and you can end up discovering a mini-treasure trove of CCs.
The term “Junkyard” used in the title is a bit of a stretch here. We’re really talking about a yard (and a Japanese yard, at that) full of junk, not a proper Jim Klein-approved facility. That means that I could not just hop over the fence and start opening the doors and looking under the hoods of these Isuzus. Someone would have called the cops on me. My photographic options were unfortunately rather limited – c’est la vie.
Let’s take these one by one, then. First up, the Florian. This unusual machine, which had a long production life but little impact on the market, will be known to most of you as the front end of the Isuzu Faster / Chevrolet LUV. And as a pickup, this car did earn its keep, but as a saloon, it was a bit of a disaster.
A colourful bouquet of Florians, with LUV
The Florian’s original mission was to replace the Bellel, Isuzu’s ill-fated first home-grown effort. Previewed in 1966 and launched in 1967, the Florian had been designed by Filippo Sapino (at Ghia) and inherited the Bellett GT’s competent 1.6 litre engine. The saloon was quickly joined by a rather beautiful station wagon, but the pickup version only arrived in 1972, after Isuzu and GM got hitched. The Florian was given a facelift with big quad headlamps and bigger taillights for 1971, which kind of ruined the car’s looks. As a trade-off, the Florian became available with the 1.8 litre OHC engine. In 1977, they went a step further and slapped a big chrome snout and square eyes, making a right pig’s breakfast of the whole thing. A Diesel version was added to the mix and the old Florian survived this way until 1983, chiefly thanks to fleet sales.
Our feature car is a “hot” 1800 TS model, with the SOHC 113hp engine and (probably) a 4-speed manual. That model was nixed after 1975 because of tightening emission standards, but it’s probably the liveliest of the lot. Which is not saying much – and it’s a poor substitute for the rather delicate (yet already somewhat awkward) looks of the pre-facelift models.
It’s a real pity I didn’t dare to enter that front yard to take more pictures of the beast(s) within, especially from the back. This is what the rear of the Florian looked like by the mid-‘70s, before it was given its final (and worst) facelift. By this point, the original Italianate taillamps were replaced by a more American-looking light bar affair – not great, but still acceptable.
It’s an even greater pity that I could not document the interior, with its distinctive oval dials set into oval(-ish) dash pods. It looks like Isuzu were thinking of making LHD versions, facilitated by this mirror image design, but I’m not sure any Florians got a steering wheel on the other side. A few were exported to RHD markets like Australia and Indonesia, but by and large, the 100,000-odd saloons made stayed in Japan. Same for the circa 40,000 wagons, which thankfully kept their original rear end design intact through to the bitter end.
The Florian saloon / wagon line was a lost cause, but Isuzu and GM made several gazillion gallons of lemonade with those lemons as the Isuzu Faster / Chevy LUV pickup became a worldwide hit. They were shifting over 100,000 units per year in the US alone by the late ‘70s. So that elaborate dash did come in handy, after all. Even in the ‘70s, it seemed the universe was telling Isuzu to focus on the truck business, yet they kept on trying to peddle their cars for another couple of decades.
One reason, perhaps, was the 117 Coupé. The Florian quickly faded to the fleet market on the JDM, but its sexy two-door derivative, on the other hand, was a bona fide hit. It’s not difficult to see why. Even in this rusty and decrepit state, the 117 looks like a long lost cousin of the Iso Grifo, the Fiat Dino or the Peugeot 504C – the kind of late ’60s Italian-bodied beauties that still make many a CCognoscenti, yours truly included, weak-kneed and teary-eyed.
PininFarina and Bertone were not involved with this one, though. The design was penned by Giugiaro while at Ghia – one of the Italian maestro’s very first Japanese cars. And what a splendid job he did, too. Though based on the Florian, the 117 prototype was unveiled at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, six months before the 117 saloon prototype (soon renamed Florian) was unveiled at the Tokyo show, along with the definitive version of the “117 Sports” (above). Putting the coupé in production was a bit more of a challenge.
The Florian hit the streets first in late 1967; the coupé only followed suit in December 1968, over two years after it had been first shown. Isuzu and Giugiaro had tried to make the production car as close as possible to the initial prototype, but this meant that the 117 would have to be pretty much hand-built, carrozzeria-style. As a result, for the first few years, only about 50 coupés were made per month and prices were very high. This only exacerbated the public’s hunger for the car.
When the GM deal happened, Isuzu got access to a big pile of greenbacks and used it to put the 117 Coupé on a genuine production line. This meant simplifying the design a bit, but the changes were relatively minor when the series II was introduced in March 1973. Production was multiplied by 10, but prices remained high and sales followed – it seemed the appetite for the car was insatiable.
The funny thing is that, dynamically, the 117 Coupé was not exactly stellar. It kept the Florian’s leaf-sprung live axle and rear drum brakes. For the first couple of years, the engine was a 1.6 with a model-specific DOHC head. From 1971, the coupé received the Florian’s 1.8 litre 4-cyl. declined in several grades, from the single-carb SOHC base model up to the fuel-injected DOHC 140hp sports version.
Our blue car is a mid-‘70s “mass production” Series II car (1973-77) – based on the wheels, it looks like it’s a base-spec XT model with the 103hp single carburetor engine (unfortunately) and no woodgrain on the dash (fortunately). It is just drop-dead gorgeous. Sure, it looks pretty rusty already, but also complete – with the exception of the grille emblem…
In December 1977, just after the Florian got its botched final facelift, the 117 Coupé got dressed for the disco era. Quad headlamps were the latest American fad, so those just had to be there. The grille went to black plastic, of course. Chrome bumpers were starting to look a bit passé, so Isuzu smothered the 117’s extremities with rubber.
The 1.8 engine was losing quite a lot of its edge due to tightening emissions regulations, so Isuzu bumped the displacement up to 1949cc (and 135hp max) and introduced a 2.2 litre Diesel option (73hp) for 1979 – a first on this type of car. While they were at it, they also put disc brakes on the rear wheels and found ways to further drive down costs, but not prices.
By that point though, the 117 was getting on a bit and sales were starting to slide. Production stopped in 1981; over 85,000 units were made (“hand-made” Series I: 2500; “round eyes” Series II: 50,000; “square eyes” Series III: 33,000), which is an incredible amount for a sports-luxury coupé that was hardly exported and came from the unlikeliest Japanese marque.
The Series III coupé I found, with its interesting rust-doily effect on the hood, fortunately kept its grille emblem. It’s what the Japanese call a karajishi (= Chinese lion), a creature usually found in pairs guarding the entrance of temples in this part of the world. It was picked by Giugiaro himself as the mascot for the 117 since the beginning. That lion plus the square quads really gives this final version of the Isuzu coupé a Peugeot 504C vibe, which almost makes up for the rubber bumpers.
Just like the Faster / LUV, the 117 was another one of the Florian’s amazingly successful side-projects. The saloon was a dud, but its offshoots were decidedly not. Out of these three, my pick would have to be the blue coupé. Restored to roadworthy condition, even with its slightly less capable engine, it would make for a superb addition to the 21st Century traffic.
The Series III coupé, for its part, is well beyond salvation as a vehicle, but hold its own as a piece of street art. The ungainly Florian, with its comically misshapen body and horn-rimmed eyes, is my least favourite, though it’s apparently very rare these days. Three classic Isuzus, one good, one bad, one ugly – probably my best CC find so far this year.
Related posts:
Cohort Classic: Isuzu Florian – Luv At First Sight, by PN
Vintage Review: 1971 Isuzu 117 Coupe – Road Test Magazine Showcases Isuzu’s First Italian Impulse, by GN
The coupe is a PERFECTLY beautiful car. Thanks for featuring it. Improved my day!
Fantastic finds. The Florian sedan is remarkably awkward in its proportions given how superb the Mazda Luce was in comparison.
The coupe is lovely, although its greenhouse is just a tad to big and tall in relation to the rest of the body. I know that was a common thing at the time, but some coupes pull it off a bit better than others. This one almost does.
The Audi 100 coupe manages it a bit better in that regard.
I love the blue 117 coupe. Pity they never made it to the UK.
The Audi 100 coupe, on the other hand, doesn’t work for me – it all went south after the ‘B’ pillar.
It feels like 100 years since I’ve seen a LUV “in the metal”, so I’m working from an admittedly weak memory. But if the Florian and the Faster/LUV used the same dashboard stamping/molding/casting, it would make perfect sense to make the design “flipable”, much like early Land Cruisers.
I’m getting a slight ‘62 Plymouth Valiant vibe off that Florian sedan
Those coupes are pretty. The Florian is admittedly not, but I still find it endearing. The overall proportions, shape and greenhouse remind me a lot of the Saab 99, which is also a lot of things, but not “pretty”, at least in the traditional sense. Taking that a step further, the dash design kind of mimics that Saab 900 dash, at least to my eyes. Maybe I’m grasping at straws.
I’m on the other page a bit here, I kind of like the Florian but think the 117 looks odd towards the rear when viewed from the side. Either the glass goes too deep or the wheel opening is cut too low or there isn’t enough fender or the trunk is too short…or something but most evident in the shot of the green one side on, in 3/4 view it seems fine. Either way though I see a little Panhard in them somehow. Perhaps I need to see these in the metal but am at least proud to say I’ve owned as Isuzu!
When you see a Florian sedan in person the design flaw that literally sticks out is that the top of the trunk and rear fenders appears to jut out over the bumper.
Very cool finds those coupes are beautiful cars but dynamically they are japenese cars designed for their low speed driving conditions, The rust on that last Florian looks sinilar to some of the LUV Fasters that came here they didnt last very well mechanically they were quite good but the panelwork just evaporated especially in sulphur rich environments where I saw them in use, Its quite amazing that in a crowded city like that somebody has space to store these 3 relics though its nice that they have.
I’m glad I opened this article and read it. I really thought I was looking at a Faster/Luv before learning more about the 117s. Maybe that middle coupe will be restored some day, if such things are still permitted in the future.
I remember seeing one or two Florians on the street when I was a teen; they were always a rarity. Back in those days Japanese car manufacturers seemed to like advertising in Reader’s Digest, especially the lower-echelon companies, and I remember seeing ads for the Florian and thinking it looked very European with those big squarish headlights – I think this may have been the first car on the Australian market with them. While the Bellett was reasonably popular because of its sporting nature, the Florian didn’t seem to offer any reason for purchase other than style. And I can’t think where the nearest Isuzu dealer would have been.
CC-in-scale returns with this 117 I built last year. (Yeah, I’m going by my name rather than “Old Pete” nowadays – new computer ‘helpfully’ used my name instead.)
Nice work !!!.
psst, don’t forget to post a picture of that red model in the background the next time CC has a story on those cars. 🙂
Let’s see, I’ve got that red one, an orange one, a yellow one, a green one, a blue one……. 🙂 Love Darts!
Great find and article. These look in poor shape but I hope they somehow avoid the crusher.
There is a shop near our house that specializes in refurbished 117s – I’ve visited a few times and would have bought one but I couldn’t fit inside – just too small….
Lovely design though.
https://www.isuzu-sports.com/
The Florian coupe really was beautiful.
From your first shot, if the front grille and headlamp placement were transferred onto the blue coupe, the latter would look a bit like a shrunken Jensen Interceptor.
It’s a bit weird to see a Chevy LUV front end on a sedan.
It’s fascinating how a small player in Japan managed at the time to put together (with some Italian assistance) such an attractively styled car (I’m referring to the 117 of course!) and with a DOHC engine with fuel injection, a combination that even Toyota hadn’t done in 1970.
I knew about the change to mass production but didn’t know that a relatively large number of 117s were made, and given they were not really exported.
Unfortunately it’s older sibling the Florian was exported to my neck of the woods, but at least it was never a volume seller and I dudbt see many back in the day (they all seemed to be white) and I haven’t seen one for years. I’ve never seen a wagon, which was never sold in Oz anyway, and a variant that until fairly recently I wasn’t even aware existed.
I haven’t seen a Chevy/Holden Luv for years and had no idea of the twin cam JDM version.
I’ve seen a very small number of 117s including the ghastly later models with the square headlights. I didn’t know that later models had rear disc brakes but I’ve see photos of late rmodels with an optional rear wiper. I’m a bg fan of the JDM fetish for rear wipers on cars that are not wagons or hatches but it looks strange on the back of a 117.
Whilst the 117 did inherit the Florian suspension it did have rear track rods and may have had a more sporty tune in an attempt to make it handle better, but all road tests in English that I’ve read were really just impressions as time spent with the car was brief, zbd the said articles were also brief.
In any case, I can’t afford a Fiat Dino Coupe and the Audi 100 Coupe is a very rate animal in these parts, so I’ll take a ptee 1973 torquoise blue 117 with fuel injection and twin cams please.
I was on a tour bus on Kyushu in 2011, near Mount Aso. We passed by this rural, overgrown with green yard filled with old cars. At first I thought it was a Fiat Dino, but then I saw the decaying Skykine next to it and suddenly realized it was 117. There were about 10 cars there. I so desperately wanted to yell….”stop the bus”
On my second “visit” to Japan I used to pass a house on the way from the base to the nearby town that had a pair of Florians parked outside. One was a wagon, the other a sedan.
Apparently, if you were the kind of customer that found Isuzus an attractive proposition you managed to wind up with 2 or more in your driveway.
BTW, I don’t remember ever seeing an Isuzu car dealership while I was in Japan.
Finally: Giugiaro designed the Bellel and Scirroco (?), in both cases the “sports car” hit showrooms (at least in it’s home market) before the sedan it was based on.
I forgot to mention that in my first and to date only visit to Japan about 5 years ago I saw a 117 in a small town a couple of hours north of Tokyo. It wasn’t as rusty as the ones in this article but it did look like it hadn’t been driven for quite some time.
The earlier Florian with the big, square headlights also had a TS version which had quad round lights inside a surround that complemented the existing headlight aperture. I assume the round lights were fitted because ’round lights’ meant ‘sporting’ in the 1960s and 1970s. If you were gonna go rallying, some high-powered rally beams fit nice in the round holes, plus breaking one of those CRT TV-style headlights out on a gravel track would spell doom anytime after 1970 when getting a spare part for a Florian normally required buying a whole car.
I can confirm the early Florian was sold in LHD, specifically in Holland but I assume in a few other markets as well. Like in Australia, they tend to bounce around amongst the Bellett enthusiast community. Interesting fact; all early LHD Florians I’ve seen have had the TS-style grille. Perhaps something to do with the way the headlights needed to be aimed, perhaps a spare parts stock thing, who knows.
By 1972, the LHD Florian had been assigned the same Chevy LUV front as the RHD examples, the main difference from the earlier TS lights being that the headlight surrounds sought to hide the panel work’s late-1960s origins rather than fit within it.
I stumbled across this mint pic on the web. It’s a LHD Florian, so has the round headlights and grille shared with the Florian TS.
Also, here’s my own 1969 Isuzu Florian Deluxe.
Rarer than almost any muscle car and worth barely a fraction of the amount! Yay!