The Emperor's Stallion (aka Isuzu Florian): Florian Snorian

[michiel]

Or: The ROFLian is mine now...

 

Short version of the story so far: a few months ago someone posted pics on a Dutch forum of this beauty, still in the same spot, even more pink then before. I asked Nigel about it, contacted the owner, thought I should offer some help, and ended up buying it last thursday (you know, little angel on one and little devil on the other shoulder going 'BUY IT! YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT!) with Bickles permission (and first dibs if I ever sell it).

 

It lives some 40 minutes from me by car, so I hope to get it an MoT soon (last one was some 4 years ago) and then park it close to home to start polishing it... Today I gave it a new battery and it started pretty quickly, huzzah! But when I touched the accelerator it died again - the hose from the aircleaner to the carb is completely torn, hopefully I'll get a new one on tomorrow and it'll be okay. So far I've spotted two parts that need some welding or replacement, the left front wing and the sparewheel place on the left in the trunk - it was wet there, probably for years now. Otherwise it's pretty solid, nice interior etc. Lots more pics when it shines, but here's a few of the bad parts and of a nice snail that lives under the hood:

 

 

 

 

Still covered in plastic:

 

 

 

 

To be continued... and can I just add a BOOYAH!, cuz I loves it?

[pogweasel]

[Guest]

Unbelievable!

[MrRegieRitmo]

Excellent, top notch etc!

[reallyloud]

Excellent. At long last you finally have something that ticks all the boxes.What year is it? Looks like the original unmolested version judging by the rear lights.

[seth]

Wow! Good news Michiel

[wuvvum]

That is one obscure bit of kit. Nice one! I hadn't seen a Dutch car on black & white plates since I sold my first Innocenti Mini (HG-95-BH) - will it retain those plates or will it be allocated new ones? Good luck with it.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That is glorious, and the sort of thing I would go to the effort of dragging home across the channel on the A frame, I thought bickle was buying it though! I guess if you ever come to sell it me and him will have to SLUG IT OUT. Incidentally he's very quiet ATM, anyone know if he's OK?

[michiel]

Thanks everyone, I just hope I can give it what it needs (probably lots of money and a good mechanic).

 

Now for some answers:

 

What year is it? Looks like the original unmolested version judging by the rear lights.

 

-late 1971, registered early in 1972 so the second facelift: it has the same arse as number two and the third, LUV-like, front. I secretly like the first facelift best, but hey...

 

Will it retain those plates or will it be allocated new ones?

 

-the plates stay with the car over here, thank god.

 

That is glorious, and the sort of thing I would go to the effort of dragging home across the channel on the A frame, I thought bickle was buying it though! I guess if you ever come to sell it me and him will have to SLUG IT OUT. Incidentally he's very quiet ATM, anyone know if he's OK?

 

-Bickle hadn't been able to pick it up, I offered some help and then selfishly bought it... he's got first dibs though! I hope he's OK, he usually answers PMs a lot quicker?

 

Update: I drove it around the industrial estate, coughing and spluttering a bit and brakes... well, at first not much, then it started to pull to the left. Oops. And it rained. Will ahve to think about driving it to a garage or some other form of transport. More pics:

 

Filth:

 

 

 

 

A seized brake, today. How the hell do you get it off? Must learn more...

 

 

 

 

Looks like there's a plate behind the plate??

 

 

[Heep]

Congrats sir! Saw it on your Flickr so had to drop by here to look for the story!Love those taillamps...

[autohausdolby]

Looks fantastic! Try biffing the brake drum with a big hammer. If the doesn't work, undo what ever holds the hub on, bolt on a wheel you don't like, prefereably without a tyre on it, and bash away at the wheel until the hub, wheel and drum come off

[Mr Lobster]

Excellent!! Good luck with it

[stoterstangen90]

That's very nice.

[VWPowered]

ruddy hell what a sweet motor, never even heard of one great save squire

[Guest]

Awesome! Tracked down a new indicator lens yet?

[michiel]

It seems I have (still in stock with da klub), as well as 4 headlamps... but I only needed one! Tomorrow I hope to mess with it some more, maybe drive a bit and take some better pic of the whole car.

[Gompo]

This looks ace, good work. I would have loved to see it over here with Mr. Bickle, but with you owning it we will probably see more of it? Mr.B has such an awesome collection we dont get to hear much about it unfortunately (probably because he's busy trying to keep it all ship-shape...)Cheers, Greg.

[michiel]

Cheers - I hope I can make something good out of it. Today I took the drums of for a look:

 

Rear

 

Seized right front, couldn't get any movement...

 

Bit better now, but still so-so. Took some pics of bad points:

 

 

 

Sneezed too hard at the front wing (poked with my finger, and it crumbled), I think new wings might be a better idea than welding:

 

[michiel]

This badge reminds me of the mooneyes logo:

 

 

 

Couldn't resist this, at a dealership nearby:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And yes, it is still very dirty...

[nigel bickle]

Hi guys.Looking good Michiel -acquired with my blessing.Been a bit ropey (now got a much shorter digestive tract) - but I'm getting back to normal with a recent acquisition of a 25turbo...unfortunately someones knicked my A frame whilst 'indisposed'- so first purchase needed there.More shortly

[KruJoe]

I do hope you're feeling rather better soon, NB.

 

...unfortunately someones knicked my A frame whilst 'indisposed'...

...hasn't the mighty Pog been on the prowl for another recently...?

 

 

As I mentioned in the original Florian thread (well over a year ago), I may be able to help source mechanical/front end parts etc, due to there being a few pick-ups trundling around in daily service in Northern Thailand. I'm not there just now, but I'll be back for a short time later in the year.

 

 

 

Admittedly, that spot is probably typical of the condition of the survivors there, but you never know what I might find if I went looking.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

This ROFLian is a remarkable vehicle, from some angles its really very pretty, but from others its damn fugly TBH. I would love one! can someone lob up some photos of the later one with the hideous grille like a Panther Rio please? THX

[pbottomley]

Never ever wash this car PLEASE its way to good to wash and polish

[Volksy]

This ROFLian is a remarkable vehicle, from some angles its really very pretty, but from others its damn fugly TBH. I would love one! can someone lob up some photos of the later one with the hideous grille like a Panther Rio please? THX

Tah Dar..

 

[michiel]

KruJoe wrote:

 

As I mentioned in the original Florian thread (well over a year ago), I may be able to help source mechanical/front end parts etc, due to there being a few pick-ups trundling around in daily service in Northern Thailand. I'm not there just now, but I'll be back for a short time later in the year.

I'll try to remember that, I'll probably have the wings welded a bit as shipping from the US is bloody expensive - found wings at 40 dollari each, shipping them is around 500 apparently... whoops.

 

Da_Bllx wrote:

This ROFLian is a remarkable vehicle, from some angles its really very pretty, but from others its damn fugly TBH. I would love one! can someone lob up some photos of the later one with the hideous grille like a Panther Rio please? THX

I wouldn't describe it as pretty either, I think the second version's the least fugly:

 

 

Another late one (sorry, huge pic):

 

 

Compare noses here:

 

 

The dash on the last one is quite ugly too.

 

 

pbottomley wrote:

Never ever wash this car PLEASE its way to good to wash and polish

 

I have to wash it to make the wings stand out a little less or I'll have to treat the wings to look as rough as the rest... that might be less work actually!

 

 

 

Oh and, WAGON!!!

 

[michiel]

Bums:

 

[Ratdat]

There's also this style which I don't think looks too bad...

 

[michiel]

Yep - I'm still undecided which one I like best, that nice nose goes with the middle bum on the pic above it, but I feel that the first bum is almost too clean and the one after that slightly too busy... picky picky...

 

Here's how it could have looked:

 

 

 

Fuzzy pic, but the rear lights look almost Bellelesque.

[Guest]

This car intrigues me, in pre-Autoshite days I was completely unaware of Isuzu hatchbacks/saloons prior to the Gemini which the motoring press circa 1990 expected would come to Britain. How rare is it Michiel? Is it uncommon on the scale of surviving early 70s Toymotors and Datsuns in the UK, or is it uncommon on the scale of total Yue Loong Feelings sold in Europe?

[michiel]

I think it's the latter... I know of 3 registered ones (all 3 no MoT at the moment), the former owner thought there might be as many (well, many...) as 7 in Holland. The Finnish club mentions 9 Florians over there in 2002, and I don't know of any in other European countries.