Isuzu Florian

The Isuzu Florian is an intermediate sedan that Isuzu built in Japan from November 1967 until 1983, with a five-door van version for commercial buyers. It began as the Ghia Isuzu 117 Sedan shown at the 1966 Tokyo Motor Show and shares its chassis with the 117 Coupé. The first cars used a 1.6 litre petrol four-cylinder engine, a 1.8 litre followed in 1970, and a diesel arrived with the Series II facelift of 1977. The body barely changed in fifteen years, and Isuzu made 145,836 sedans and 42,625 vans. It competed with the Toyota Mark II, Mazda Luce and Nissan Laurel, replaced the Bellel and was followed by the Florian Aska. The name comes from the fictional Lipizzan stallion in Felix Salten's 1934 novel, not from Saint Florian. Its pickup cousin, the Isuzu Faster, sold far more widely.