The owner was attending the Toda Classic Car Reunion
This was the second Toda Classic Car Reunion, held on 23 November 2023 at Doman Green Park in Toda, Saitama Prefecture. As the name suggests, the event was an enjoyable, life-size event, with an atmosphere that allowed owners who had met each other for the first time to mingle easily. Many owners participated with maniac models, and we chose cars and specifications that are rarely seen at other events to talk to the owners. First up was the Isuzu Florian.
The first Florian was acquired at the ‘cheapest car shop in Japan’
“I was driving a Subaru Rex 550, but it was scrapped due to a single accident that occurred one night. So I had to look for a new car and I was interested in the Isuzu Florian. That was when I was a student.”
According to Yoshinari Miyashita, 59, who told us this, people around him said, “It’s a fossil-like car now!” He found a Florian for sale in a used car information magazine he was casually flicking through. The next day, he drove nearly two hours on his scooter to a shop with the slogan “The cheapest shop selling cars in Japan!”, and bought one of the ten Florian cars on the shop floor that he thought was the one.
“They said they would paint it all over, so I ordered it in black and it cost 400,000 yen including expenses. I got a job and was going from Hakata to Tokyo, but it was difficult to get a parking space, so I left it at my grandfather’s house in Wakayama for now. When I was finally able to bring Florian to Tokyo, a year had passed.”
The Florian, which was a diesel engine version, was taken away without permission by a friend from his hometown with the best of intentions and was given a two-tone color scheme in Hakata, and many other things happened to it. After about six years in Tokyo, the factory where he brought the car in for inspection diagnosed that it had deteriorated and should be scrapped, and this is where Mr Miyashita’s journey to find his beloved car began again.
He bought his second car at a “stubborn old man’s shop”
“In 1991, I was looking at an old car magazine, and this time I saw a shop with the catchphrase ‘Stubborn old man’s shop! ‘ I went to buy a 700,000 yen Florian in a shop with the catchphrase, ‘I’m a stubborn old man’s shop’, so I went to buy a 700,000 yen Florian in a diesel engine version. He was an auspicious guy to come in a Florian! So I thought he might give me a discount, but that didn’t work with my stubborn father, so I had to buy it at the list price, but he gave me a slightly higher trade-in value.”
He was able to buy a second Florian (a 1982 S II with a petrol engine), but misfortune suddenly struck in October 2000. He had an accident in Nagano, Japan, and the front end of his beloved car was in a near-death state. Mr Miyashita did not give up, which is why we were able to interview him for this article, but it seems that the road to recovery was a tough one.
Sourced two parts cars to revive my car.
“I was informed that there was an owner in Chiba who was letting go of his Florian and bought this for 60,000 yen. It had been neglected and the body was even more rusty than the prior information, but the bonnet, front mask, and front bumper looked usable, so we managed to load it onto a loaded truck and transport it to Nagano, while consulting a sheet metal shop. I also bought a Florian without inspection in Kyoto at an internet auction, which cost 20,000 yen. This cream-coloured Florian was also transported to Nagano. Six months later, at the end of March, it was completed and I took the train from Shinjuku to pick it up. Every time I went to Nagano with a loaded car, I sometimes thought that if I had to go through so much trouble, I would have bought another car from ……, but when I saw the restored Florian, I was really happy that I had repaired it.”
Mr. Miyashita, who bought the Florian because he liked the proportions and has bought a total of four cars, including one he took for parts, said he only has to service the car when it is inspected and it doesn’t break down that much, so he will continue to show and explain the appeal of conventional family cars at events around the We will continue to show and explain the appeal of conventional family cars at events around the country.
translated by DeepL