Infiniti Classic Cars for Sale

Infiniti is a division of the Japanese car manufacturer Nissan with the badge reserved for their luxury models.

Infiniti began in North America

It may seem unusual that cars sporting the Infiniti badge were first sold in North America but this is exactly how it all started back in November 8, 1989. The Infiniti M30 and Q45 formed the initial launch lineup, however the M30 wasn’t a new model but actually a rebadged Nissan Leopard converted to left-hand drive and given more luxury features. The M30 wasn’t a great start for Infiniti with poor sales numbers. Most attribute this to poor engine choice and sub-par suspension.

Infiniti M30

Although the M30 started life with less than stellar success, it has since gone on to become quite popular amongst fans of the make. Because the M30 shares many similarities with other Nissan cars, especially their sports cars, many parts can be interchanged. This can enable the M30 to be transformed into a very capable vehicle. Modified examples are most often seen on Japanese drift tracks, where rear-wheel drive vehicles still rule the roost.

Change of direction for Infiniti

More than ten years on from Infiniti’s inception, things still weren’t looking great. In the 2000’s Infiniti changed direction and started to focus on the luxury sports car market. The G35 is arguably their first real example of a sports luxury vehicle, and was where Infiniti’s sales numbers started to improve.

SUVs and Infiniti

Over the last decade SUVs have become a large proportion of overall car sales, especially in the US market. For many manufacturers SUVs make up the majority of their sales; Infiniti is the exception with the G series of sedans, convertibles and coupes still forming most of their sales in 2011. This could be seen as a lost opportunity for Infiniti. More recently Infiniti has responded with the JX model to compete with the likes of BMW X5. Infiniti now badge their SUVs with the “QX” prefix. Fun fact - The Infiniti logo was designed to represent a road stretching into the distance for infinity, thus Infiniti.

The future of Infiniti

The Infiniti name is synonymous with concept cars. Over the years many concepts have captured the imagination of the automotive press and public alike with many even making it into production. These concepts show that Infiniti is not going anywhere and if anything will only become more successful into the future.