35 Years of INFINITI: The Underappreciated J30, Soapy Design Pioneer
It’s been 35 years since INFINITI rolled up and took on the luxury car establishment. To celebrate, the Japanese brand is looking back on some of highlights and milestones from its history. And they’re starting, curiously, with this: the INFINITI J30.
It’s a curious choice because it’s not the car that really put INFINITI on the map. It’s not a cult classic (like the G35) nor is it the one that’s gone down in history as a design icon (that would be the original INFINITI FX). While the J30 is certainly a deep cut in the brand’s back catalog, it’s also an underappreciated classic that deserves some credit for making the brand what it is today.
Hello 1992
Launched in 1992, the J30 was, first and foremost, meant to be a great car. Unlike German luxury car brands, INFINITI couldn’t rely on the strength of its brand image to sell cars since the brand was still new and relatively unknown. Remember, Infiniti only launched a few years earlier, in 1989.
In what seems like a direct shot at the German luxury car establishment, the North American brochure for the J30 said this is, “A car that reflects, rather than defines, the personality of its owner.”
Under the curvy sheet metal was a surprisingly advanced piece of engineering. For starters, this was a proper rear-wheel-drive sedan. Rear-wheel-drive was essential for ensuring sporty handling and even weight distribution. For another thing, the J30 could be had a with a 210 horsepower V6 engine from Nissan’s 300ZX sports car. The advanced J30t added Nissan’s Super HICAS four-wheel steering, nice multi-spoke alloys, retuned suspension and (natch.) a subtle rear wing.
Infiniti branded it as a “Personal Luxury Sedan,” so luxurious in fact that potential buyers could sign-up to receive a free VHS tape titled “A curious journey” along with an invitation for a “personal guest drive” of the J30. In Japan, the J30 was sold as the Nissan Leopard J. Ferie and could be had with ultra-lux options including custom seats by Italian furniture maker Poltrona Frau.
What Was the J30 Like to Drive?
Seeing as most of the SHARP staff was still a few years away from getting their drivers’ licences in 1992, we’ll go to Car and Driver magazine for their verdict. In a major comparison test of ten entry-level luxury sedans, the J30 placed a very impressive fourth, above offerings from Acura, Volvo, and Saab.
The magazine wrote: “Perfect or not, when the driver drives, he feels good about it. Here’s what one of us wrote: ‘Nice power, albeit a bit loud, wonderful balance with great steering feel and poise. It gathers great speed without seeming to sweat, and I found myself going 5 mph faster in this car than in the others.’”
Testers praised its, “brave styling, smooth performance, fine ergonomics” while their only complaint was its slightly high price. “A finely turned-out road car that polarizes onlookers,” was the final verdict.
Smooth, Soap-Bar Design for A New Decade
Designed at Nissan Design International (NDI) in La Jolla, California, the shape was meant to be deliberately provocative in order to “cut through the cluttered sedan segment.”
The J30 was one of the first big projects Alfonso Albaisa — INFINITI’s current senior vice president of global design — worked on when he joined the company as a designer. His job was to work on the front and rear of the car.
Albaisa remembers he was sketching a design for a private yacht at the time. “While nearing completion of the design for a luxury yacht called Motali, studio director, Jerry Hirshberg watched me drawing arched lines that crossed over — side to side, creating reversing wedge volumes and said that’s it, try that on the J30 model,” Albaisa says.
INFINITI J30 Was Inspired by a Yacht Design
The Motali yacht, designed by Alfonso Albaisa.
INFINITI J30 Was Inspired by a Yacht Design
The Motali yacht, designed by Alfonso Albaisa.
If you look at the rear of the J30 you can still see the yacht’s influence in those intersecting curves, especially at the rear end. The overall design has aged rather gracefully, if you ask us. It wasn’t exactly a smash hit in the market though, but it did raise a few eyebrows among industry watchers who saw INFINITI wasn’t afraid to be daring or ambitious.
The J30’s influence lasted a lot longer than the car’s short life from 1992 to 1997. As the company explains, the car’s “daring spirit, and INFINITI’s long-held desire to channel the power and beauty of nature into its designs, remains.”
