If you were alive during the launch of Lexus, you’ll remember the army of naysayers decrying the LS400 as a cheaper version of established European luxury sedans. Infiniti, on the other hand, tried really hard to introduce a Japanese idea of luxury into the marketplace. Unfortunately, the Infiniti J30 proved that what buyers actually wanted was a cheaper version of an established European luxury sedan.
For $33,000, the Infiniti J30 came with a surprising amount of stuff — projector headlights, variable valve timing, variable assist power steering, vented four-wheel disc brakes and ABS, viscous LSD, digital auto climate control, height-adjustable seat belts, Bose sound system, and that little third visor in the middle above the rear view mirror. Many of these are things the more expensive Lexus SC never got.
It’s true that the SC is a coupe, but the J30 was the replacement for the SC’s competitor, the two-door Infiniti M30. It was designed to be what we might today call a four-door coupe, with a sloping rear that blended the roofline and rear deck. In Motorweek‘s 1993 review they point out an interesting fact: the front edge and rear edge are the exact same height.
Inside, the J30 had an almost ergonomically perfect dash. It cocooned the driver in refinement and high-quality materials, designed with the help of renowned furniture maker Poltrona Frau. Old school touches like Infiniti’s signature analog clock and real wood trim lent the cabin an upscale feel unmatched by most peers.
Motorweek‘s testing found the J30 to be quiet and comfortable thanks to hydraulic engine mounts, but the engine nose from the VG30 was still a bit loud for their tastes. Detuned from the naturally aspirated 300ZX to 210 horsepower, 193 lb-ft of torque, the car scooted from 0-60 in 8.9 seconds at the Owings Mills drag strip.
Performance wasn’t exactly scorching, and despite its multi-link rear suspension the Motorweek testers found the car hard to control under aggressive lane changing, prone to oversteer. Yet under lower speeds the J30 was prone to understeer, they said. Some of these handling quibbles might have been resolved if they had gotten the J30t.
That “t” touring package is the real bargain here, which was only $1700 more. That would’ve added a stiffer suspension, BBS wheels, a rear spoiler, and the option of super-HICAS four-wheel steering.
We still occasionally see J30s on the streets of Los Angeles, but they’re usually pretty clapped out. And only maybe one out of 20 might be a J30t. It’s not a car where mint ones come out of the woodwork on auction sites that often, either. Hopefully there are a few examples out there still.
Classic case of you best like the interior because it is not pleasant to look at.
They never should have built it. The Leopard Coupe, a luxury Skyline Coupe, should have remained. The Nissan Laurel, a luxury Skyline sedan, should have been offered by Infiniti because the Japanese felt we weren’t worthy of the Skyline until they had a change of heart. Sales were dropping, and they relented and brought the Skyline to America as the G35, but by then, they were too far behind Lexus.
I think the J30 came out too early in the automotive timeline. For example, the GM EV-1 came out in the 1996, and everyone scoffed at it. Fast forward to today, everyone and their mamas are looking to “go green.”
The J30 was marketed as the “personal luxury sedan,” and I didn’t quite understand what that meant when it first came out. Well, now that i see Mercedes-Benz CLS, Audi A7, VW CC, and BMW Gran Coupe, looks like the J30 was just too early to the party.
A J30T with a swapped 5-speed manual would’ve been quite appealing. One can dream
… Because its not how the [Infiniti] J30 (Japanese name Nissan Leopard, J Ferie) would have been instead entered in the list of cars with negative reception, where autos that are were not known to American brains have been included in that list like Rover CityRover (a rebadged Indian Tata Indica), Hillman Imp (which is rear-engined and yet another British car hence the use of Lucas electricals), Morris Marina (yet another remnant of BL / Austin / Rover Group), Reliant Robin (that’s why Brexit matters a lot too) etc., but also, as I wonder that in an alternate timeline (ATL)…
Therefore, instead of Renault being the 1999 acquisitor of Nissan like in OTL (our timeline), had either PSA Peugeot Citroen or Fiat SpA (now Stellantis in OTL) acquire(d) Nissan / Datsun, Subaru, Honda, Mitsubishi Motors and Kawasaki in ATL, the following are shown below.
A. The J30 / Leopard J Ferie in ATL were remodeled and resold by PSA with a modified running gear from the Peugeot 605 / Citroen XM (which is front-wheel driven like the 405 / BX sibling) and thus sold elsewhere abroad (mainly from Europe, then half of Latin America to parts of Asia-Pacific) as the [Peugeot) 606, with the XM retaining the same appearance as in OTL, likewise the J30’s exterior has had similarities to not only 1950s-1960s Peugeot sedans like the [Peugeot] 403, but also those (sedans aka saloons) from Fiat and its later corporate partners (in OTL like Lancia particularly [Lancia] Flaminia) in the same period.
B. Had Fiat rebuilt and remarketed the J30 in ATL for the same sense as PSA (shown above), then as given that Lancia in OTL had falling sales especially when it planned to leave the World Rally Championship by 1992, which also led to the (Lancia) marque pulling out of right-hand drive markets in 1994, the J30 in ATL would been based on the running gear of the [Fiat] Croma (which was in turn shared with Alfa Romeo for 164, Saab for 9000 and Lancia for Thema as the Tipo Quattro platform was also fromt-wheel drive as the 605 / XM) and rename it as the Flaminia – notably the Thema in OTL was powered by a Ferrari engine which even considered that to be a rare moment for Ferrari to taste the joy of making an FF layout car.
But back to the conversation, so with the J30 no longer in production and Infiniti hasn’t been planning to discontinue itself like a brand of the former British AR (Austin Rover) group, given that Nissan has been planning to rethink its partnership with Honda since it was rejected three months ago, then as given how Stellantis is mentioned as Renault does.
I think the revival of partnership / merger talks between the former and the latter would have not just put Nissan / Infiniti and Mitsubishi out of business in favor of one that’s never been getting big(ger) as of now, particularly ones that used to be big / relevant like Jeep, Fiat, Alfa R, Maserati and even Lancia – just look how Renault did to Dacia, but also if Honda / Acura were ending up merging with Stellantis along with Renault, Nissan / Infiniti and Mitsubishi, then both aforementioned Japanese automakers would even go bankrupt like how GM removed and replaced Daewoo in favor of Chevrolet (Chevy) – especially it would even help Stellantis lessen its dependence on European markets (especially France) in favor of Asia and Oceania… (Where Fiat and its brands that were already in its portfolio since FCA existed until 2019-2021 have never been selling cars nor made a presence in each Asian / Oceanian markets…)