It’s nearly 30 years since the world met #Infiniti and Lexus, both of which were created to give Nissan and Toyota luxury brands in the U.S. - where, they felt, customers might not spend premium $$ on a Nissan badge. In Japan, this was not the case, and it would be many years before Japan got these labels. Both brands attacked Mercedes with big sedans - the LS400 and the Q45. - To avoid having only one car in the showroom, Lexus also had the companion ES250 (based on the Camry), and Infiniti had the #M30 - a reworked JDM F31 #NissanLeopard. Both were stopgaps until other models arrived. As a personal/luxury car, then a segment in decline, the M30/Leopard was actually very good - a sharp handler with decent power that could eat up mileage in quiet comfort. It used Nissan’s DUET-SS sonar suspension, a forerunner of later electronically adjustable systems. It compared well with the Lincoln MKVII and might also have fared well against the departed BMW E24, but those were the car’s contemporaries when it was launched - in 1986. - The #Leopard name dated back to the 1980, offered as a four-door hardtop or a luxury coupe - but it’s successor was a coupe only; aimed squarely at Honda’s (Acura) Legend coupe and Toyota’s Soarer (the future Lexus SC). It was a close relative of the R31 Skyline, but it had its own styling and shared it’s VG30DE with the 300ZX (for #JDM tax purposes, smaller VG20s were also offered). 300ZX connection or no, the Leopard was meant as a Luxury GT, not a sports car, which fit Infiniti fairly well in theory. - By the time the Leopard became the M30, it was almost four years old and its styling was clearly rooted in the mid-80s (and rather similar to the then-new U12 Stanza). It was often overshadowed by the Q45 and undercut by the newer and $5,000 cheaper J30 Maxima (they shared the VG30E V6). An ASC-built convertible added much for 1991, but M30 sales were always slow. - M30s are rare now and preserve of a dedicated few - similarly in Japan the F31 Leopard has a strong cult following (and this car belongs to F31club leader @f31roger). This particular car has been updated with a few Leopard items (and some JDM F31s have made it stateside). https://www.instagram.com/oldmotors/p/BvMjSvVlwTV/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1at8bj0vaum65
