Styling a New Luxury Brand: Infiniti

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I wrote here about the 1990 Lexus, a successful new luxury brand.  In this post, the subject is Infiniti, another new Japanese luxury brand launched around the same time.  Specifically, the model Q45 (marketed model years 1990-96). Its Wikipedia entry is here.

As mentioned in the earlier post, stylists and management surely paid attention to potential competitors.  Below are cars in the American market that were in production during the time Q45 styling was developed.  They were selected on the basis of having wheelbases fairly similar to that of the new Infiniti.  Their designs are compared to that of the Q45.

Most of the images below are factory-sourced photos.

Gallery

1985 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
Basically 1970s-'80s "three box" angular styling featuring large glass areas.  The main concession to aerodynamic efficiency is the slanted windshield.

1981 Lincoln Town Car
This model remained in production during the 1980s.  Its design is even more extreme three-box than the Cadillac's.

1987c. BMW 7 Series
Three-box styling is softened a little on this car.  It was new around the time Infinity stylists were at work.

1981c. Mercedes-Benz SE W126, unknown photo source
In production for most of the 1980s.  The Infiniti would almost surely have to compete with a redesigned S-Class soon.  And ditto Lincoln and Cadillac.  So what should Infiniti stylists come up with?

1991 Ininiti Q45
It turned out that Infiniti's marketing concept was that the car was different.  Therefore, features from its primary competition are absent.

1986 Jaguar XJ6, for sale image
It seems that the competing car closest in design to the Q45 was the Jaguar XJ6.  Both cars have a lithe appearance and six-window passenger greenhouses where those windows are less tall than on the three-box designs seen above.  Oddly, Jaguars were not strong competitors for the proposed Infiniti.  Perhaps that's why they were "different" enough to inspire a "different" new luxury car.  Oh, and the wheelbases are nearly identical.

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