The Japanese had already turned the US car market on its head in the 1970s, and by the mid-’80s they were ready to take things a step further by offering not just eco-boxes and the occasional sports car, but also world-class luxury vehicles. Honda was the first, launching Acura in 1986, but Toyota and Nissan weren’t too far behind. In 1989, Nissan launched Infiniti with two models, the Q45 and the M30, for the 1990 model year and ever since they’ve been building a wide range of cars, some good and some not so good, to compete with the Germans and the other premium Japanese brands. Today and now in the third year of its current design, Infiniti’s halo car is its M series (soon to be renamed the Q), and it comes in either M37 or M56 form with rear or all-wheel drive for each. An M35h hybrid is also available, but our test car was luckily the V-8 M56 equipped with rear-drive and the Sport Package.
Straight away, the M56 is definitely an attractive car. It’s not exactly noteworthy or unique, as so many luxury sedans these days conform to a fairly common shape, but it’s still a pleasing car from most any angle. The $5,000-plus Sport Package on our car improves the looks further with a more aggressive front fascia, dark finish on the grille, darker headlight housings and a 20-inch wheel and tire package. Functional bits of the exterior include aluminum hood and doors, and there are tire deflectors front and back for improved aerodynamics while the wave-like trunk supposedly even produces functional downforce. Loaded with options, this is an expensive car but it looks it. It will fit in with the Bimmer and Audi crowd no problem.
