Q45 Timeline

[Q45Owner]

Does anyone have an official timeline for the original Q45 from when it was first being discussed at Nissan to the actual launch date? I know it was sold from fall of '89, but I wonder how long it took them to go from the idea of the Q to the actual finished product. I'm guessing the design was finalized sometime in 1987 and testing began in '88, but it could even be earlier than that. Wasn't the production version ready by January of '89 when it was revealed at one of the auto shows?

[elwesso]

I've got a copy of the original article that I believe Car and Driver did on the development and building of the original Q. It's very interesting. It used to be on Q45.org, I can re-scan it sometime.

[OwnerCS]

Here's an interesting Utube video. I can't understand it -- but looks nice..


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoqSaO2Qu_M[/youtube]


Infiniti History..

http://infinitinews.com/en-US/infiniti/ ... -auto-show

http://www.infiniti.com/us/stories/our_ ... MzA4oR.99=

Wes, Heath - This history page looks like it may be the final product from the Ad Agency that contact us last year..

I guess we just didn't pass the beauty/interesting contest when compared to the folks at CIRQUE DU SOLEIL.

So this may be the how the promotional funding turned out at the following link.

http://www.infiniti.com/us/stories/cirq ... oleil.html

[Q45Owner]

I've got a copy of the original article that I believe Car and Driver did on the development and building of the original Q. It's very interesting. It used to be on Q45.org, I can re-scan it sometime.

Yea if you could, that would be great. Would love to see it!

[Q45Owner]

Here's an interesting Utube video. I can't understand it -- but looks nice..


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoqSaO2Qu_M[/youtube]


Infiniti History..

http://infinitinews.com/en-US/infiniti/ ... -auto-show

http://www.infiniti.com/us/stories/our_ ... MzA4oR.99=

Wes, Heath - This history page looks like it may be the final product from the Ad Agency that contact us last year..

I guess we just didn't pass the beauty/interesting contest when compared to the folks at CIRQUE DU SOLEIL.

So this may be the how the promotional funding turned out at the following link.

http://www.infiniti.com/us/stories/cirq ... oleil.html

I like those high res pics of the Q. Never knew their website had those on there.
Anyway, after searching around a little, I found this site which kinda has what I was looking for, although in slightly less detail:

http://www.conceptcarz.com/view/makehis ... story.aspx

Pre-Launch

November 1985 - 'Horizon' Task Force formed to study luxury franchise market opportunity.
November 1986 - Decision made to proceed with formation of luxury division.
December 1986 - Development of the Q45 begins.
July 1987 - The name 'Infiniti' is selected for the new division.
August 1987 - Idea of the 'Total Ownership Experience' (TOE) is developed. The TOE is a philosophy Infiniti abides by to create quality products, provide outstanding service and make Infiniti ownership a pleasant experience.

September 1987 - Three Infiniti Regional offices established – East (Edison, NJ), Central (Naperville, IL), and West (Irvine, CA)
January 1988 - First Dealer, Ken Ellegard, Discover Infiniti, signs Infiniti letter of intent.
November 1988 - Q45/M30 introduced at dealer meeting at Four Seasons Hotel in Newport Beach, California.
January 1989 - Q45/M30 introduced to the public at the Detroit and Los Angeles Auto Shows.
August 1989 - G20 unveiled to dealers at New York Auto Show.
September 1989 - Infiniti training renamed Infiniti University. First Infiniti University Launch Training class graduates.
November 1989 - Infiniti Division launches with 51 dealers; 1990 Q45 and M30 go on sale.

So it looks as if 1987 was the year that most of the development of the 1st gen Q took place.
Pretty cool

[OwnerCS]

The Q45 was known throughout the world as the Nissan President before it became the Infiniti brand.

Here's a picture of the President before the body change to the model we know as the G50.



Here's a 1973 Nissan President made for Leonid Brezhnev . It was the second one made. The first went to the Japanese PM. Brezhnev even gave Nixon and Kissinger a ride in it in Moscow once.



JG50 President Limo

[Q45Owner]

The Q45 was known throughout the world as the Nissan President before it became the Infiniti brand.

Here's a picture of the President before the body change to the model we know as the G50.



Here's a 1973 Nissan President made for Leonid Brezhnev . It was the second one made. The first went to the Japanese PM. Brezhnev even gave Nixon and Kissinger a ride in it in Moscow once.



JG50 President Limo

And had Infiniti refreshed the G50 in the states instead of bringing over the Y33, we would have gotten this fancy interior instead: