The Infiniti brand was originally conceived only for the North American market, where Nissan cars were not perceived as serious competitors in the luxury car segment. To get a chance to compete for a buyer with European and American bison of the "elite" car industry, the Japanese launched a new Infiniti brand in the USA, in the model range of which Infiniti M cars have played a key role from the very beginning. It is about their history that our today's review will be.
The first-born Infiniti M was presented to the general public back in 1989, but the start of production of the new item and its entry into the American market took place only in 1990. True, it should be noted that "Emka" almost immediately came to the liking of wealthy American clients, so the trick of the Nissan corporation managers worked and the Infiniti brand was recognized as a worthy representative of the luxury class.
Initially, the first generation of the Infiniti M was represented only by the version of the Infiniti M30, produced in the back of a two-door coupe. The M30 was based on the Nissan Leopard, had rear-wheel drive and only one version of the power plant, the role of which was played by a 6-cylinder 3.0-liter gasoline engine with a return of 162 hp. and capable of developing 244 Nm of torque. As a checkpoint, the first "Emka" received a 4-speed "automatic", the manufacturer did not offer other transmission options.
The appearance of the first generation Infiniti M was dynamic enough for that era, it was distinguished by minor details of the sports exterior, which later allowed the M30 to become a cult car among fans of modernizing old cars for participation in various races, for example, drift competitions in Japan and the USA, in which the first the generation of the Infiniti M is a fairly frequent guest.
In 1991, the coupe was joined by a convertible built on the same platform from the Nissan Leopard. But a year later, the popularity of Infiniti M fell sharply, and the Japanese had not yet developed new worthy proposals at that time. As a result, in 1992 the production of the first generation of "Emka" was stopped. The total number of M30s produced is still not known exactly. According to some data, about 12,000 of them were sold, according to others, only 5,000, and in both cases the sales of the coupe and convertible are divided approximately equally. Nissan is still in no hurry to reveal the secret of sales volumes, continuing to fog over the history of the first generation of Infiniti M, thereby fueling the cult of "Emka" in Japan and the United States.
The change to the first generation of the Infiniti M came only in 2002, when the production of the Infiniti M45 sedan, developed back in 2000 on the basis of the Nissan Gloria, began. By that time, almost everyone had already forgotten about Emka, and the appearance of the new item came in handy. The new sedan was a real elite "ship" with a solid premium design, able to compete on an equal footing with European counterparts, as well as impressive dimensions. The body length was 5009 mm, which is more than 200 mm larger than its predecessor in the face of the M30 coupe. The wheelbase of the Infiniti M45 was equal to 2799 mm, the width of the body fit into the frame of 1770 mm, and the height was limited to 1463 mm.
Under the hood of the Infiniti M45 was a VK45DE petrol "monster" with eight cylinders with a total displacement of 4.5 liters. This power unit was capable of developing up to 340 hp. maximum power, while producing about 451 Nm of torque. The manufacturer did not offer the choice of a gearbox, like 12 years ago, equipping the second generation of Emka with only a 5-speed automatic.
The appearance of the second generation Infiniti M did not become a sensation and the M45 sedan did not gain such a rapid success as the M30 coupe / convertible. Apparently this served as an "accelerating" impetus for the developers, who began to sculpt the third generation of "Emka" almost immediately after the start of sales. As for the M45, at first the Japanese began to reduce the production of the sedan, and in 2004 they stopped the conveyor altogether, freeing it for the next generation of Infiniti M.
The third "Emka" appeared in 2005 (2006 model year). Outwardly, the third generation was very much like the previous one, but in technical terms, the car stepped far ahead, imposing serious competition on the Lexus GS, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and BMW 5-Series leading in the segment. From the very beginning of sales, the new Infiniti M showed very good results, simultaneously winning a whole scattering of various car awards and prizes, which gave the Infiniti brand even more popularity.
The third generation Infiniti M sedan, produced only in the body of the third generation Infiniti M sedan, had several different modifications: the Infiniti M35 was equipped with a 3.5-liter 6-cylinder engine with 280 hp output, and the Infiniti M45 received a slightly redesigned engine from the previous generation model, the power of which was reduced up to 335 hp. In addition, both variants were presented for the first time in an all-wheel drive version, designated by the indexes M35x and M45x.
In 2009, the third generation of the Infiniti M line underwent an update, during which the M35 version received a 7-speed automatic transmission, while the old 5-speed "automatic" was retained for the rest of the modifications. In addition, a new engine with a maximum power of 303 hp was installed on the M35, which allowed it to gain some advantage over its main competitors. The rest of the car was practically not updated, which suggested the next generation change.
These thoughts were confirmed exactly one year later, when the fourth generation Infiniti M was officially presented, within which the Japanese implemented their new design concept "Emki", significantly expanded the list of technical filling options, applied a whole range of advanced technologies and finally brought out the Infiniti line M to a completely new, almost perfect level. But this, as they say, is a completely different story, to which we will devote a separate review.
