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Infiniti Prototype 9 is a wonderfully beautiful EV grand prix car

Few automobiles are as elegantly beautiful as the open-wheel grand prix cars of the 1940s, '50s and '60s. The simple, slender shapes of these cars bear no extravagant flourishes or adornments. The purposeful design is what gave these cars their beauty, and it's these classic machines that inspired the new Infiniti Prototype 9. Teased earlier this week, this concept blends old and new, with classic lines hiding a modern all-electric powertrain. The Prototype 9 will make its full debut next week at the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Infiniti says the car was built around a simple idea: what would a 1940s Infiniti grand prix car look like? While the silver paint may be more German than Japanese, the design could easily be mistaken for an actual '40s grand prix car. Only the Infiniti-styled grille gives it away. Everything about it, from the thin bias-ply tires wrapped over center-locking wire wheels to the bulging screws around the driver's seat, is pitch perfect. Underneath that achingly long hood rests a prototype electric motor and battery from Nissan's Advanced Powertrain Department. The combo sends 148 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque straight to the rear wheels. That's good enough to send the svelte 1,962 lb car to 62 mph in just 5.5 seconds. Top speed is right at 106 mph. While speed may die off towards the top end, all that torque and a 43/57 front to rear weight distribution should make the Prototype 9 a riot on a small, tight circuit. There's only enough juice in the battery for about 20 minutes of flat-out racing. The handmade steel body rests on a steel ladder-frame chassis. The front suspension uses a leading-arm rigid axle with transverse leaf spring while the rear uses a De Dion axle, also with a transverse leaf spring. The Prototype 9 also uses old-school hydraulic rotary type dampers. There's no power steering and no brake booster for the four-wheel disc brakes. The car was designed and built by a number of different departments within Infiniti and Nissan. A simple sketch expanded as more and more designers and engineers wanted to have a hand in the project. The steel body panels were all shaped and hammered by hand. The bare cockpit is only adorned with a thin seat, three gauges, a few switches, a gear selector and the steering wheel. The gauges are set into a fixed aluminum hub in the center of the steering wheel.

Nissan backing off IDx, BladeGlider and Infiniti Eau Rouge amid focus shift

Nissan and Infiniti are officially under the microscope after their presentations at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show focused on the new Titan pickup and Q60 Concept, but lacked any and all mention of allegedly production-bound examples of the Q50 Eau Rouge, IDx and BladeGlider EV concepts. Automotive News reports that the lack of info on the three concept cars, which had previously heralded a more performance-minded Nissan/Infiniti, has signaled a shift in priorities at the Japanese company. Instead of driver-oriented models, emphasis is seemingly being focused more on volume offerings. Nissan was subject to a pair of high-level executive departures last year, with both Andy Palmer and Johan de Nysschen departing for Aston Martin and Cadillac, respectively. Both execs were strong proponents of more driver-oriented offerings, with Palmer championing the compact, rear-drive IDx coupe and de Nysschen backing the high-performance Q50 Eau Rouge. While Palmer has been mum on his former employer's alleged move away from performance, de Nysschen made headlines last month after calling out a Nissan vice president in a Facebook post saying he "heard a rumor that Noboru Tateishi is going to cop-out and shelve the Eau Rouge project now that I'm not there to pressure him," while adding that the VP has "more enthusiasm for 'driver's aid's,' apparently, than 'driver's cars.'" AN reached out to Infiniti, with North American VP Michael Bartsch telling the publication that no decision had been reached about the Eau Rouge and that the company was more focused on rebuilding its core portfolio. Featured Gallery Nissan IDx Nismo View 34 Photos Related Gallery Infiniti Q50 Eau Rouge Concept View 24 Photos Related Gallery Nissan BladeGlider Concept View 22 Photos News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Nissan, Infiniti Rumormill Infiniti Nissan Coupe Luxury Performance Sedan infiniti q50 infiniti q50 eau rouge nissan bladeglider concept

2019 Infiniti QX50 gets fancy-pants Autograph interior

The 2019 Infiniti QX50 has primarily garnered attention around car enthusiast circles for its variable compression engine. It's a marvel of engineering that uniquely changes its compression ratio to maximize power and fuel efficiency. It can also switch between Atkinson and regular combustion cycles, utilize multi-point or direct injection, it's turbocharged, and even features an electric motor that controls the variable compression ratio. Nifty stuff, but it seems likely that all that technobabble will make the average buyer of Infiniti's new compact SUV go crosseyed. It may not even be mentioned. "It has an engine? Great, let me see the inside." Well, dear car shopper who doesn't give a hoot about the greasy bits, have we got a bit of QX50 news for you. Infiniti has announced the QX50 Autograph package, a special $2,000 option with a seriously upgraded interior. Fancier materials and unique color schemes were selected, drawing inspiration from luxury beach resorts and being awfully similar to those found in the latest Pantone Fashion Color Trend Report. It's probably best to turn things over to the press release at this point. "Starting with warmer color tones, the rich chocolate brown replicates wood applications in the (beach) resort and the surrounding trees, followed by a creamy off-white representing the sand on a beach. The highlights of a cooler dark navy blue on the center console, reminiscent of ocean water, strike the proper balance between warm and cool, creating a comfortable, yet invigorating environment." Have you gone crosseyed? Well, now you know how it feels when describing the greasy bits to a non car person. Those cream, brown and blue bits are the Pantone colors, which, respectively, are known as "Coconut Milk," "Emperador" and "Sailor Blue." In the QX50, the Sailor Blue-esque blue is applied to the center console, dash and doors in Ultrasuede. The Emperadorish brown is on the steering wheel, leather-wrapped dash top and doors, outer portions of the seats and the lower door portions. Coconut Milk is indicative of the creamy dash color and the seat leather, which is diamond-quilted and contrast-stitched. There's also open-pore wood trim. Though I made light of this, the QX50 Autograph interior is actually quite striking. As Infiniti points out, consumers are starting to embrace color, which is worth celebrating. Give me Coconut Milk, Emperador and Sailor Blue over beige, grey and black any day.