In creating the new FX45, its designers sought what they called a “cool fusion” – the blending of a substantial, SUV lower body with the sleek, elegant upper body more reminiscent of a classic sports car or sports GT. What is often lost in the transition, however, is a sense of style or personality. Thus, in making the FX, Infiniti designers decided to incorporate some car design traits:īy definition, crossover SUVs incorporate elements of passenger cars into sport utility vehicles. The automaker goes on to note that at the time, crossovers looked like SUVs, but there was no reason that they had to be. At the time, Infiniti says that it was going through a bit of a vehicle revolution with the introduction of the G35 coupe and the M45 sport sedan. In 2003, Infiniti debuted what Taisuke Nakamura, senior design director for Global Infiniti, believes is the first crossover to get a design that mimics a coupe. If you bought a Touareg, you could get a 4.2-liter V8 making 306 HP and if you got a Cayenne, you could get something as wild as a 4.5-liter twin-turbo V8 making 444 HP. Ford had its F-150 Lightning, Volkswagen rolled out the Touareg, and Porsche brought home the bacon with its Cayenne. These automakers wouldn’t be the only ones creating big vehicles with big power. This was a time when General Motors sold you the GMC Typhoon and in 1998, Jeep unleashed a previous Holy Grail entry–the Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited–onto the world as a lux SUV with big V8 firepower. The late 1990s and 2000s were a wonderful time if you were in the market for an SUV but wanted it to have big power. That wasn’t always the case, as Infiniti used to sell a crossover infused with the sporting characteristics of the G35 and a whole heaping of power. For example, if you want a compact crossover from Infiniti, your only choice is a 2.0 turbo four making 268 HP. We’re living in an era where V8s get phased out for sixes and those sixes turn into turbo fours. It’s not a special edition, rather the last of its kind. Today’s Holy Grail entry is a vehicle that went out of production in the last decade. These weren’t huge changes, but if you’re the kind of person who has to have a manual, you had to get one from Mexico. However, if you lived in Mexico, you could ride home in your own special edition that came with a 350 V8 making 188 HP and a four-speed manual. In 1984, the best Monte Carlo that you could get in the United States was the SS, which came equipped with a 305 V8 making 180 HP and an automatic transmission. If you were a car enthusiast living in the Malaise Era, you had to deal with V8s that struggled to make 200 horsepower and car design that could easily be replicated by a kid playing Minecraft today. Last time on Holy Grails, reader Sid Bridge showed us a weirdly rare version of the Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Through the Infiniti QX70 and its predecessor, the FX50, you could buy a tall car with funky looks and 390 horses of V8 power. Crossovers like the Porsche Macan and the Mazda CX-30 stand out for great driving experiences, but there was a time when Infiniti wanted to sell you a sporty car puffed up in a crossover body. If you take a gander at today’s crossovers, you’ll see a lot of vehicles that are practical family haulers, but perhaps lack the kind of driving dynamics that enthusiasts love.
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