INFINITI retro prototype to debut at 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

"It started as a simple thought: What if we found a car, down at the southern tip of Japan, buried deep in the barn, hidden from all eyes for 70 years? What if in this car we found the seed of passion planted during our first Japanese Grand Prix and the power and artistry of INFINITI today? What would this discovery look like?"
– Alfonso Albaisa, Senior Vice President, Global Design

At the 2017 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, INFINITI will unveil a heritage inspired prototype vehicle that captures the ingenuity and adventure of early motor sports with the brand's contemporary "Powerful Elegance" design language. The new prototype not only celebrates INFINITI's passion for design, but also the great roots of the company's pioneer spirit and innovation mindset.

 

Sometimes a story made becomes a story lived. We in design ran with a “little story” from Allyson Witherspoon requesting us to design a historic type of car, one that even though feels many decades old but somehow stays linked to our cars today. After looking around for seeds to ground the idea, we discovered we are now 54 years after the first Japanese Grand Prix! That was enough for us! We designed a grand prix racer inspired and celebrating our pioneering engineers. Engineers and builders (Monozukuri) who during early industrialization of Japan could have been working on early cars, experimental planes, ships or any number of machines they dreamed of. As the story starts... Upon hearing about Japan’s first Grand Prix in 1963, our engineer ancestors made their way to the track. Wow! For the first time, they saw these thunderous machines! Man and machine as one storming the dusty track in Tamagawa. The sounds! The smell! The crowds! They see for the first time a Mercedes 174 or Bugatti racer! Just one glance and their passion to build, to break away from the bounds that hold us still was too powerful to contain. Their hearts raced to build one car, one car to best the best of the best. Even stopping here could have been special enough but…. Our Brothers and sisters at our Oppama factory, Advanced Engineering and Autech heard about our little project and much like the story, they were in! We made this beautiful thing together and as a result this part car part story became one car that made best the best in us. Thank you all for dreaming and doing!

A post shared by Alfonso Albaisa (@alfonsoalbaisa) on Aug 9, 2017 at 10:16pm PDT

This prototype has been developed through a journey back to the roots of our company and back forward again with the fusion of advanced EV technology and the hands and hearts of hundreds of craftsmen.

Contact

For INFINITI Global Communications, contact:

Jon Walsh
Senior Manager, INFINITI Global Communications
INFINITI Motor Company Ltd., Hong Kong
Phone: +852 3948 0129
Mobile: +852 9447 9705
Email: jon.walsh@infiniti.com

Chris Jordan
Manager, INFINITI Global Communications
INFINITI Motor Company Ltd., Hong Kong
Phone: +852 3948 0209
Mobile: +852 9447 9974
Email: chris.jordan@infiniti.com 

Trevor C. Hale
General Manager, INFINITI Global Communications
Head of INFINITI Global Communications
Infiniti Motor Company Ltd., Hong Kong
Phone: +852 3948 0145
Mobile: +852 9664 1271
Email: trevor.hale@infiniti.com

For more information about INFINITI Motor Company, Ltd.'s products and services, visit infiniti.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, and view our latest videos on YouTube.