Photos by Scott Jacobs
The paint on the Infiniti Essence concept car looks pretty close to molten metal, like a Super Silver Nissan GT-R with 100 more coats of paint. It makes the car vulnerable to almost everything, and anyone who touches the car has to wear special white gloves. The paint, and various other non-production-spec adhesives, also makes the Essence very heat-sensitive, so it will ride to Pebble Beach in a climate-controlled truck.
First, though, it has to come off its pallet. The logistics staff deploys the pallet's built-in ramps (one for each wheel), which enable the Essence's caretaker, Nissan's Andy Parkin, to ease it down the ramp. Controls within the car allow Parkin to raise the front suspension 1.6 inches and the rear 1 inch to the improve the Infiniti's none-too-favorable breakover angle.
Parkin removes his shoes before getting behind the wheel of the Essence, but the one-off concept car starts right up.
More photos after the jump.
Of course, when the Essence starts, we're not sure exactly what's starting.
Infiniti billed the Essence as its first hybrid application at the car's Geneva debut. The spec sheet showed a twin-turbocharged and direct-injected 3.7-liter V6 rated at 434 horsepower paired with a rear-drive electric motor motivated by a 158-hp lithium-ion battery pack. But there was no mention of what sort of transmission the rear-wheel-drive Essence might use. And today's not the day for a look under the hood.
All we know is that this Infiniti Essence moves under its own power, just like it evidently did at the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed (see last photo).
We do get a quick look at the cockpit. The top-secret seat design is covered up, but distinct driver and passenger "cocoons" are evident here, as is a large, center-mounted tachometer, which we always like to see.
The 22-inch wheels on the Essence strike us an exaggerated flight of fancy from the 19-inch sport-package wheels on the Nissan 370Z.
In back, the slide-out cargo floor reveals a set of Louis Vuitton luggage designed just for the Infiniti Essence. This is no coincidence, as Louis Vuitton is a key part of the upscale marketing campaign for this car and the Infiniti brand. The Essence will stop off at the Louis Vuitton store in Carmel, California, before it goes to Pebble Beach's Concours d'Elegance.
After Pebble, Infiniti's concept car will hit every other Louis Vuitton store in the U.S. -- Vegas, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Miami, Hilton Head, Los Angeles, Amelia Island -- before it gets back into its steel crate and flies away.
We spend a lot of time just walking around the Infiniti Essence during our afternoon in Torrance. At 185 inches long and 77 inches wide, its footprint is very close to the GT-R's. But the Essence seems stunningly low. At 51.6 inches tall, it's not dramatically shorter than Godzilla (53.9 inches), but it feels like it is.
Above photos by Scott Jacobs
Action photo at Goodwood from Nissan
bankerdanny says:
09:23 PM, 08/ 9/09
That is one seriously cool looking car!
stovt001 says:
09:42 PM, 08/ 9/09
Seconded. I've never liked Infiniti styling. I've never been able to pick out anything particularly wrong with it, but it never stirred any real passion in me, until now.
carfreak8394 says:
10:33 PM, 08/ 9/09
Very, very cool.
zoomzoom22 says:
12:11 AM, 08/10/09
Wow, this car is stunning. It reminds me of the molten metal dude/robot girl from Terminators 2 and 3, who could get cut in half but would magically "mold" back together. Very cool.
I hope this gives the folks at BMW and Acura nightmares. And I hope those nightmares involve some swift kicks to the groin.
lenoroc says:
02:04 AM, 08/10/09
It's ridiculously gorgeous. Only thing I would change is the giant Infiniti emblem in the front. Put it above the grille!
rsholland says:
05:14 AM, 08/10/09
Subaru used a similar silver paint on their Legacy concept, which they showed at Detroit last winter. SOA, like with this Infiniti, said that you couldn't touch the car, as it would leave hard to remove fingerprints on the vehicle.
zoomzoomn says:
05:29 AM, 08/10/09
Very interesting concept! I do hope Infiniti bleeds this type of styling into thier next gen cars.
rick8365 says:
05:50 AM, 08/10/09
Wow!
That paint is amazing. How about the view from inside with the all glass roof and no windshield header. Is that guy operating things like the trunk with a TV type remote?
Funny - with all the precautions mentioned it sure looks like they are moving the car with the drivers door open....rental car lot treatment. Funnier is you can see the guys shoes on the floor - shoes off but door open while moving?
Bottom line is, it is beautiful.
estreka says:
06:41 AM, 08/10/09
Very Maseratiesque. Beautiful.
mrryte says:
07:13 AM, 08/10/09
Quote from estreka:
"Very Maseratiesque. Beautiful."
+1.
Can't say the same for the two-tone interior and exposed wires behind the center console though.
http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2012-essence-int-infiniti-ft-950-1.jpg
e10rice says:
07:26 AM, 08/10/09
Looks Like a trip to Hilton Head might be in order. I'll Just tell my wife its to go back for our wedding anniversary and get her a hand bag.
rick8365 says:
08:55 AM, 08/10/09
^ funny
thejohnp says:
09:38 AM, 08/10/09
Even in real life this thing looks almost cgi. Crazy.
hondacura4 says:
11:53 AM, 08/10/09
This is beyond stunning and very Italian-esque like some have stated. Beautiful!
ctpax says:
01:57 PM, 08/10/09
I don't like it. It's got a duck tail in the back and a front end that looks like a grumpy old man's face.
ctpax says:
01:58 PM, 08/10/09
check
mrbacon says:
08:42 PM, 08/10/09
It really is a beautiful car.
Pretty much the only thing I don't like is the C-pillar, if you can call it that. It looks to me like they styled it the way they did just for the sake of doing something different, even though it doesn't make the car look any better; if anything it detracts from the overall appearance.
compliance says:
09:28 AM, 08/11/09
Who punched this car in the face?
kingkhalas says:
09:41 AM, 08/11/09
grill looks funny