CarBrandLogos archive · Infiniti · 2003

InfinitiFX / QX70

Sold as a bionic cheetah: a sports-sedan chassis wearing crossover bodywork.

Photo: TTTNIS · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in Infiniti history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Infiniti FX / QX70, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Most early crossovers were tall estates apologising for themselves. The FX, launched for 2003, went the other way, built on the same front-midship platform as the G35 and 350Z with a long bonnet, short overhangs, a cab-rearward stance and twenty-inch wheels as standard equipment. Infiniti marketed it as a bionic cheetah, which was ridiculous and also a reasonably accurate description of the proportions.

06-Infiniti-FX · IFCAR · Public domain

Design and engineering

Underneath it was rear-wheel drive with optional all-wheel drive, powered by a 3.5-litre V6 or a 4.5-litre V8, later 3.7 and 5.0 litres. The ride was firm to the point of complaint and the rear seat and boot were both compromised by the styling, but the car steered and turned in a way that nothing in its class did, and it looked like nothing else.

2003-2005 Infiniti FX35 · IFCAR · Public domain

Infiniti FX30d S – Frontansicht, 12. März 2011, Düsseldorf

In production

It was also early. Performance crossovers became a standard category several years later, by which point the FX had been renamed QX70 in 2013 and was running on with minor changes to 2019. The QX65 was announced as its eventual replacement. The original still looks contemporary, which few crossovers of its age manage.

Infiniti FX30d S – Frontansicht, 12. März 2011, Düsseldorf · M 93 · Attribution

At a glance