Infiniti FX45 Concept Design: Form Over Function

by Jim Motavalli
In 2002, I saw the extravagant-lookin g Infiniti FX45 concept on the car show circuit. The thing to understand here is that concept cars are designed to be outlandish so they catch the eye of the public and visiting press, generating buzz and excitement. Sometimes they get turned into actual production cars (the Dodge Viper, for instance) but more often head overrules heart and the design is toned down before it reaches the market.

The FX45 went more or less directly from the revolving show stand to the dealer's lot. Reviewer Dan Jedlicka described it as "like a futuristic auto show crossover vehicle come to life" and Woman Motorist purred that vehicles on the Nissan car-based FM platform "seem more akin to slinky sports cars than lumbering SUV hulks."

I say, bollocks! They're making superficial judgments based on looks, like that hapless Jack Nicholson character in Carnal Knowledge . Aside from its fairly sleek surface (which looks particularly gaudy in "liquid copper"), there's nothing at all sporty about the FX45. This is one of the all-time worst SUVs I've ever driven, almost unmanageable in tight parking situations, and with really awful rear vision.

On its huge, chrome-rimmed 20-inch wheels (a $1,600 option!) and with bulging flanks invisible to the driver, it's like trying to maneuver a hippo

more: fairfieldweekly.com/gbase/Lifestyle/content?oid=oi (160)

---

---