Junkyard Find: 1992 Infiniti Q45
I've documented 3,142 junkyard vehicles, more or less, since I started doing this job in 2007. Out of all of those, only four have been Infinitis. I decided that I would shoot the next discarded first-generation Q45 I found; that car turned out to be this '92 in Richmond, California.
With its grille-less snout, the 1990-1993 Q45 really stood out from the luxury-sedan crowd of its era.
(Ed. note -- we're aware there was a typo in the headline, causing the wrong year to be identified. It has been fixed.)
Unlike its main sales rival in the United States, the Lexus LS 400, the Q45 was based on a legendary Nissan model that had been in production since 1965: the President. The President was never the Emperor's car (the last Nissan product to earn that honor was the Prince Royal), but it spent decades competing for big-yen sales against the Toyota Century and Mitsubishi Debonair.
The 1992 Q45 listed at $42,000, or about $98,248 in 2025 dollars.
The 1992 LS 400 was $42,200 ($98,716 today), and its 4.0-liter V8 made 18 fewer horses than the Q45's 4.5-liter V8. Unfortunately for Infiniti dealers, the LS looked less weird and came stuffed full of Toyota's fearsome build quality.
About 15 years ago, I became obsessed with the Japanese luxury sedans of the early-to-mid-1990s and decided that I would search for a nice first-generation LS 400, Q45 or Legend. The Q45 was my first choice, because it was the quickest and most interesting, but every single example of that then-two-decade-old car that I saw had an absolutely thrashed interior.
The Legend was just too small and Accord-ish, so I ended up with a Jade Green Metallic Coach Edition LS 400 (which, because I am an idiot and couldn't wait for the Toyota Celsior to become legal to import, now has Celsior grille and wheels; I'd like to convert the interior from Coach leather to proper Celsior wool, but that's a nightmare due to the LHD/RHD issue). 13 years later, my Lexus has yet to have a single serious mechanical problem of any sort … but I still wish I could find a one-owner 1990-1993 Q45 with nice interior for sale.
Here's a VH45DE DOHC V8, rated at 278 horsepower.
If you wanted a new US-market 1993 Infiniti with manual transmission, the G20 was your only choice ( the M30 was automatic-only here, but its JDM sibling, the Nissan Leopard, could be purchased with three pedals).
Like the 1993 Lexus LS 400, a name-brand AM/FM/cassette audio system was included as standard equipment in the Q45 (Nissan used Bose products at that time, while Toyota went with Pioneer and Nakamichi). Most buyers of either car opted for an extra-cost CD changer, but this car doesn't have one.
124,135 miles on the odometer at the end. The highest-mile Nissan product I've documented in a car graveyard was a 1980 Datsun 210 wagon with 445,440 final miles on the clock.
I should have grabbed this clock for my hoard collection, but I already have a 1994 Q45 clock.
When the first Infiniti commercials hit American television in late 1989, there were no cars in them.
Eventually, the Q45 became visible in the early Infiniti commercials. You don't even feel the gear changes!
You feel it work the wind… and seize the road.
The Q45's seat stitching parallels the muscles of the neck, back and legs. Take that, Lexus!
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
1993 Infiniti Q45 in California wrecking yard.
[Images: The author]
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Murilee Martin is the pen name of Phil Greden, a writer who has lived in Minnesota, California, Georgia and (now) Colorado. He has toiled at copywriting, technical writing, junkmail writing, fiction writing and now automotive writing. He has owned many terrible vehicles and some good ones. He spends a great deal of time in self-service junkyards. These days, he writes for publications including Autoweek, Hagerty and The Truth About Cars.
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I love the grill on your LS.
I hate to know that this vehicle will end up in the crusher🥺