The Nissan Leopard is a line of sport/luxury cars built by Japanese carmaker Nissan from 1980 to 2000. The Leopard were initially based on the Japanese market Nissan Skyline and Nissan Laurel, then later based on the chassis of their Nissan Cedric and Nissan Gloria contemporaries and were rear wheel drive. Final versions were the contributing factors to Nissan's Infiniti M and J products.
The Leopard coupe and sedan were sold exclusively in Japan at Nissan Store locations as a companion to the Fairlady Z, allowing Nissan to sell a badge engineered version of the Skyline and Laurel. The Leopard was cancelled as a result of the Nissan Revival Plan, a casualty of overproduction. It was succeeded by the Nissan Fuga.
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First generation (F30; 1980–1986)
The first Leopard (also known as Leopard TR-X) was introduced in September 1980 as a contender in the upper medium class of cars. The Leopard was positioned as a larger coupe and sedan above the top level Nissan Bluebird 810 with the six-cylinder engine. The Leopard coupe was introduced after the Toyota Chaser but before the Toyota Soarer. The angular body, available as a two-door hardtop coupé "personal luxury car", and a four-door hardtop sedan, which featured very slim C- and D-pillars and large glass surfaces. The coupé featured a "glass-to-glass" rear window sharing the very slim C- and D-pillars from the sedan. The angular appearance was shared with the Fairlady Z, and the coupé was exclusive to Nissan Store Japanese Nissan dealerships while the sedan was exclusive to Nissan Cherry Store. The coupé replaced the Nissan Cedric coupé and the Nissan Laurel coupé. The wind resistance drag coefficient of the two-door version is 0.37. At the time of introduction, the two body styles both carried the same price tags. The Leopard featured some industry firsts, for instance a fuel consumption gauge in the dashboard.
Originally the Leopard was available with naturally aspirated inline four- and six-cylinder engines of 1,800, 2,000, and 2,800 cc displacement; the largest engine received an electronic engine management system developed together with Hitachi, and was called NAPS-Z. The 1.8 liter fours were also originally available with a four-speed manual transmission, all others received five-speeds as standard (or an optional three-speed automatic). In July 1981 a two-liter turbocharged engine was added. Available as a GX, SGX, and ZGX, it had the same maximum output as did the more expensive and heavier 2.8.
In September 1982, the Leopard received a mild facelift and with it, the under-performing 2.8 was dropped from the lineup. In June 1984 a limited Turbo Grand Edition with the 300ZX's 3 litre VG30ET turbo V6 engine joined the line-up.
The car shared many components with the six-cylinder version of the Nissan Bluebird (910), sold in North America as the Datsun 810 (and later renamed the Nissan Maxima), but used a platform based on the Nissan Skyline R30.Yamaguchi 1981, p. 64 The Japanese version had side view mirrors mounted on the front fenders and (uniquely) had small wipers attached to the top of the mirrors to remove accumulated rain and dirt from the surface of the mirrors.
A list of the various trim levels and engines that the Leopard was available with at its introduction. The 2-liter engine gave Japanese buyers the option of paying less annual road tax:
modelenginedispl.outputweightnotesPSkWat (rpm)kglb 180X F Z18 I4,twin-carb 1,770 cc 105 77 6,000 180X CF 200X F L20E I6,Nissan ECCSfuel injection 1,998 cc 125 92 6,000 four-door only 200X CF 200X SF 200X SF-L 280X CF L28E I6,Nissan ECCSfuel injection 2,753 cc 145 107 5,200 280X SF-L four-door bodywork adds
After a mild styling update in late 1982, the car was offered in the following variations: 180X GX, SGX 200X SGX, ZGX 200 Turbo SGX, ZGX, ZGX Super Edition 300 Turbo Grand Edition
Second generation (F31; 1986–1992) Most of the information in this article was translated from the Nissan Leopard article on Japanese Wikipedia at :ja:日産・レパード.
The F31 Leopard appeared in February 1986 and was only available as a luxury GT coupé. This vehicle shared a platform with the Nissan Skyline R31, Nissan Cefiro A31, and the Nissan Laurel C32 to share development costs, benefiting from Project 901. The Leopard sedan was replaced by the Nissan Bluebird Maxima in 1988.
The F31 Leopard was directly competing mainly with the Toyota Soarer, Mazda Cosmo, and the Honda Legend coupé in 1986. Whereas Toyota offered the Soarer several iterations of its straight six in 2.0, 2.8, and 3.0 liters' displacement, Nissan offered the all-new V6 either naturally aspirated or with a turbo in its Leopard. The displacements of the engines were of either 2.0 or 3.0 liters. The engines offered were the VG30DET, VG30DE, VG20DET, VG20ET, and VG20E. Early 2.0 turbo versions had the single-cam (per bank) VG20ET, but from August 1988, the quad-cam version appeared.
The bodywork was also facelifted in August 1988 and now featured a smoother front appearance, achieving a wind resistance coefficient of 0.32. It was the facelifted version that was exported to the USA, and approximately 12,000 Leopards were sold (with around 6,000 of those being converted to convertibles by ASC). In the USA, the F31 was called the Infiniti M30.'80s Car Archives, p. 129 Output of the VG30DE engine also increased marginally at the time of the facelift. The new turbocharged 3.0 liter VG30DET engine was available in top-spec form, which produces . Only the smaller VG20ET and VG20DET engines had intercoolers installed.
The companion fastback sports car, the Fairlady ZX, reflected the angular bodywork. Still, the coupé remained exclusive to the Nissan Store locations in Japan. The Leopard's more traditional coupé styling was offered as an alternative to the Fairlady ZX's fastback appearance.
Trim packages started with the top-level Ultima Grand Selection with the 3.0 V6 engine, the Ultima with the 3.0 V6 (later the Ultima received the 3.0 V6 turbo), the XS-II Grand Selection with the 2.0 V6 Turbo, the XS-II with the 2.0 V6 Turbo, the XS with the V6 Turbo, the XJ-II with a 2.0 V6 and the base model called the XJ with the 2.0 V6. All models came with a digital instrument cluster, all models except the XS and the XJ came with stereo and cruise control buttons installed in the steering wheel center pad, and both Grand Selection models were installed with a 6-inch CRT TV screen installed in the dashboard below the A/C controls that allowed passengers to watch broadcast TV if the transmission was in Park and the parking brake applied. The screen was not touch-sensitive and didn't offer a CD-ROM-based navigation system. The display also showed AM/FM stereo settings. The video entertainment system also had RCA connections to attach a camcorder and watch recorded video. Sony supplied the stereo and video equipment. On top of that, the Ultima models featured a keyless entry card.
The Leopard F31 had few factory options, but dealers offered the addition of a cellular phone installed in a dedicated compartment in the dashboard above the glove compartment, where a modern passenger-side airbag would now be located. They also offered a choice of a cassette tape changer installed in the center armrest compartment, with a separate single-disc CD player in the dashboard. A CD changer was later upgraded to the center armrest compartment.
Catering to Japanese tastes for luxury, the Leopard wasn't available in leather for all trim packages, with a wool interior offered on the top three trim packages. The front passenger seat was also equipped with what Nissan called the "Partner Comfort Seat," where the top portion of the front passenger seat was further articulated to tilt forward, supporting the passenger's shoulders while allowing the seatback structure to recline. The front edge of the passenger seat cushion was also adjustable. This was created by Dr. Yoshiyuki Matsuoka, who worked for Nissan from 1982.
Like the Skyline and Fairlady ZX, the Leopard coupé was a front-engined and rear-wheel drive vehicle. The RE4R01A four-speed automatic with electronic overdrive was used, as well as a five-speed manual transmission, which was only available in the domestic Japanese market on the lower trim level XJ-II and the XJ 2.0 V6 without a turbo. The differential was a Nissan R200-type open differential.
The suspension was shared with the Skyline and Laurel, using MacPherson struts for the front wheels and a semi-trailing arm rear suspension with coil springs for the rear. If the Leopard was optionally equipped with the "Super Sonic Suspension" system, a sonar module mounted under the front bumper scanned the road surface and adjusted the suspension accordingly via actuators mounted on all four coil over shock absorbers. There was also a switch on the center console that allowed the driver to change between "Auto," "Soft," "Medium," and "Hard" settings on all models except the XS model, which removed the "Auto" selection. The speed-sensitive rack-and-pinion power steering could also be separately reduced for a sporting feeling, and the suspension setting would modify both the steering feel and the shift points on the automatic transmission. A multi-link suspension was installed on the front wheels to accommodate the adjustable ride height shock absorbers.
The Leopard F31's production run lasted seven years, ending in June 1992 due to lagging sales. Seven years was very long by period Japanese standards, nearly equaling the runs of two generations of most Japanese cars. Nobody knows exactly how many Infiniti M30 were produced for the US market, but it has been said that just over 17,000 were made. It is unknown how many were coupés and how many were convertibles; the convertible was only available in 1991 and 1992. 38,000 F31 Leopards were sold in Japan during its seven-year production span.F31club.com
+Second generation engines type layout displ. output dates PS kW at (rpm) VG20E V6, EFi 1,998 cc 6,000 1986.02–1992.05 VG20ET V6 turbo EFi 5,600 1986.0 2–1988.08 VG20DET DOHC V6 turbo EFi 6,800 1988.0 8–1992.05 VG30DE DOHC V6 EFi 2,960 cc 6,000 1986.0 2–1988.08 1988.0 8–1992.05 VG30DET DOHC V6 turbo EFi 1988.0 8–1992.05
Third generation (Y32; 1992–1996)
The third generation (internally the Y32 Leopard) was designed by Jerry Hirshberg, president of Nissan Design International (NDI) and marketed as the Leopard J Ferie, beginning in June 1992 — as a four-door, five-passenger rear-drive sedan. Production began on April 7, 1992 as a 1993 model, and production ended on June 18, 1997. This was the second and last generation of Leopard to be sold in North America, where it was sold as the Infiniti J30.
The Leopard abandoned the coupe, and changed platforms from the Skyline and Laurel to the longer Cedric and Gloria. The sedan was the only body style offered, and was exclusive to Nissan Store. Its appearance at introduction was distinctive, and the small interior resulted from its rounded styling uncharacteristic of the crowded executive car class at the time, which is now considered an early variant of a four-door coupé.
All J30s/Leopard J Feries were manufactured in Tochigi, Tochigi, Japan. The series used a MacPherson strut front suspension with a multi-link suspension rear suspension and Nissan's upgraded proprietary four wheel steering technology, Super HICAS.
The nameplate J Férié derives from the French jour férié, for holiday. The word Ferie was (almost) shared with the Honda Civic Ferio marketed at the same time.
Power came from a 3.0 L VG30DE V6 (shared with the 300ZX) which produced and of torque. While it shares the Y32 Chassis with the Nissan Cedric/Gloria, it was offered the engines used in the Nissan Cima Y32 where it was offered with both the VG30DE and VH41DE V8.