Nissan Leopard

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.^[3] 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).^[1] In July 1981 a two-liter turbocharged engine was added.^[2] Available as a GX, SGX, and ZGX, it had the same maximum output (145 PS) as did the more expensive and heavier 2.8.^[4]

In September 1982, the Leopard received a mild facelift and with it, the under-performing 2.8 was dropped from the lineup.^[5] In June 1984 a limited Turbo Grand Edition with the 300ZX's 230 PS (169 kW) 3 litre turbo engine joined the line-up.^[5]

The car shared many components with the six-cylinder version of the

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:^[1]

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. The Leopard sedan was replaced by the Nissan Bluebird Maxima in 1988.

The F31 Leopard was directly competing mainly to the Toyota Soarer, Mazda Cosmo, and the Honda Legend coupé in 1986. Whereas Toyota offered the Soarer with several iterations of its two liter inline six and the single turbo 7M-GTE, Nissan had either non-turbo or turbo V6 inside its, then new, Leopard. The displacements of the engines were of either a 2.0L or a 3.0L, and they were the VG30DET, VG30DE, VG20DET (post 1988), VG20ET (prior to 1988), 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 at this time, and now featured a somewhat smoother front appearance. 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.^[8] Output of the VG30DE engine also increased marginally at the time of the facelift. Available in top spec form was the new turbocharged 3 litre VG30DET engine which produces 255 PS (188 kW). Only the smaller VG20ET and VG20DET engines had intercoolers.

The installation of 2.0 L engines in shorter vehicles was that so the lower trim packages offered Japanese buyers the ability to purchase a luxury coupé that didn't incur a yearly tax for owning a vehicle that didn't comply with Japanese Government dimension regulations. The use of a smaller engine also offered Japanese buyers yearly road tax savings.

The angular bodywork was reflected in the companion fastback sportscar, called the Fairlady ZX, but the coupé remained exclusive to the

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. The stereo and video equipment was supplied by Sony. 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

Catering to Japanese tastes for luxury, the Leopard wasn't available in leather for all trim packages, with wool interior offered on the top three trim packages. The front passenger seat was also equipped with what Nissan called "Partner Comfort Seat" where the top portion of the front passenger seat was further articulated to tilt forward, supporting the passengers 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 starting in 1982.^[9]

Like the

The suspension was shared with the Skyline and Laurel, using

The Leopard F31's production run lasted for seven years, ending in June 1992 due to lagging sales. Seven years was very long by period Japanese standards, nearly equating the runs of two generations of most Japanese cars of the time.[7] 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.^[10]

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.

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

Power came from a 3.0 

In Japan, three trim levels were offered, the Type X with VH41DE V8, the Type L which had the same equipment level as the Type X with the smaller VG30DE V6 engine, and the Type F offered with the V6 but more modestly equipped. Later updates offered the Type X-S V6 sharing the equivalent content level with the North American V6 equipped J30, and the Type L-S V6 sharing the equipment package with the Type X-S. The V8 claimed 270 PS (199 kW) in Japanese specifications. This generation was the first time an engine with a displacement under 2.0 L wasn't offered in Japan, and resulted in Japanese buyers being liable for a higher annual road tax bill which affected sales.

The previous generation 6-inch CRT TV screen was upgraded to a color LCD screen, that was 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. As before, 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. The stereo and video equipment was supplied by Sony.

The leather interior was designed with assistance from Poltrona Frau of Italy. The seats were made by Poltrona Frau at a rate of five per day.^[12] The interior treatment continued to use the contrasting arrangement used in the larger Nissan Infiniti Q45 with a dark color used for the dashboard, and center console, with a lighter shade color used inside for the seats, interior door panels, headliner, carpet, and carpeted floor mats. The drivers window switch was both one-touch express down and double-sized, i.e., the same width as two conventional window switches, with the front and rear passenger window switches further down and the window lockout switch installed next to the front passenger switch. The front passenger and rear passenger window switches were thumb activated, installed at the top of the interior door pull handle. The Y32 was the first car sold in Japan to include a passenger-side airbag as standard equipment.

One of the numerous reasons the Y32 Leopard did not meet projected sales goals was that its most distinguishing feature was a lack of interior room. It had the distinction of being a mid-size car with the space of a subcompact (less than a Sunny) due to its sloping roofline and rounded down trunk. The styling of the vehicle was more favorably regarded in Japan than it was in the USA.

All were built in

Information for this section of the article was translated from Leopard J Ferie.com

Fourth generation: Y33 (1996-1999)

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 fourth and last generation of the Leopard, introduced in March 1996, again was offered as a hardtop sedan only, using frameless side windows with a

A V8 engine was deleted, and at the time of introduction only three V6 engines were available. The XV-G and XV came with the VQ30DET turbo, XR with the VQ30DE, and the XJ with the VG30E. For January 1997 the XJ-Limited, which is based on the XJ was offered the VG20E engine. Super HICAS was also installed on the XV-G and XV, with internal model code JHBY33.

For the 1998 mid-model refresh, the XJ-4 was installed with ATTESA E-TS AWD and the RB25DET turbocharged straight-six engine, borrowed from the Skyline and Laurel. The straight six was installed because at the time ATTESA-ETS was either mated to the VH41DE V8 from the Cima, or the RB25DET from the Skyline and Laurel, which would've made the Leopard too expensive. The VG based V6 engines were also replaced with the VQ series that utilized Nissan's direct fuel injection engine configuration, which supplied fuel directly inside the engine cylinder, instead of inside the intake manifold just before entering the cylinders.

As the economic downturn of the post-"