1994 Nissan Leopard J. Ferie Review - A Japanese Sedan That Failed

[@MireVoid]

So glad to see its posted, its currently sitting at 98,100 kilometers and still climbing as I continue to daily drive it until first snowfall. And maybe I could have warned you about the sand hill cranes lol.

[@Abraxium]

A rear end that only a mother could love. That or an Oldsmobile Aurora

[@KaroshiSalad1987]

Guess I'm a Mother then.

[@FrequencyORD]

looks like an ioniq 6

[@Roddy_Zeh]

The Aurora was cool, bruh. 🗿

[@josiahs9559]

If you put Oldsmobile or Buick badges on one of these I wouldn’t take a second look🤣 v6 and 4 speed auto it’s so similar too

[@sneakerfreak2002]

Typically boring old meat & potatoes goofs say stuff like that so 🤷‍♂️

[@celsovera91]

If anyone has the infiniti version, please email Zack. When I was a kid, I used to want one of these. We did had the poor man’s version, the Altima, which was sort of the same shape as this car

[@-fuk57]

The Altima was a FWD car though.

[@Xvillas]

I have one. In Brazil...😂 10k miles mint condition

[@diablow1411]

Not gonna lie, I would LOVE seeing cars like these in titles like Forza. 90s is severely underrated for cars.

[@stupidvideos1449]

I would disagree. With all those famous Japanese sports cars from the 90s

[@RobsNeighbor]

I did a ton of timing belts on the J30 at Infiniti. It was a cool car for sure. Great review Zach

[@watchingitallhere]

Not cool. But hey you made money.

[@Xvillas]

I've to change mine. Still breathing and thinking about it.😅

[@mromatic17]

6:10 THAT BIRD IS A CRANE

[@brian5o]

To be more specific, they’re Sandhill Cranes and they’re awesome.

[@Lexus-Revival-Garage]

My neighbor had a new J30 when I was a kid. I’m guessing it was also a ‘94. Probably the only reason I know what these are 😅

[@gm12551]

A kid that bullied me (Lance) had his grandma drop him off in one of these where he would go and torment me on the playground till I got even one day. Also Lance: came from a broken home and is probably still overweight to this day.

[@aonewitheld9593]

I have a super rare “gold package” J30t. I’ve owned it for 30 years. During the summer it makes rounds at car shows. Film companies rent it out for productions set in the 1990’s.

[@cameronlovesevolve]

ahhhhh when i was 16 i tried to get one of these for my first car... the one i wanted was maroon with tan leather interior.. it was a 93 Infiniti J30.. biggie smalls spit a bar about it! "driving dirty in J30's getting bent" what an incredible design. so cool looking! Real wood on that interior too!

[@bazilwreckerloughead]

I kinda like the looks of that...the fact that it's right hand drive doesn't hurt either!

[@phillyspitta8147]

When everyone has a Super Nintendo or genesis and you pull up with a turbo grafx 16

[@senseicorey9979]

I wish I wasn't old enough to relate to this comment.....

[@dhillaz]

I always loved the looks of the 2000 Buick Century

[@deennice6035]

Sandhill Crane. Always cool seeing them in Florida.

[@jeremiahallyn4603]

Wonder why they are in Wisconsin?

[@jeffreynowak1294]

Thanks for this interesting video! My two cents is just that the Maxima and I30 were more practical and well rounded cars in comparison to the J30. I still like the J30 and always thought they were unique and quirky.

[@stevemartegani]

Sandhill Cranes! Check that off your birding list lol

[@9t8alti]

Thats the one that had been up for sell i met the guy at a meet last year cause i was in love with the car lol im a huge fan of the J30/leopard i briefly had a J30 i never actually got on the road and sad i didnt

[@ericcarabetta1161]

It’s so weird seeing the Nissan version of a car I’ve only ever seen as an Infinity. Kinda like the Soarer.

[@tatj83]

Had a Infiniti J30t. It had the four wheel steering and a ton of options. It was, as a friend of mine used to say, an automobile, not a car. Drove great, very dependable, and had pretty good looks (for it's day) all that and a touch of class, Lexus killed it........J30's were advertised as a driver's road car and Lexus was pushed as driving on a cloud car. Sold it after it turned 100K to a friend, he drove it for another five years before selling it.

[@jacquesc3166]

I'm from QC, Canada. Jour Férié translates directly to Statutory Holiday. It's a Leopard in day off trim, preferably driven on Mondays or Fridays....

[@mrtyreus0]

When I was about 10, my parents were shopping for a new car. Parked along side each other were a 1998 Ford Taurus and a 1996 Infiniti J30. I so badly wanted them to get the Infiniti, but with the age and RWD in New England they went for the Taurus. Coincidentally, they have similar styling cues.

[@jacobrzeszewski6527]

I owned one of these. The cost of repairs are just diabolical at times. I couldn't find struts or damper cartridges for under $1400 for mine, and even then, there were none in stock. Actually wound up having to rebuild the struts with 1998 Bonnivile Strut cartridges. Worked great, and I sold it before the timing belt or the rear struts could fail. It was a great car, and also good riddance.

[@celsovera91]

@@jacobrzeszewski6527 that’s kinda the reason why it would later get replaced by the i30 since that one was a rebadged maxima

[@brucekalter4206]

I owned a mid-90's Infiniti J30 in dark green. I bought it because I really liked the look inside and out, even though I knew the car was not very practical. The back seat was too tiny for a car this size (as you pointed out); a sedan needed more room, & even my young family at the time had a hard time fitting in the back. also, the trunk was WAY too small, your comments notwithstanding, owing to the shape of the trunk lid. And.. the car was just not that reliable. I had weird problems with it & finally got rid of it. To correct one of your statements, it was NOT the 2nd car Infiniti brought in, & the M30 was not the first. The first really new Infiniti was the Q45...which flopped mostly due to a bad advertising campaign... and that was offered along with the M30, which came in coupe and convertible. They also offered the G20, which was a rebadged & gussied up Nissan Primera, a small sports sedan (I owned one of those, too). That was all in the early 90's. The J30 premiered in 1995 I think, & it did not do well. I believe 1999 was the final year in the US.

[@ricepony33]

We borrowed one when they first came out from a doctor. My brother drifted it all through Atlanta, sounded great and felt fast at the time.

[@jeremiahallyn4603]

Looks just like the first Infiniti cars that came out in the early 90s.

[@jacoblempa7184]

my first car was a j30t. absolutely awesome first car and it never broke. super rare now only see about one j30 a year

[@drewzero1]

My '91 Mazda 323 hatchback had a spare of shame. The car was black and I liked the yellow accent so much that after replacing the tire, I painted all four regular wheels to match!

[@raoulduke7844]

Nissan Buick Century

[@doug6191]

10:38 - Price. Size. Design. All three aspects were working against this car. The Lexus & Acura offerings were a better package overall. To me, the design was great. It was wholly inconsistent with other Infinitis, though. These were kind of like the Aurora at Oldsmobile. It wasn't what the brand's typical buyers expected.

[@OLDS98]

Thank you for the review. I liked you included the information about the designer who worked for GM and went to Nissan. I recall this car. It was good to hear the Oldsmobile comments( the 442 and the name). I recall we used to call this car the "Joke 30". What is funny Oldsmobile went to a import mode 1997-2004 and it too failed. Thank you for the review.

[@bwofficial1776]

Looks like a nice example. I always thought the styling of these was a bit unfortunate but I can appreciate the 90s-ness of it. This might be the oldest car I've ever heard of with a power parking brake. Those parking posts are still very common in Japan. Surprising that the back seat was so tight, especially since this was sold as a luxury Infiniti in the US. I love when cars still do the brightly colored spare tire of shame.

[@PYRO200055412]

You need to get a late model Mazda 929.

[@LawWonderTV9]

Also known as the Mazda Luce in Japan.

[@ngrinshift4383]

...and available with a wankel engine in Japan too.

[@doug6191]

7:39 - It wasn't ahead of its time. The Altima and 626 both had similar shapes in 1993. And the '94 Contour had a similar "blobby and round" design.

[@gm12551]

95 contour

[@doug6191]

@gm12551 Oh, yeah... I drove one in '94 but forgot it was a '95.

[@alejandrosequera7655]

Love it, for me was and still is a gorgeous car fell in love with it the 1st time saw one and still in love today, great video.

[@drake5557]

I know we had GMC Jimmy at home, but dang, someone imported a Nissan Jeffery and I am all for it! 😂. Also if it possible, could we get an early 90's Q45 review too?

[@celsovera91]

@@drake5557 I have a coworker who has both a 98 q45 and 2010 sentra. She said the infiniti is way more comfortable to drive than the sentra

[@kash2090]

You've never seen sandhill cranes before?

[@DiscGolfDom23]

I love how the gauges are done with a serif font. 1990s Luxury Touch!!!!😊

[@philipp9481]

Pretty interesting car! Rear-wheel drive AND locked AND 4-Wheel-steering. Pretty crazy for THAT car. Love it!

[@hofmannjoachim8817]

I think the front end doesn't match to the rear end. And there is no space in the back seats which is a must in cars if this size.

[@ngrinshift4383]

Somebody out there has to have a mid 90's Camry coupe manual V6 for you to review. I always wanted one of those as a kid.

[@iamatlantis1]

Oo nice! Edit 0 cup holders, Doug would have a stroke the birds were Whooping Cranes i think

[@celsovera91]

@@iamatlantis1 I believe in the infiniti version, the cupholders are where the electric e-brake is

[@mattwingert9297]

Yes those birds are in fact cranes why are in the suburbs is beyond me

[@MireVoid]

​@mattwingert9297 they like to wander around here, won't have a morning without seeing atleast 4 in or around the neighborhood

[@Brangeta]

Wow! I think those are sandhill cranes!

[@losefast118]

1994 J30 was the first car I ever drove. Love it! Watch the spin out in wet weather :)

[@nobatteriesincluded3968]

It can’t be that ugly Hyundai copied those taillights just recently definitely a cool ride 💯

[@k95channel]

Hyundai and KIA both sucks, old is gold these were so much better designed than a lot of new cars!

[@doug6191]

4:31 - Always fascinated by the English labels on the import models.

[@MireVoid]

I always assumed it was due to supply, they sold 70k J30s in the states meanwhile only selling roughly 8k in Japan

[@doug6191]

@@MireVoid It's on many models that weren't sold here

[@keysalt4302]

6:05 Those are Sandhill Cranes

[@67tomcat]

Leopard J Ferie, not Fire. And the first generation Leopard (1980-85) was available in both 2 & 4 door.

[@rickyjoshi7035]

I actually love the car. I think it didn’t jump off the sales charts because 1) Infiniti in general was still establishing its brand and 2) it looked small compared to its competition.

[@therealboofighter]

As a person who was really into cars at the time, and still am. I remember that the marketing campaign for Infinity at that time was very odd. Magazine adds had pictures of rocks. Not of the cars. Rocks. Strange phrases and just confusing marketing in general.

[@Pyjamarama11]

still am a person or still into cars ?

[@ngrinshift4383]

As a kid, I always told myself i would get an M50 when i grew up.

[@SakurauchiLily]

One small correction, the first-generation Nissan Leopard, which was produced between 1980 and 1986, was also offered a sedan, so this particular model wasn't the first four-door Leopard. The second-generation, the one sold in North America as the Infiniti M30, was only offered as a coupe (the convertible was a North American-market exclusive), but Nissan chose to sell the next generation exclusively as a sedan because the Leopard was sold through the same dealer chain as the Z-car and they likely didn't want to sell two competing models in the same showrooms. Also, it's worth noting is that the name "Ferie" is supposed to be pronounced "fairy-ay," though Nissan seems to have omitted the accents from the original word, "férié." To be fair, you're not the only one who mispronounced it, as Nissan's own commercials for it made the same mistake!

[@rushmatic]

My parents had a J30t in silver. Such a terribly tiny rear seat I remember.

[@SvenQ45]

Nice. Was thinking about when a Leopard review of this generation will come. Too bad you didn´t get the rare V8 version! Yes the back seat area is small but the fact this is a 4 door coupe is nice. Because the Leopard was always meant as a personal luxury (coupe). I like the design. Why it failed? In Japan I think it´s because the Toyota Soarer always sold better than the Leopard. Probably more technical. Put more money into the development. Although of course the Leopard isn´t bad.

[@dave11686]

The Infiniti J30 essentially

[@NewEnglandboy453]

Hah, the V8 you mentioned is a VH41. Funny since Im working on a Q45 with the VH45

[@nolahahnshouse3389]

Dope boys drove j-30’s back in the day in my old hood in New York.

[@DEEuroworks]

Cool video, I like the J30, would be even cooler of it was the V8 version.

[@caliboyrob]

Just seen a white Infiniti J30 for sale in Dallas area 😅

[@carsonac4163]

@5:59 "really tall bird things" bruh, those are wisconsin flamingoes

[@vashawndiromano]

I've always felt like the front end doesn't match to the rear end. The rear has such a unique design and the front is basically like every other 90s sedan. Still, I like the look of this car. I've never seen one here in central europe.

[@panoscoach310]

I can imagine a review from Jeremy Clarkson. "I'd rather have a bird flu "😂

[@snakehandler87]

Loved these

[@ericbritton9346]

I think this Infiniti J30 attened to be a coupe just like the M30 before it because of the limited backseat space and that's what it should have been instead of the sedan.

[@christophersmith1155]

i remember seeing alot of J-30s. they were nice. a better choice than the 3 series BMWs.

[@Low760]

7:22 holden special vehicles did the same thing with its spare.

[@georgearmerding]

Jfree definitely doesn't mean holiday in french. A friend of mine had a j30. It was good at burnouts. It was pretty awesome back in the days.

[@MireVoid]

The nameplate J Férié derives from the French jour férié, for holiday.

[@scrapgamingx1942]

Man that paint looks great!

[@M1lomay]

I think it’s decent looking. The slopped rear end is a miss for me though

[@gordonfreeman5434]

doug meduro will love this car

[@watchingitallhere]

It's Doug Menudo.

[@cardiffchris]

These had an uphill battle competing with the Nissan Maxima which was almost as good. Reminds me of a Japanese Jag XJ6

[@doug6191]

And competing with the Lexus ES300, which was a better package vs. this model.

[@jonlee580]

It was called the J30 in amerikkka..i actually liked how it looked..i always had a weakness for round butts

[@HenrySchecker]

Garlic bulb design language. Same era altima also a drivable garlic bulb. Fairy godmother didnt have a pumpkin to turn into a carriage so she blew up a garlic bulb instead

[@chaseman94]

The body on this looks a bit similar to the 1992-1999 Pontiac Bonneville or a Mercury Sable from the mid 90s.

[@GeeEm1313]

I miss J30s. They were beautiful machines. Yes, the design was pamned. But I love them.

[@eddiefalcon8316]

Zack are there other cars with front parking antennas?

[@markhealey9409]

I've never seen or heard of them before! 😲😲 Guess finding a parking space for a large car in cowded Japan is even more of a pain than in Europe!! 🤣🤣

[@passerati_ab]

The Mercedes-Benz W140 had them at the rear (the first years, before having PDC?)

[@eddiefalcon8316]

@@passerati_ab I edited my comment to reflect front. I remember the Benz from back in the day and even saw some in period when I was a service writer.

[@tkewrestler2662]

I always felt like these had the look of a Jaguar sedan.

[@nweye]

Sandhill Cranes. Cool birds 😉

[@g.c.brooks7214]

I'm sure the fact that J30/Leopard looks like U13 Nissan Altima didn't help the J30 in the USA. From what I understand(not sure how true this is), Japanese people are really conservative, and they were turned off by round bubbley shape of the Y32 Leopard. The U13 Bluebird also got a frosty reception which why it was redesigned to be more boxy when the next generation debut.

[@Haulinbassracing]

Wasnt there an infiniti version of this?

[@BrandonG8Man]

Ahh…the back seat space of a coupe without the “sexy” coupe styling.

[@GilZu]

The rear looks bit like Hyundai Elantra from 97'

[@doug6191]

From 97 feet?

[@MugatuJag]

Jerry Hirshberg was my neighbor. Super nice guy, he passed away about five or six years ago. He was a very very accomplished artist as well. And architect, he designed and had his house built, and it was just stunning, I highly suggest you look it up. It is in Del Mar, California. RIP💯🙏 1227 Umatilla St, Del Mar, CA 92014

[@Jamie-zs8ok]

Well no wonder it flopped the steering wheel is on the wrong side.

[@bwofficial1776]

Ironically, in Japan (a right hand drive country) left hand drive cars are considered more luxurious.

[@Jamie-zs8ok]

@@bwofficial1776 Is it the same thing in the UK? Which is also another right hand drive country? Or even Australia. I guess the Japanese find it like as a novelty or maybe they look at the German and American cars at such a high regard.

[@omostim2385]

I don’t understand JDM guys sometimes. That car is here as the J30 but no I don’t want that I want to import a right hand drive version for more money

[@245artist]

My favorite car. I have one in black!

[@Hobotraveler82]

Quirky and weird. Sounds like my kind of car. The style is elegant yet jelly bean in appearance like a 96 Taurus. Like the GM comment. Had me laughing. 😊

[@RobBanks-q1z]

Love these. big rwd bluebird with v8

[@denali6935]

I miss my Nissan u14 bluebird 2001

[@panoscoach310]

Back in early '90s this car had a big issue. Lexus.

[@PeterGriffin_2077]

That’s a Nissan Lesabre 😂

[@mattycharles3284]

Its the equivalent of the Infinity j30

[@3800TType]

Always thought these were beautiful.

[@ngrinshift4383]

Why do I remember a giant hamburger being dropped on one of these ?

[@celsovera91]

Sinbad drove one in Good Burger, which would later be crushed by a giant Mondo burger

[@ngrinshift4383]

@@celsovera91 there ya go... I knew I wasn't going xrazy !!! Thankyou

[@celsovera91]

@@ngrinshift4383 Kenan crashed into him while driving his mom’s 300ZX which both cars use the same engine

[@billseiler4952]

Question …have you ever not been super excited to drive a car?

[@ShootingCars]

No, I love my job and I’m happy to be doing it!

[@Anderson-ky6ps]

caraca que show de bola 😁👍👍👍👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@arabicelvis]

Otherwise known as the first infinty j

[@gm12551]

Zack: doesn’t understand that this car when from a bland square car (like the last gen stanza) to a swoopy design like the Altima. Also Zack: has J. Fire in the title 😂

[@Hunting_treasure]

Why does it look like a 90s jaguar sdean LOL for a NISSAN

[@earthsperfectphotos9765]

Pretty sure this thing has the same speedo and rpm gauge as my 1999 Toyota Solara 😂

[@jamessims9475]

J30 was too expensive and too small for a luxury sedan. I think they looked good but too impractical at a time when ppl were just getting into SUVs e.g. bombshell explorer was selling like mad

[@JarmelSingsKaraoke]

🔥🔥🔥

[@jaredgreen5840]

It's basically a 4 door 300Z 😉