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W E'RE CELEBRATING OUR 60th anniversary at Ranch & Coast and it's fitting that we picked a luxury automotive brand that is also celebrating its own milestone. Infiniti was launched by Nissan Motor Corporation 35 years ago, and this month we're reviewing the 2025 QX80, a living-large utility vehicle in a segment that's commemorating 90 years of family conveyance. e all-new QX80 is easily Infiniti's largest and most expensive flagship model in its lineup, and big, posh SUVs have that stature with many luxury brands. Remember that Town Car ride to the airport? Now it's Lincoln's Navigator that's more likely to provide the chauffeured arrival. e QX80 was formerly known as Infiniti's QX56 and received its numeric promotion as part of product line renaming strategy a decade ago. Its mechanical underpinnings are based on the rugged Nissan Patrol, an SUV that matches up competitively against Toyota's Land Cruiser in some of our planet's toughest terrain. And while the sturdy platform creates substance, every component that creates cabin bliss has been incorporated by Infiniti's engineers to attain the luxury that lives up to both the brand and a six-figure window sticker. In the curb appeal category, the 2025 styling is entirely fresh, designed by global design executive Alfonso Albaisa and his colleagues. He calls the QX80's design language "Artistry in Motion," a portrayal that seems familiar in my hyperbole recollection, but the bold form does deliver. e new styling is a fresh departure from previous models, departing not only from its thrifty cousin, Nissan's Armada, but from what had become the Infiniti brand's familiar grille. e new style, previewed in Pebble Beach a couple of years ago with the QX Monograph concept, incorporates a flowing, vertical texture that's meant to resemble a bamboo forest, accompanied by daytime running lights inspired by "digital piano keys." e result becomes a nicely assertive design. When you approach the big fella with the remote device in your pocket or purse, door handles glide out to invite entrance, and for additional drama, a light show begins with the logo emblem illuminating, followed by the running lights and the INFINITI wordmark with wing-like geometric shapes projected near the detour transportation PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN DOUGLAS A Trio of Anniversaries Infiniti's all-new QX80 is a vehicle to be celebrated BY BRIAN DOUGLAS ranchandcoast.com 88 NOVEMBER 2024 RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE