The Infiniti Prototype 9 Is a Modern Racer With Vintage Styling

The Pebble Beach Councours d’Elegance always has an impressive collection of truly special vehicles. This year there’s something new in the mix, and it’s from a brand you might not expect. The Infiniti Prototype 9 is a modern racer with vintage styling that is a downright gorgeous journey back in time. Senior Vice President of Global Design Alfonso Albaisa had this to say about the car: “It started as a discussion: What if INFINITI had created a race car in the 1940s? If one were to imagine an open-wheeled INFINITI racer on the famous circuits of the era, such as Japan’s Tamagawa Speedway, what would that look like? The sketches were stunning and the idea so compelling that we had to produce a prototype. As other departments became aware of this, they volunteered their time to create a working vehicle.” The results are nothing short of stunning and packed with a combination of modern ideology, old school design and craftsmanship you don’t normally see in an automobile these days. The Prototype 9 is powered by a prototype electric motor from Nissan’s Advanced Powertrain Department mated to a next-generation EV powertrain that help the vintage style racer develop 148 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque with a top speed of just over 100mph and a 0-62 mph time of 5.5 seconds. Here’s hoping they at least put the Prototype 9 around the track a few times and record it because we can’t imagine a world where this concept car will ever be street legal.