Was there ever a rivalry between the Infiniti Q45 and the first gen TL? I have a 3rd gen TL, so I don't know much about the 1st gen, but I just saw an old Q45 with a license plate that said "TLVS GOD." Does that mean like in a race between the two, it's the TL vs. God? Sounded logical since there's a beef between the G35 and the 3rd gen...or, maybe that guy has a stupid license plate...or maybe I'm just stupid

 

Nope... totally different market segments.

The Q45 tried to be an LS400 mixed with a Jaguar. The TL's only real rivals in the 1st generation was the Lexus ES300 and maybe the Infiniti I30.

 

is it me or do some of the Toyotas look like 1st gen TL's from the back? such as the Avalons....not the brand new ones....but the ones in, say, 2000'ish. they just have the same shape, etc. the TL and the ES300 were very similar. even on small stuff....such as no window frames. odd eh?

 

I30 was an overpriced Maxima with a bunch of bodywork garbage on it. The G20 was a dressed up Sentra that had no guts. J30 had the ugliest rear end ever seen on a car.

When it came to badge labeling, I think Infiniti was the worst offender of the early to mid 90's. But somehow their marketing worked because my dad bought one.

They've totally cleaned up recently though.

 

Early (1st gen?) Avalon rears and mid 90 Camry headlights look VERY similar to the TL.

 

I think thats my favorite part of the first gen TL, the headlights

 

hmm that could mean tl vs. god, but it could also mean television god. tv god could have been taken, so they went with something else. idk whats right and whats wrong though...

 

or, it could mean T LVS GOD - t loves God....lol, i think thats the most obvious one

 

I should have seen that.

 

True, but I liked the I30 MUCH more than the WAYYY overpriced Camry that Toyota called the ES300. The G20 was ALOT more car than the Sentra, although yes, they did share similar underpinnings. J30 was a unique car for it's time, I always liked it. Acura was at those times thoug, the only one of the "Big Three" japanese companies to have MOST ('Teg was based on the Civic) of it's vehicles sold as unique cars, not remodels of current lower priced Honda models. (Although in most other parts of the worls, Acura doesn't exist and these cars ARE Hondas).