Our Infiniti G37S has landed

An Infiniti G37S Coupe has just joined our long-term test fleet and over the next 12 months, we'll put it through the ultimate test everyday life. Associate editor Roger Stansfield picked up the car from Infiniti today.

I have just become only the 10th person in Britain to take delivery of an Infiniti. Beat that for exclusivity.

Perhaps I should point out that Infiniti, the posh division of Nissan, has only just started trading in the UK, and another 12 customers are signed up and simply waiting for their cars to arrive from Japan. Still, it's nice to be in on the ground floor.

To be able to get our car so quickly, we've opted to take an ex-demonstrator with 1600 miles on the clock rather than order a bespoke car that would take three or four months to be built and shipped.

The proud owner takes delivery
So, earlier today I became the proud owner of a G37S coupe in Moonlight White with Graphite leather upholstery, optional seven-speed automatic gearbox, intelligent cruise control and brake assist, plus a multimedia pack (rear-view camera, DVD sat-nav and Bose 10-speaker stereo): on-the-road price as new 40,250.

With Infiniti, you're not just another customer to be put through the sausage machine. In fact, you're treated pretty much like royalty.

When I arrived at the company's sole (for the moment) UK dealership in Reading (0118 907 1333), I was greeted by my 'personal consultant', Nigel Spragg, who will be my first point of contact for anything to do with the car.

Coffee and formalities over, I was ushered into the delivery room, which sounds like something out of a maternity hospital, to be given a 185-point check sheet detailing everything that had been done to the car during the pre-delivery inspection.

Then I was led through the door into the customer delivery bay, where my car emerged from under a Japanese imperial purple dust sheet.

The next half-hour or so was taken up with an explanation of the car's controls and switches, although Nigel says customers are invited back for a second handover after a week or two to make sure there's nothing they're struggling with.

Getting to know each other
Finally, I was away into the sort of weather that encouraged Noah to get into the boat-building business, to start getting to know my car.

I'll spend the next few days prodding and pushing things and driving on different roads, and then I'll report back. First signs are that I'm going to be entertained equally as much as I've so far been pampered.