Remember the Infiniti Essence? It was the stunning, 592-horsepower concept car from this year's Geneva auto show that had everybody asking, "Is this Infiniti's GT-R?"

We still don't know the answer, but we do know that late last week, the Infiniti Essence arrived in the United States for the very first time -- it's headed to Pebble Beach for the Concours d'Elegance. Inside Line was in Torrance, California, for the official "uncrating." And we have video and photos.

Infiniti had a special crate built just for the Essence, because, well, it had to. At over 77 inches wide (about 3 inches wider than a GT-R), this car won't fit in a standard shipping container. So the Essence travels in its own enormous steel case, and because it's a multi-million-dollar one-off concept, that case is loaded onto a cargo plane rather than an ocean freighter.

It sounds like a lavish existence, but when the Essence shows up in Torrance, all we see is a big gray box strapped down to a flat bed attached to an old International cab. It looks vulnerable. And getting the crate off the truck won't be easy.

The paint on the Infiniti Essence concept car looks pretty close to molten metal, like a Super Silver Nissan GT-R with 100 more coats of paint. It makes the car vulnerable to almost everything, and anyone who touches the car has to wear special white gloves. The paint, and various other non-production-spec adhesives, also makes the Essence very heat-sensitive, so it will ride to Pebble Beach in a climate-controlled truck.

First, though, it has to come off its pallet. The logistics staff deploys the pallet's built-in ramps (one for each wheel), which enable the Essence's caretaker, Nissan's Andy Parkin, to ease it down the ramp. Controls within the car allow Parkin to raise the front suspension 1.6 inches and the rear 1 inch to the improve the Infiniti's none-too-favorable breakover angle.

Parkin removes his shoes before getting behind the wheel of the Essence, but the one-off concept car starts right up.

Essence in Motion.