A Trend That (Thankfully) Never Fully Materialized

Clear headlights are one of those things that make you scratch your head and wonder what took so long. Immediately a huge style improvement even with standard halogen bulbs, the advent of projector and now LED lighting elements have given us headlights as critical styling elements. While clear lenses have done wonders upfront they have made only a minor impact at the back. However there was a time when clear and chrome tail lights were all the rage and it seemed like they would spread to every make and model following the like of the Lexus RX, Nissan Altima and the Toyota Prius. Thankfully, the shock value soon wore off and only a few other manufacturers joined the clear and chrome party and the latest iterations of the RX, Altima and the Prius have toned down their designs and we are all better off.

New York Autoshow 2012: Nissan Altima and Chevrolet Impala

With less than a day until the New York Autoshow begins officially here are a couple more early photos of a pair of anticipated debuts, the new Nissan Altima and Chevrolet Impala. The newest Altima is certainly an evolution of the current one along with some new styling elements as seen on the Maxima and the Infiniti M. The overall design works quite well without any particular highlights or blemishes as on par for the segment. The biggest selling point for the new Altima is the promised 27/38 EPA fuel economy rating for the 2.5 four cylinder. On the other hand Chevrolet took a big leap forward with the Impala, giving the previous fleet queen some real styling. The jury is still out whether the new corporate Chevy front as seen on the Traverse is an improvement over what the new Malibu will wear.