Inner beauty outshines ugly exterior

0 Comments | USA TODAY, February, 2008 | by James R. Healey

In the preschool parking lot, cheek-by-jowl with a typical parental array -- CX-9, XC70, CR-V, various minivans -- one thing stands out about the new Nissan Murano SUV.

It is ugggg-lee. The tugged-back grille resembles the skeletal smile of a dead dog many days gone. Or something discarded as too weird for the Mad Max movies.

And the rump. Nissan seems to have adopted some of the worst elements from other brands. Mainly, the needlessly oval rear window and the too-large, reverse-slant rear roof pillar, both of which pinch rear vision.

Nissan brags about the new body as "modern art" that maintains the vehicle's "Murano-ness."

To avoid gagging, quick, jump inside. Here, it's a lovely machine. Classy presentation, nothing tries too hard....