Chevrolet says Monte Carlo buyers usually cite styling as a major influence on their purchasing decision. And, certainly, nothing else looks like a Monte Carlo. The Monte's sharply creased quarters and thick rear roof pillars represent a design heritage now 38 years old. At the same time, the current model is as modern as the latest computer simulation, refined in the wind tunnel for maximum stability with minimal drag.

The folks who own them love them. To us, however, the current Monte Carlo looks as if it were designed by a committee. Individual elements are attractive, but we're not quite satisfied with how they hang together as a whole.

We do, however, like the effects of last year's facelift. The front end, particularly, is much smoother and does hang together better visually than before. Where previous Montes breathed through two narrow air slots above the bumper and a cheap-looking body-color mesh below it, the new design features blacked-out rectangular openings top and bottom, with a prominent gold Chevy bow-tie front-and-center. Similarly, the old Monte's odd frog-eye headlamps have given way to a more conventional shape housing three independent lighting units. Chevrolet says the new lamps are not only better looking but are more effective. The front air dam is deeper, smoother, and looks much less like something taped on in the heat of battle. The overall effect is far more handsome. Above the bumper, particular, it's also very similar to the recently restyled Impala, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

And if the front end is a little less distinctive, well, there's still no mistaking the Monte's silhouette when you move around to the side. Even here, however, Chevrolet has cleaned up the design, with a wider and more subtle protective molding mounted lower on the body; and better-integrated sill extensions. Around back, too, much of the fussy detail of the old design has been shaved off for a cleaner, more grown-up appearance. Gone (and good riddance!) are the frilly air slots in the lower bumper extension, replaced by a solid black panel that nicely frames the SS model's dual exhausts. And the reverse lights, which before looked tacked on to the bumper at random, now extend in elegant oblongs from either side of the license plate opening.

New flat-blade windshield wipers provide consistent pressure on the glass, which helps eliminate streaking and wind noise. And in a reversal of typical Detroit practice, the re-styled 2006-07 Monte actually measures 1.2 inches shorter than previous model.

The Monte Carlo SS is distinguished by a black-diamond crosshatch grille, and a purposeful rear spoiler that emphasizes the car's NASCAR heritage. Corvette-inspired bright exhaust outlets also are standard on the SS, and a new Rally Stripe package is available.