About a decade ago, Acura styling veered off the rails. I believe it was around 2009 when it happened, which is the year Acura came out with "the beak." The beak was highly controversial and almost universally panned — it was essentially a large, silver, beak-shaped component added to the front of Acura models. The worst offender was probably the 2009 TL, whose beak was so universally hated that it was quickly replaced with a smaller beak before being ditched altogether.
The biggest issue with the beak is that it really messed up a nice period in Acura’s world. The 2004-2008 Acura TL was a handsome car — one of the nicest-looking sedans in its time period. The same could be said of the 2004-2008 Acura TSX, which was also a handsome, crisp, well-designed sedan. Those two cars were gorgeous, and Acura’s past has some other handsome vehicles — including the RSX, the NSX and a few 1990s models.
But then, the beak. The beak came and now it appears the beak is gone. Acura models have pretty much dropped it, replacing it instead with a more traditional (yet still distinctive) grille design, which has been carried on to Acura’s entire lineup by now. The new grille isn’t just inoffensive — it’s actually attractive, and it finally seems to be returning Acura models to the styling form they had back in the mid-2000s.
There are several examples of handsome new Acura models, but the brand’s SUVs are undoubtedly the best — the new RDX is quite attractive and the MDX is the same. It seems that after a hiatus with a beak, good styling has returned to Acura — and I suspect that will translate to increased sales, especially with controversial designs coming from long-time rivals like Lexus. Find an Acura for sale
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