Nissan’s Midnight Editions Brings Stylish Cars and Truck to Its Lineup

Nissan Midnight Edition Style Cars
Nissan expands its popular “Midnight Edition” style package, which is now available on most sedans, SUVs and trucks

Don’t look shabby. Your car is the first outfit people see you in. 

When I want to feel extra crisp and stylish in any setting all it takes is a sublime mix of black and white. A starched white shirt paired with a mix of black pants, pumps and jacket and I’m ready for just about anything. Ditto the little black dress or a charcoal grey suit. Monotone dressing sets the stage for what you want the world to see. And now, so do stylish, monotone-dressed cars.

Nissan Midnight Edition Style Cars
Chic monotone black dressing illustrated by (l-r) GlamRadar, Victoria Beckham by StreetFSN and FashForFashion.

Why is this classic combination always a winner?

“Growing up” professionally in New York City editorial jobs, black was the uniform. The singular color allowed shape-defining pieces to be accented by lush textures and cuts that created their own cache. Shape, texture and design were not obscured by color or pattern. Learning to do this was a daily exercise. Pulling it off to exude a statement of elegance and excellence? That is an art.

Nissan Midnight Edition Style Cars
Midnight Edition sedans feature a black spoiler, wheels and other details on a white body, giving these sedans a bit of extra style. Photo: Nissan

Setting the Stage and Leading the Eye To What You Want to Be Seen

But it wasn’t just the subtext of shapes and textiles that was the goal: This streamlined color palette also provides a ‘stage’ for what you want people to see: That chic orange Hermes handbag, a blingy David Yurman topaz pendant, a perfectly shaped pouty red mouth, the red soles of Christian Louboutin pumps. It is a way to focus every eye on exactly what you want them to see.

And that’s the idea behind the new Midnight Edition models that Nissan has been rolling out this year: Streamlining the look of its most popular models in black and white so that they are more than an assemblage of each’s parts; each is its own statement, too.

Nissan Midnight Edition Style Cars
Nissan’s Midnight Edition SUV lineup uses a white body and black accents to focus the eye on the details like the front grille and headlights; left to right: Rogue, Murano and Pathfinder. Photo Scotty Reiss

Putting the Sublime in Design (So You Don’t Have To)

OK, so fashionistas have known this little secret to style for a while. It’s a pleasant surprise to find out that car designers get it, too! Nissan began rolling out the Midnight Edition line in February, giving each of its most popular models—Maxima, Altima, Sentra, Rogue, Murano and Pathfinder—a monotone look with accents in chrome and black.

The idea is that the car’s body is a singular color—black or white—and it is accented by shiny black features including the grille, name badge, wheels, side view mirrors, roof rails and window trim. Chrome accents can be found on the front grille and a few other places.

The look continues inside the cabin with black upholstery, a black dash and shiny black surfaces, again accented by chrome to frame the look.

This design sets the stage for the expressive front and rear lights and to frame the faces in the front seats. The car becomes a stage for you and your look.

Nissan Midnight Edition Style Cars
Nissan adds new Titan and Frontier Midnight Edition models to the lineup; the trucks have black grilles, wheels and other details to create a monotone look in concert with the black body. Photo: Nissan

Midnight Editions Serve Another Purpose, Too: They Increase the Value of Your Car

And, they reduce the cost of getting that look. It turns out that Nissan has long realized that many buyers will “customize” their cars to get this look, replacing the wheels, side view mirrors and other details.

This can be expensive and also, reduce the value of the car because it’s been modified. But if these features come from the factory—at a $1,000-$2,500 premium depending on the model—they can cost half or less than the after-market product and maintain a value established by outlets such as Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds.com.

Nissan Midnight Edition Style Cars
Nissan’s Midnight Edition lineup, appropriately low-lit and looking a little badass. Photo Scotty Reiss

Meet the Newest Midnight Cowboys

Just in time for midnight at mid-day—the 2017 solar eclipse—Nissan introduced the newest models in the Midnight Edition lineup: the Frontier, the Titan and TitanXD pickup trucks. The trucks introduced were clad in all black to set off the expressive headlights and chrome accents, including the Nissan emblem at the center of the grille, all while adding a little style and chicness to a confident, capable pickup truck. 

And really, shouldn’t every car and truck be as stylish as it is capable?

Disclosure: I was Nissan’s guest for the new Midnight Edition truck reveal; accommodations were provided but any opinions expressed are my own.

Scotty Reiss
Scotty Reiss

Journalist, entrepreneur and mom. Expertise includes new cars, family cars, 3-row SUVs, child passenger car seats and automotive careers and culture. A World Car Awards juror and member of the steering committee, Scotty likes to say the automotive business found her, rather than her finding it. But recognizing the opportunity to give voice to powerful female consumers and create a voice to match their spending power, her mission became to empower women as car buyers and owners. A career-long journalist, she has written for the New York Times, Town & Country, Adweek and co-authored the book Stew Leonard, My Story, a biography of the founder of the iconic grocery company Stew Leonard’s. Her love of cars started when her father insisted she learn to change the oil in her MG Midget, but now it mostly plays out in the many road trips taken with her family.

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