The 2007 Durango does not look radically different from the '04-'06. But in fact, the entire outer skin ahead of the windshield is new. The Durango's new face is at once sharper and better integrated. There's a crispness to the grille and lights that the previous model lacked, but that you wouldn't notice it lacked until you saw the new model. The new front bumper fascia mounts differently, so it flows into the overfenders without visible seams or gaps. The pouty scribe line at the bottom of the old bumper has been replaced by a better-defined rectangle, which is brightly plated on Limited. The front hood no longer wraps over the sides, eliminating one more unsightly seam.

Changes at the side and rear are more subtle. The '07 Durango still features a high beltline that suggests great mass or perhaps, to some, great safety. The short front and rear overhangs, not typical of a full-size SUV, contribute to Durango's forceful expression. The short hood and flared fenders give the Durango the look of a big-rig truck. That short hood leads into a steeply raked windshield and sloping roof. The front fenders make the hood look as narrow as it is short. The windshield is aerodynamically efficient and offers good visibility.

Eighteen-inch aluminum wheels are standard on 2007 SLT models with either black sidewall or outline white letter tires, and 18-inch chrome clad aluminum wheels now standard on Limited. Newly available 20-inch chrome clad wheels are now optional on both the SLT and Limited. All of these big rims are framed nicely by Durango's bold wheel arches. Larger (6x9-inch) rearview mirrors are heated and folding on all models.

The roofline still dips slightly at the rear, and the liftgate window curves in to meet it, which keeps Durango from looking like the box it came. Afterburner tail lamps, another Dodge hallmark, continue on the '07 model. The center high-mounted stop lamp is integrated smoothly into the rear roofline. A new, wider chrome applique accentuates the rear liftgate and features a centered, three-dimensional ram's head.

The aerodynamics are fine-tuned, including the contours of the exterior mirrors and the subtle ducktail at the trailing edge of the hood under the wipers that minimizes wind noise over the windshield. The motor mounts are calibrated to reduce the frequencies and harmonics of each engine. The windows have an extra layer of lamination to deaden sound. Foam is injected into many of the body and chassis crannies, which would otherwise serve as tiny echo chambers.

Despite its modern aerodynamics, however, Durango takes its styling cues from the 1946-68 Dodge Power Wagon, which was itself essentially a World War II T214 military truck with a longer wheelbase and civilian-style, fully enclosed cab. In the immediate postwar era, when the Willys Jeep pretty much had the quarter-ton utility-vehicle market to itself (and mainstream pickups didn't yet offer four-wheel drive) the 3/4-ton Power Wagon was the first choice of rural contractors, fire fighters, and forest rangers who needed serious off-road capability and more load capacity than the Jeep could provide.