Plastic Engine/Valve Cover or Exposed Engine
 

In recent years more and more cars tend to have engine/valve covers on them. Most are nice, and some are very nice like the ITR's. But most of them conceal the ugliness of the engine beneath. Like the Mercedes SL 500 has a nice engine cover but the engine below it looks crappy, and the same goes for the Maxima new 3.5VQ engine. Proteges' on the other hand have very nice exposed engines in my opinion, showing the addtional mechanical features that many engine/valve covers hide.

So do most of prefer a good looking engine/valve cover or prefer to leave the engine exposed. To me I like to leave it exposed as it shows the raw material of the powerplant, and also makes it seem more mechanical and raw like a car, unlike a piece of furnitue sitting in the engine compartment.