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IT WAS the night of the strawberry moon, fully round and bright. I was returning from Annapolis, having visited some long-lost friends there. The visit went well for those of us willing to accept the truth. It confirmed why we were lost to one another, and why we are likely to remain estranged. Some things undone are better left that way.

It was an epiphany that required contemplation, which is why I was grateful for my conveyance — the 1995 Maxima GLE. Pearl-mist white, very tight body. Womb-like interior wrapped in supple leather. An instrument panel free of gimcrackery, save for discreet applications of polyurethane “wood.”

The new Maxima was quiet, discernibly more so than its 1994 predecessor. Such things are measured through feel and memory. Driving along the Chesapeake Bay in the old Maxima, I could hear the wind. In the new model, with its free-flowing body front to rear and its multiple door seals, the wind was but a whisper.

The new car was more decisive, too. It was poised in curves, including several nasty twisties; and with its new, multi-link beam suspension, the Maxima GLE remained stable over bumpy roads. Too bad human relationships aren’t engineered with similar competence.

Background: The 1995 edition marks the fourth generation of the Nissan Maxima, a car that made its debut in the fall of 1980 as a 1981 model. Back then, the Maxima was rear-wheel drive. It changed to front-wheel drive in 1985.

The Maxima always has been a good seller, which has sometimes befuddled me. Until 1989, when it received a more rounded exterior, the car was off-putting in its ugliness — a linear box thrown atop four wheels. But Maxima buyers praised what they called the car’s real value — top-notch road performance, excellent driver and passenger comfort, excellent build in an upper-middle sedan offered at a reasonable price.

Nissan seeks to build on those core qualities in the new car, which is sold with several faces — base GXE, sporty SE and luxury GLE. Standard equipment in all versions includes dual-front air bags, multi-adjustable driver’s seat, power windows, power four-wheel disc brakes, 15-inch tires and a completely reworked 3-liter, double overhead-cam, 24-valve, V-6 aluminum engine.

The new engine is 108 pounds lighter and is more compact than its predecessor, which means that it’s also more fuel-efficient. But it still matches the old model’s performance of 190 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 205 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm.

A five-speed manual transmission is standard on the GXE and SE; a four-speed automatic is standard on the GLE. Anti-lock brakes are optional on all models of the 1995 Maxima.

Complaints: A very nice, comfortable, pleasant car that nonetheless has a discomforting flirtation with boredom. It’s hard to pinpoint — maybe, it’s the all-too-sensible instrument panel — but the feeling I get is that this car lacks enough personal ity to keep folks interested longterm. That makes it the perfect lease car; stay with it three years and then call it “quits.”

Praise: The 1995 Maxima is a technically excellent, reasonably well-designed, competitively priced, upper-middle sedan that probably will sell as well as Maxima models have always sold.

Head-turning quotient: An elegant work of transient attraction. Noticeable, but not memorable.

Ride, acceleration and handling: Aces in all three categories. Memorable in all three categories. Excellent braking. The test car was equipped with the optional anti-lock system.

Mileage: About 25 to the gallon (18.5-gallon tank, estimated 443-mile range on usable volume of recommended premium unleaded), combined city-highway, running mostly driver only.

Sound system: Six-speaker, electronically tuned AM/FM stereo radio and cassette with four amplifiers and optional compact disc. Bose system. Rocks your socks and everything else.

Price: Ba e price on the Maxima GLE is $24,199. Estimated dealer’s invoice is $21,200. Price as tested is $26,682, including $2,093 in options and a $390 destination charge.

Purse-strings note: Compare with Mazda Millenia, Acura Legend and upper-level Honda Accords, Mercury Sable, Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight Royale, Dodge Intrepid, Lexus ES 300, Audi 90 and upper-level Toyota Camry models.