(first posted 8/21/2013) So just how exactly does a car become the best selling one in America? In the only reliable way that one becomes number one in just about anything: doing your homework, and practicing every day. And it really does help if the competition has forgotten that formula.
Read old reviews about the first-generation Camry, and right down the list you’ll find all of the very qualities I experienced when I drove a new one a while back, except for one (roomy): “quiet, smooth, solid, competent (but not exciting) handling, comfortable, well built, reliable, plenty of torque and power, but not sporty”. Same car, 28 years ago; just add some super-sizing and drop the hatch, and the formula remains as intact (and winning) as ever.
My first exposure to the Camry was in 1984, when the Chief Engineer of our TV station and I took a business trip together and he talked me into renting a Camry. Having learned long ago to trust his judgment, we made sure one was available and reserved it. Good call, too, as the default rentals of the day would typically have been a floppy Buick Regal, Ford Tempo or K car. Despite its compact-car status, the Camry’s obvious solidity and quiet manners were immediately apparent, although it lacked the tip-in and roarty zest of GM’s V6s–and, of course, the accompanying torque steer.
Undoubtedly, there were two cars under Toyota’s microscope when they designed the completely new 1983 Camry, which was a major departure from its long line of RWD predecessors: of course, there was the Honda Accord, but also the Chevrolet Citation. Clearly, the Accord showed the way forward with FWD in its popular size class. But I’m guessing that Toyota, like most other imports, was more than a bit worried about GM’s highly ambitious X-cars. And in size, configuration and even design, the Citation’s influence is unmistakable.
The Citation had all the right ingredients wrapped in modern, space-efficient bodies, including five-door hatches. But as we know all too well, the Xs were was a flash in the pan that quickly sizzled out due to a lack of full and proper development and a rash of quality issues. The X-Bodies’ flame-out threw the gates to what would become the biggest sector of the market wide, wide open, and the Camry glided in, albeit initially in stealth mode.
Before the Camry could live up to its name and take the crown (Literally: ‘Camry’ is actually an Anglicized, phonetic transcription of the word Japanese word kanmuri, or ‘crown’), it had to sit out the Taurus and Accord’s years at the top. But why the hurry when you’re thinking long-term? Truly, Camry is the tortoise. How it outran GM’s X-Bodies and even the Taurus is easier to understand than its ability to knock the Accord off the throne.–yet it did, in its own silent but lethal way.
What’s somewhat remarkable is that the current Camry (XV50) is only the third truly all-new Camry platform in the model’s history. The popular and quite successfully restyled Gen-2/V20 (seen in front, above) sat on the same platform as the first one, despite very different external sheet metal that yielded a relatively compact interior. The all-new and definitive Gen-3/XV10 (rear) set the brutally high standard that wiped out the competition once and for all; its remarkably refined manners truly made it the Lexus in its class, and most clearly distinguished it from the decidedly tauter and sportier contemporary Accord.
The Gen-4/XV20 rationalized the Gen-3 as Toyota found ways to cut costs, right down to losing the expensive double door seals. Hardly anyone noticed, especially with pricing that was now more competitive with the offerings of increasingly-pressured Detroit competitors. The Camry’s downward march in price forced GM to respond aggressively by cutting corners and content, but it was a losing battle.
The differences in the Gen-5, 6 and 7 are more subtle than in the past–not surprising, as they all share essentially the same platform. New platforms aren’t what they once were; car development is now more about refinement and cost rationalization. And as the dramatically reduced cost (adjusted for inflation) of the Camry shows, this approach is obviously working very well, at least for Toyota. Update: as just another refresh of the 2012, the 2014 Camry marks Camry’s 13th year on the same basic platform.
Without doubt, the profit Toyota has made with three distinct generations of Camrys over almost three decades has been remarkable. It wasn’t that long ago that some well-leaked info suggested that Toyota was making a majority of its global profit in the USA. And Camry, in any language, is their gold crown–one that Toyota’s going to be mighty reluctant to see anyone else wear.
Related: The Camry Was Almost Built by Ford Too – Toyota Offered to Build it Jointly
It’s interesting to read about people’s Camry experiences. I’ve ridden in a small handful, and only ever driven two: a first gen like this and whatever was new in 2012. And no close friends have owned one that I’ve ever noticed. In fact, other than a few taxis in Taiwan, I’m pretty sure I haven’t ridden in an Accord since I test drove a new one in late 1981, and that’s definitely the only one I’ve driven. I don’t think my tastes are that far outside the mainstream, but perhaps they (and those of my friends) are.
My dad’s friend had the notchback 1st gen when I was a kid. I remember the interior was surprisingly nice for an older Japanese car.
Solid family resemblance to the Tercel, but I would not consider the first gen Camry’s styling, a home run. Highly practical designs, in both sedan, and hatchback form. Styling had a generic Japanese quality, something that would often plague the model.
I felt the Mazda 626’s design (for example), came across as more sophisticated, aero-influenced, and convincingly more attractive.
Japan ate Detroit’s lunch with cars like these, having totally lost credibility with sensible buyers like my wife, who never looked back after replacing her pathetic Chevette (recommended by her father) with a Camry sedan. That car, like my ’88 Accord, did everything reasonably well and without fuss. And I think they were better made than the latest models.
They were made much better indeed.
The ‘83-‘84 Mazda 626 was better looking than same years of the Camry, but as a “family car”, not nearly as practical. Equipped with automatic transmissions, IIRC, the Mazda would be buzzing along at well over 4,000 RPM at highway speeds, while the Camry’s overdrive made that same drive much more pleasant.
Incredibly have never driven or even had a ride in a Camry. Have only ridden in one Accord and that was the 1st Gen long ago when new. My mother and sister had Accords from the later 90s and never rode in either. However, I have drove and ridden in five Mazda 626s between 1986-91. Every now and then a decent 2nd and 3rd Gen has caught my attention but none are manuals which seems to possibly be a rare finding for the Camry.
I’m only a bit different; I rented a Camry for work probably in 1995 (not even a week) but other than that haven’t been in one. My good friend owned an ’82 Accord Hatchback (but they haven’t made those since 1989) which I was in pretty regularly back when he lived in my city before it was totalled in 1989 (a driver was trying to avoid someone parked part way in the road trying to steal gravel and instead hit my friend coming the other way).
The closest I came was in 1986; I wanted to buy an Accord hatchback but wanted fuel injection; the Accord only offered fuel injection in their highest (LXi) trim which also came with power windows and locks that year, which I didn’t want. So I ended up buying an ’86 VW GTi, which came with fuel injection on all models, and back then still offered “a la carte” options. By 2000 this went away at VW too; my ’00 Golf has power windows and locks as I was unable to avoid them. I can’t explain why, but one of the other cars I came close to buying in ’86 was a Mitsubishi Galant, it was a pretty neat car back in those years. 1986 was the year I spent the most time, by far, shopping for a car, looking even at completely different types of cars, figuring out what worked better for me, something I’ve benefited from as now I hardly deviate at all in what I want to buy (but the market since has withdrawn mostly from hatchbacks, the type of car I’ve settled on).
One thing I’m reminded of looking at the ’86 Camry is that cloth seats were still seen to be desirable…seemed that even American cars were transitioning from vinyl to cloth for a time back then. I live in the sunbelt and vastly prefer cloth seats but now it seems like they’re considered base seating if they’re offered at all, VW and other imports seem to have standardized back to vinyl (which my ’78 Scirocco came with) or leather as an option or standard. Cloth can wear either great or terribly, but I wonder why it is no longer considered as desirable as it seemed to be in the later 70’s and early to mid 80’s.
To be fair though, the Camry was offered as a hatchback even fewer years than the Accord, or than the hatchback X cars were offered. I know some of the X cars were also sedans rather than hatchbacks, but I think that space efficiency was a big part of the draw of the X cars…does anyone know the distribution of sales (hatchbacks vs sedans) on the X cars? Seemed to me that Citations were mostly hatchbacks, though maybe the Olds Omega was mostly sold as a sedan (maybe also the Buick?).
Before I bought my ’78 Scirocco I test drove an ’81 Pontiac Phoenix…not sure why, I couldn’t quite swing a new car, my Credit Union was willing to loan me $3000 for a car (and my manager, who was inexplicably also president of the credit union even though our jobs had nothing to do with finance, kind of an odd deal, he actually volunteered to head up the credit union which I think was unpaid position while keeping his technical (paid) job…managed to get me approved for an additional $500 loan). Still $3500 was a bit too low for a new car in 1981, so I shouldn’t have been test driving any new car, instead focusing on used cars, which is what I ended up buying anyhow. But I guess it worked out for me, I didn’t buy the ’81 Phoenix, instead ending up with the Scirocco. Yeah, I was a hatchback fan even then, but also wanted FWD as the car I sold to get the Scirocco was a ’74 Datsun 710, a light RWD car that wasn’t too good in the snow, I was still living up North back then, and FWD wasn’t as prolific on cars as it is nowdays (of course now living in the sunbelt, I don’t really care, if they still offered RWD cars I’d consider buying one).