Curbside Find: 1990-1991 Toyota Camry Wagon On A Trailer – A Memento From The Camry’s Rising Days, On Its Way To A Pampered Life?

Like many others, I tend to consider Toyotas reliable and long-lasting. Many have criticized the products for not being engaging or fun enough, the kind of curious piques automotive types tend to make on cars the average buyer prefers. The Camry rose as such a product, becoming almost too ubiquitous and oftentimes derided by those who want more “fun” in automotive purchases. What such criticism fails to notice is that Toyotas generally create a link beyond passionate feelings: loyalty.

But if Toyotas of this era were long-lasting, no object is eternal. And second-generation Camrys have become rare sights in recent years, the curse of daily drivers. The result of buyers being faithful to the Toyota altar, but not willing to keep an old ride around forever (Elan/Volvo owners, I’m looking at you). But against those odds, here’s a ’90-’91 wagon with Oklahoma plates being hauled in California. A survivor apparently on its way to a pampered life.

So this Camry wagon is a remnant from a period when Toyota had risen in North America and was refining its aim with products like the Camry. If the first generation had established great middle-class credentials for the model, the second one cemented them. The wagon was another step in aiding the model’s suburban intentions, with the body style arriving for the first time along the new for 1987 lineup.

So say goodbye to those Olds Ciera wagons (or Cadillacs and Buicks)! Toyota had arrived, now offering plush middle-class hauling!

Like most Toyota products then, the ’87-’91 Camry styling was pleasant and anodyne. A wholesome space-efficient package, wrapped with vanilla-plain aerodynamic efficiency (0.34 cd on the sedan)… at least in the case of the sedans. The wagon did have a couple of more expressive features, however. First, the boxy rear, with a sheer cut-off brutality on its profile that gave it a distinctive doorstop silhouette. Then, a glassy/plasticky covering on the rear door that provided a curious appliance-like look.

Hey Dad, is that a wagon from the rear, or a rolling microwave?

Still, qualities that other Toyota wagons of the period had (like the Tercel 4WD), and which seemed to be a trademark of theirs at the time.

All wagons sold in the US were of Japanese origin (Camry sedan assembly started stateside in ’88), and today’s find is a mid-trim DX version. Power on this one comes via the optional 2.5L V6 that was first offered in 1988; a distinctive feature for the model in the US market against its Accord nemesis (which carried solely inline 4s). As for power, this 24-valve fuel-injected DOHC V6 provided 153HP in 1988 and was pumped up to 156HP in 1990. Not tuned to fire-storming performance, but reasonable commuter duties.

I often fear I sound like a Toyota fanboy when I type these posts on the brand’s models. I assure you, I’m not. But I can’t deny the effect the company’s models had on the people around me in the Americas (North and South). The Toyota faithful I call them. In the case of the Camry, it was the “wide-body” third-gen. from 1992 that became the true way-over-the-fences home run. I can’t recall the amount of people who looked upon that generation with desire in my Southern California days. And who bought and owned them to much satisfaction.

Now you may ask, what happened to all of them? Well, as far I know most of those owners moved on to newer Camrys, RAV4s, or even Lexuses (Lexii?). The cost the rank and file have to suffer, to go down while holding the Toyota fort. Not that they don’t have their followers, as this survivor clearly shows.

 

Related CC reading:

Curbside Classic Review: 1990 Toyota Camry LE V6 – Dripping With Fat

CC Capsule: 1988 Toyota Camry DX – Somehow Beige Is Appropriate

Curbside Capsule: 1991 Toyota Camry All-Trac – A-Brief-Four-By-Foray