You know brand loyalty. Taken even further, there is model and same generation loyalty.
CC Outtake: Seeing Triple
– Posted on July 3, 2017
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Curbside Classics Archives
You know brand loyalty. Taken even further, there is model and same generation loyalty.
But perhaps their loyalty doesn’t go so far as color and trim level?!
> But perhaps their loyalty doesn’t go so far as color and trim level?!
The one in front appears to be of a higher trim level on the front door than the rear!
“Which car are you taking Honey?”
“The Camry.”
“Which Camry?”
“The white one.”
“Mom, Dad; I’m afraid that I got into an accident with the Camry.”
“Which one?”
“All of them. I pulled into our driveway too fast.”
Some say these were the best of the ’90s Camrys.
I’m curious about all the missing hubcaps.
I happen to own a ’96 model LE sedan and the replaced driver’s door handle is typical.
The suspensions get very soft – especially after 20+ years.
I’ve upgraded mine with station wagon springs.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Up in rust country it’s amazing how many Camry’s of this generation are still on the road, and that many of them have little to no rust on them even after 20+ winters. Easily the most common car I see from the early-mid 90’s in regular use now that the A-bodies are starting to thin out a bit.
My favorite is the earlier ones with the taillight that goes across the rear. These really were “peak Camry”. It’s been downhill ever since.
Still see lots of this gen Camry here in n.e. Ohio, they’re damn near immune to rust.
Here in mass they’re everywhere, and usually rust free.
“I’m curious about all the missing hubcaps”
I believe that is owner age specific.
When I was a kid there was a neighbor who was a Ford man. He eventually developed such a fondness for turquoise 1966 Fords that he had I think three of them, all bought used and all driven during the late 60s and through the 1970s, and always at least two at any given time. He was eventually forced to move on with a 72 LTD – in gold.
I should add that I can see the benefit. Once you really get to know a car, why not multiply the breed and have your own personal little fleet. It would certainly be efficient from a maintenance standpoint. I could see doing this with C body Mopars from the 1965-68 era. This is, of course, the exact opposite of the way my automotive life has actually gone.
We haven’t stuck to the same generation, color or brand name on the grille, but we have stuck with the same platform over five vehicles now (the 3rd-gen van in the pic died at ~280K, and the 4th-gen is currently inop due to a blown head gasket at ~170K). Given the GC/T&C are going away, I’m not sure what will eventually replace the wife’s Routan.
Wow, a head gasket on a 3.3/3.8 at that mileage? Is that common in that 4th generation? I know that there was a lot of cost cutting in Gen4 vs. Gen3, but never having owned one, never paid much attention. That engine in Gen3 vans is reported to be good for crazy high miles.
Maybe it’s time to start over with something else. I nominate the Kia Sedona. 🙂
This can be beneficial if you have state safety inspections. Make sure that the good set of tires is on the car to be inspected.
I’m a locksmith, and the 1990-94 Ford Tempos and Tauruses were good to us. I still own one of each, The Taurus bought in 1997 and the V6 Tempo in 1999. Two reasons…non-dramatic, but good performance from all concerned, what with three teenagers in the family; and as they all used the older 10-cut system I could key all four vehicles to the same pair of keys. THAT sure kept life simple. 🙂
Best part was, having a visitor – frequent in FSW Florida in winter! – who wanted to use a car. Hand them the keys, and when they asked :Which one?” we could just say, “Take your pick.” Funnier than hell, watching them try the same keys in every car just to find out we were not kidding!
I’m a serial Panther owner, started with an ’87 Crown Vic LX, then a ’91 Grand Marquis GS, a ’95 Grand Marquis LS, a ’96 Crown Vic LX, and two different ’05 P71’s 🙂 .
I guess I did something like this with my 85 Crown Vic LX, my 93 Crown Vic LX and my son’s 89 Grand Marquis LS. Once you get past the initial learning curve, you become something of an expert in the cars’ eccentricities.
Pick the right day to photograph my own family home years ago and this could’ve been us. Same vintage Camrys, just different colors. Those were great cars.
While I see cars as akin to candies in a confectioner’s shop and I can’t sit still until I’ve sampled each and every one, I do have to admit there have been a few cars I’ve owned that I would be okay with if I had a “fleet” of them.
I once owned a 92 Infiniti G20 with a manual transmission that was 1 really terrific car. About the only thing that would keep me from owning another is that they are a bit tight for a driver over 6 foot tall. THAT, and finding a 1st generation G20 with a manual transmission is getting increasing difficult.
Another great car is a Porsche 914.
I had a manual 94 G20t. The best handling car I have driven bar none. The only other two that come close are my 95 Impreza AWD and 02 Protege (both automatic.) I would love to find another G20 someday but they are getting thinner on the ground.
A tale of (mostly) serial ownership…
My oldest brother has owned at least six El Caminos. The first was a really sweet ’64 in black that was totalled after a collision with a Vega. A couple years later, he bought a rust-free ’69 from Texas. The remainder were ’69s and a ’70 that were purchased as winter beaters and then parted out.
He’s currently in a GMC Sonoma phase – on his 4th one.
I did concurrently own two ’71 Grand Villes (early ’80s) a ’67 & ’68 Camaro (mid ’80s) and then two ’72 Monte Carlos (late 80a – early 90s.)
More recently, I’ve had three different Honda Civics, but this was mainly due to the “miracle” of leading. My wife is on her 3rd CR-V. (All purchased.)
Someone doesn’t like hub caps.
When you can have 3 usefull& reliable cars for probably less than 5k usd for all3,why spend 30-40k on a new or late model car with complicated high tech stuffs that costs both of your kidneys to fix.smart fellows living in that house if you aske me.
You said it! When we owned four cars for us and the kids, I didn’t have $6000 invested in the lot of them. The kids bitched. Perfect capitalist incentive to improve your lives, kids! – until then, enjoy the cars WE pay for. 🙂
Can’t argue with that and I have only succumbed to (almost) brand new car ownership recently (that does have its appeal also). Before that, all my cars were used and self-repairable. If you get the right model, sort out any issues (there will be ones) and then maintain it regularly you cannot go wrong.
I rented one of these Camrys in Portland, OR for two weeks in 1992. Though mine was a low-line model with a four and auto, I ended up being really impressed with the car, especially since I had to do a late night hurried run through the mountains to Bend in inclement November weather. The Toyota was absolutely solid and even though it was no fireball, it never put a foot wrong no matter what. The build quality looked terrific, and I was used to contemporary Hondas. I can see why this generation is considered to be the best Camry – later ones I have driven or ridden in didn’t seem quite so nice.
The only Camrys worth owning. Been downhill ever since these ended production.
Must be a home renovation, moving the old appliances outside like this.
Has anyone thought that maybe only one runs and the other two are parts cars?
Nice catch and wonder if any are a stick shift? Too bad there is not a coupe and wagon in that photo.
My 1993 Camry is still fairly refined and I am amazed how quiet it is for almost being antique.
I was going to say how could there possibly be three Camrys in the same place and none of them have the trademark dent in the left corner of the rear bumper. Looking at the white one closer to the camera, though, I wonder if possibly that bumper was pushed in once and someone popped it out. It looks not quite smooth.
To an extent, I’m not surprised. This generation of Camrys is considered one of the most desirable among fans of the car (to that extent) – given its build quality and content before decontenting came about.
I have 3 MK2 Jetta GL’s. ’86 and ’87 in identical Polar Silver paint and brown interiors, the twin’s are often together in the front. But the ’89 parts Jetta (one too many wrecks from niece) hides in the back yard. That one is black with grey interior.
78 ltd landau sedan, 78 ltd landau coupe, 79 continental, 88 town car, 83 mark vi.
Put the appliances back in the kitchen. I prefer to read about cars that interest me, not these mobile chicanes.
Ehhhh, I used to be really down on Toyota. White goods on wheels, and all that. But there are some Toyotas I’ve come to have a lot of respect for. There are the performance models like the Supra, of course, and the exotic JDM stuff like the Mark X and Soarer. But this generation of Camry really stands out in my mind. The generation before? Bloody boring. The generation after? The same. But this generation was really quite impressive in its class with a modern, well-built, high-quality interior and an abundance of smoothness and refinement on the road.
A few years ago, an acquaintance picked me up in his… ’94? Camry XLE, the top-of-the-line model in the states. And damn, if you’d told me it was a Lexus ES300, I would have believed you. Nice car.
I’m hoping the 2018 is a return to form. I’ve sat in plenty of ’10-’16 models (almost all Ubers and livery cars in NYC seem to be these) and there is nothing that stands out about them compared to the multitude of cars in their class. Comfortable ride, good reliability, but then again you can get that in an Accord which is at least a little bit more engaging to drive. And the outgoing Camry’s interior is really quite cheap and drab in parts… nasty fake wood, hard plastic, ridiculous fake stitching…
looks like something you’d normally see behind the Appliance Store – three old refrigerators waiting for the junk man…
to each, his own
This is what happens when even the car you bought as a “parts car” is still a good runner…
The Camry is one of those cars that has had a decades-long run but only a single generation gets most of the love. This is a common phenomenon if it’s the first or last/current generation, but quite rare for something in between.
Besides the Camry, the other Toyota that exhibits this phenomena is the fifth-generation Corolla, especially the rear-drive AE86 but also the FWD FX16 hatchback.
Outside of Toyota, there is the ’68-’72 Chevelle, the ’55-’57 Chevys, the “General Lee” era Dodge Charger, and the Datsun 510/Nissan Bluebird which has a cult following that eludes the previous 410/Bluebirds and its 610/710 successors.
The diminution of the Camry noted by some here is the classic red herring promulgated by those who prefer their driving experiences accompanied by a wrench or a checkbook in hand. However, with that said and as previously noted, to each his own….I’ll take reliability and long term low cost of ownership over other illusory considerations.
50 years ago there would had bee three 1952 Chevvies in the driveway.
All three of them appear to be mid-grade LE models. Wonderful cars, indeed the last of the overbuilt Toyotas. The two in front are facelifted 95-96 cars (which already had elements of cost-cutting) and the rearmost is a 92-94. My favorite version is the wagon, a 95 example of which I own. The V6 was used for years and in numerous vehicles and is dead smooth, along with the transmission. Mine also has the rare third-row seat, to my knowledge the only Japanese wagon to offer such a feature. There are tons of these in Los Angeles and finding body parts in matching colors is a cinch.