Photographed in Norwell, Massachusetts – August 2018
Wordless Outtake: Just When You Thought You Couldn’t Blend In Any More
– Posted on August 7, 2018
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Curbside Classics Archives
Photographed in Norwell, Massachusetts – August 2018
That red one…always a nonconformist in the group.
Must be from…EUGENE, OREGON!!!
And that second one from the left, all that chrome! Must be a New Yorker, not a thrifty Yankee.
The chrome license plate trimmery and larger wheels were part of the XLE trim level. The three newer gen ones are XLE, then LE, then SE, left to right.
This is clearly a meetup of likeminded rebels — not a CUV anywhere.
There is one in the background. You can see the top peeking out from behind the bushes behind the red Camry.
A coven of Camrys?
How about “A borg of Camrys?”
(You will be assimilated.)
Once upon a time children, those identical cars would all have been Chevy Impalas.
I am still not quite used to “See the USA in your new Camry”
It’s like that fact that more salsa is sold every year in the United States than ketchup.
What’s more is that in 2016 the Toyota Camry was the “most American” car, with the highest percentage of American made parts of any automobile, and it is assembled in the United States at Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky that employs some 7,500 American workers.
That crossed my mind also.
I once used this tidbit in a conversation with some field employees at work – the reaction was quite entertaining.
Indeed. My 2016 Civic Coupe was built in Canada. Its engine was built in the USA. I think the only thing on this Japanese car that was built in Japan is its infotainment system. :o)
And this is nothing new. As I was told by my mechanic many years ago when he replaced the alternator on my wife’s ’88 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe was the reason for the added cost and delay at the time was that the component was a Mitsubishi alternator. Whether that was true, or he was just trying to inflate the cost at the time is beyond me. Apparently it was of higher amperage than the basic Ford unit on my ’88 5.0 T-Bird.
Global Economy, I suppose…
It’s not a car – it is a travel appliance.
Totally bloody awful.
And the Impala was offered in 2-door, 4-door, wagon, convertible. When was the last time we saw a 2-door Camry still on the road? I also remember a time when the Camry got a convertible variant named Solara.
It’s like when you go to BEST BUY’s appliance section and look at all the new refrigerators lined up in a row….
…Can we get free delivery and haul away this week? ;o)
We have a Camry and in any crowded parking lot if I’m not paying close attention I end up walking up to an identical one that’s not mine and waving my key fob around in annoyed frustration trying to unlock it for a few minutes…
I have our license plate committed to memory. It’s weird finding a twin of our car: Hybrid? Check. Body-color rub strips on the sides? Check. Moonroof? Check. Alloy wheels? Check. Gray leather interior? Check. Navigation/info screen? Check. JBL audio? Check. Sky Blue Pearl paint? Check. It’s like ALL the hybrids from 2007-2011 shipped with packages that brought the car closer to XLE trim levels.
Ours is the generic LE version, which is literally everywhere you look.
That was the advantage of buying the Mercury version of a Ford car. For every seven Taurus’ in a parking lot, there would be one Sable.
A line of toasters, LOL.
No matter how you paint it, the Camry always looks beige to me.
+1.
Grayeige?
Greige is the proper spelling, and yes it is an actual word and color.
https://www.behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/PPU24-11
https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW6073-perfect-greige#/6073/?s=coordinatingColors&p=PS0
My wife’s is Blue Streak- that really Bright Blue that at least isn’t grayscale. Never hard to find in a parking lot.
Ours is the same red as in the photo, which means in any given parking lot there’s about 40 others in the same color…
Last Sunday, I saw two Camrys, both of them from the 2002-2006 generation, similar trim level, and both of them the same metallic beige. They were stopped one behind the other at a stop sign. I was glad that at least they weren’t going the same place.
A few days ago, I saw two or three Camrys from the 2007-2011 generation scattered in traffic. They were the same Sky Blue Pearl that ours is, and one of them was a hybrid, a virtual twin of our car.
Forty years ago it would have been Impalas or some such. I remember going to the store with my Dad in his ’74 Impala 4 door hardtop. We found a spot in the front row next to another one. When we came back out, a third one joined the line. All green with a green interior.
Well, the latecomer was sporting a white vinyl top…
Was this a special gathering of the last sedan buyers of USA meet up?
And I thought it was bad when I parked in “Chrysler Row” this afternoon. (Mine is the grey one)
My current car is anonymous silver/grey but the chrome chevrons front and read stand out, finding a row of them even locally where they arent that rare has so far been impossible
Close observation reveals none of these are identical – different wheels, chrome, color, etc.
However, as one who lives in Middle America, I would never see this lineup unless I was at a Toyota dealer. Seeing two new Impalas parked side by side at a gas station? Yesterday. Seeing two white Oldsmobile Intrigues going down the road together? Also yesterday. Four Camry’s? No, that’s about three too many to see in one place.
I’m smack-dab in Middle America too and as I posted above, I’m practically tripping over identical Camrys whenever I look for mine in a parking lot. Probably more of a rural vs urban/suburban thing than a flyover vs coastal thing.
No doubt about that. I’m in a town of 40,000 and see what I described. However, if I go 35 miles north to the town of 110,000 (or so) it changes considerably.
Finally, a way to identify different versions! Camry model years seem the same without a side-by-side comparison. (Ford is like this as well; couldn’t even see what was “different” in recent Fusions and Mustang updates.)
Someone wasn’t concerned with blending in, what ego!
Around here it would be the Prius that you’ll see a row of in a parking lot or street. I was in Seattle last week and driving down 1 block and there were 6 Prius vehicles, one house had and older and a more current one, and the next 4 houses had them of varying years. The other non-pickup you’ll often see packs of/multiple in the same driveway are Outbacks.
Outback. The official car of Bellingham. Especially the Dog Snot Edition.
Yawn!
If the 100 or so BMW crossovers lined up in front of the local dealer in Rockville, MD are any indication, new cars are only stocked in greyscale colors these days. I did see a few red and (greyed-out) blue ones off in the distance but I think those were used ones. In an era when most manufacturers and dealers are trying their best to get you to buy directly off their lot rather than special-order your car (which still won’t yield many option choices – options and even option packages are largely history), it explains why over 76% of new cars sold in the US are on the greyscale.
I drove a distant relative’s 2004 XLE last week for a few days. Perfectly servicable and functional as well as highly reliable. Entertaining? Not necessarily, but it was fun stoking that little 4 cylinder. I see why they’ve sold millions of them over the years. At a profit.
wordless outtake:
Say what you will about “cars are just appliances” to many of today’s consumers. I disagree. The make. The model. The age. The social status. it all still matters very much. These late model cars will likely be traded in long before their lifespan is over. I know some do, but few people buy a new refrigerator, stove, toaster, or water heater before those items’ lifespans are over. Cars still say something about the owner/driver. At least for most folks.