I bought this car because its "big brother" sold me on it. I had a friend who was moving to Belgium and he said "Do you need an extra car?" "Sure," I said, and he GAVE me his '89 Camry just because he was a class guy and I guess just he didn't want to mess with selling it! Of course it was dented up from a humongous hail storm and it had 128,000 miles on it, but it went like a bat out of Hades and it was just plain fun. So when it came time to get another car, I gave the '89 to my son and went for this beautiful white '97 LE American Edition with 35,000 miles on it.

I LOVE (almost) everything about the Camry! The looks are the sexiest of ANY car out there (as a tribute, they haven't changed the body style in 5 years!) and it handles great. I dropped in an Alpine cassette/CD unit and it makes it a concert hall on wheels. I love all the little amenities, including the way they have fixed the "extra stuff" box (just right for my Escort radar detector!) and the cup holders.

The '97 Camry is like a cross between a great little sports car and a good sedan. It's like a sexy, funny, smart woman who knows the joy of cooking a great meal as well as the joy of a fun night of laughter and romping. Driving the Camry really is seductive and downright addictive.

One complaint: The trunk release is situated beside your left shoe as you exit the driver's seat. It is easy to snag your foot on the little plastic handle for the trunk release and pop open the trunk lid by accident. If you are maually locking the vehicle you can walk away with the trunk lid cracked slightly open and Mr. Thief can easily help himself to the contents of your trunk. There should be an easy way to keep that from happening, perhaps with a double-latch or something on the release handle. (Of course, I wear size-15 shoes which catch that little handle and that could have something to do with it.)


ANYONE in their right mind should buy a car like this. Why else would it be the best-selling (and most stolen) car in the world? It should be at the top of the top-10-cars-in-the-world list every year. Oh, I know that Honda has a car that many know and love but there is a reason why it comes in second in sales to tne Camry. The majority ruleth.

By the way, my significant other drives a minivan. Now she wants to take the Camry away from me. I can't blame her, but she can't have it. I fully expect her to tell me one of these days we are going to trade in the minivan on---you guessed it---another Camry!