By Paul Gover.
The Toyota Camry is the T-Model of the 21st century.
It’s more likely to be seen in plain white than the signature black bodywork of the landmark Ford of the 1920s, but it does exactly the same job as the car that put the world on wheels.
The Camry is what it says on the box, providing honest and reliable family transport for people who need a car and are not interested in a fashion statement or driving like a racer.
It is great value from $27,790 and there is even a hybrid model, priced from $30,090, for people who do most of their driving in stop-start cities or for greenies who want to take the first step towards electrification.
The Camry has taken it hits over recent years, thanks to the mass movement towards SUVs of all shapes, sizes and prices that killed the Camry station wagon, but it is still getting on with the job.
It has also survived the end of car-making in Australia, unlike the uniquely Aussie Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore, because Toyota only had to switch its supply route from trucks out of Altona in Melbourne to boats from Japan.
In the automotive heartland, the Camry is an everybody car. It does everything well and nothing badly.
If you want to drive across or around Australia, the Camry works.
If you have an average family and want to run around the suburbs, the Camry works.
If you’re a part-time Uber driver, the Camry – especially the hybrid – works.
There is plenty of competition in the mid-sized sedan sector, even if the one-time heartland cars have been deserted by many of their traditional fans.
Mazda has the classy Mazda6, the Subaru Liberty is safe and sensible, and the Skoda Octavia is a vastly under-rated car that is easy to recommend to friends.
Yet the Camry is still the benchmark and the sales leader.
It has been continually updated and modernised over the years, and the latest car has a premium cabin that will carry five adults in comfort that’s rolled inside an edgy – some will say over-done – body that sits comfortably in the Toyota family.
It continues with front-wheel drive and a 2.5-litre basic petrol engine, although there is also a V6 for people who want more oomph and the hybrid. There is no diesel and that will never change.
The starter car is now called Ascent and it’s all that most people really need, with brilliant air-conditioning at the heart of the package. The hybrid has miserly fuel economy of just 4.2 litres/100km and, for me, it is the more sporty drive in the range with a bit more push for overtaking.
What makes the Camry so user-friendly is that it is a calm and relaxing drive. It’s never hard to handle, it copes with the worst of Australia’s roads, and it is always quiet and cosseting.
Other cars are quicker, some are more fuel efficient, and an SUV provides more space.
But the Camry does everything that’s necessary, and nothing that is superfluous. It’s a simple, honest formula that was pioneered by Henry Ford and has provided the foundations for the Camry for more than 30 years.
THE BASICS
Toyota Camry
Price: from $27,790
Power: 133kW/231Nm
Position: family sedan
Plus: safe, sensible and good value
Minus: Not much
THE TICK: Yes
