Toyota is launching the 2018 Camry in Japan, and pulling out their greatest hits to do so. The newest Camry commercial begins with images of the MR2, Soarer, Altezza, Celica and Supra, a stick-shift X70, and many more — all set to 80s synth evocative of Japan’s best Bubble Era spots. The only problem, do these cars remind you of the new Camry in any way?
To be fair, it appears the link they are trying to draw is in terms of design. The new Camry is definitely not boring in that department, maybe even bold. The tagline “Beautiful Monster” seems to say it all, but it certainly doesn’t remind us of the clean lines of the older cars.
We agree with Toyota that the hybrid and XLE trim levels look far better than the ostensibly sporty XSE. But the whole ad reminds us of an aging rock star that’s playing a few classics in his set only to foist his new solo album upon you for most of the concert.
If the soundtrack sounds familiar, it’s from the really bad movie from the 1980’s “Flash Gordon”…maybe they’re making reference to the fact that the Camry is unique new to “Toyota Corolla Stores” where the Celica, Supra, and the MR2 were sold…
Yes and it was a song by the Queen. Freddie Mercury on the vocals
I’m just happy there’s a Camry getting a lime light and a more sports-oriented model.
At this point if they just offered me a manual transmission I would be happy, much less an unnecessary V6 with a manual transmission.
Really… Check out the Avensis on T’s UK, or DE sites – or other European sites… SIX-SPEED MANUALS!
Stateside: “Eh, automatic’s good enough; there are no real drivers there.”
Still have not gotten used to the Predator mouth on the Toyota’s Lexus’s and other Japanese cars of recent years…Not really sure that it is either stylish or for that matter remotely desirable… the rest of the car look very nice but that grille is awful in my book…
Many years ago one of the mainstream car magazines a reference to Japanese car styling in that they seemed to be incapable of leaving a perfectly stylish panel without tacking on some piece of trim with no concern to its functionality… It would seem some of those adornments in more recent years have become superfluous styling lines and faux grilles… And why do most new cars seem to be angry? Japanese stylist are generally very competent and capable not sure who is advocating these features… You guys build great cars and you have built some very stylish great cars in the past… be nice to see you go back to that school of thought.
Agree! For example all the new Infiniti front grills look like angry [insert your favorite Video Game noun].
In order to sell the Camry, Mark X was lost.
The end of the pedigree of Mark II, Chaser, Cresta, Cressida.
I will find it difficult to recover from this loss…
The Mark X is still being sold, isn’t it?
My explanation was insufficient. Sorry. Mark X does not make the next generation model, production ends in 2019, it will be handed over to Camry.
Rather have the Mark X sold here as the Sports Sedan…
What was that one they had in the ’90s – looked REALLY futuristic?
Mark X has always been RWD/4WD, Camry has been mainly a FF for like eternity.
I don’t see how Camry replaces Mark X, it’d be like saying ES is replacing the IS.
Im just saying, these would look so sick on bags and some wide Work Meister wheels. I’m patiently waiting for the VIP crowd to start snagging these up.
That would actually be pretty cool!
Will the Toyota Gape and Lexus Spindle replace the Acura Beak at the top of the Styling Faux Pas mountain? Regardless, lets remember that it was a German company that started this over-grilling nonsense. No, not Mercedes. Their big chrome prows were just right for the times and screamed high end power and luxury. Ditto RR. No, it was Audi who started the modern Big Grill trend.Now the only thing screaming is me.
Lol. That is some Harlan Ellison shit right there.
I actually liked the “Beak.” Kind of a transformers thing, but without going over the top.
I’d like my beak chromed, please! 🙂
I like the looks for all the models except the first one with the Aston-ish lower grille. Too bad they’re still FWD. Was a sad day for me when the Cressida was replaced by the Camry and then the Avalon. Fortunately, I don’t need/want a large four-door sedan…
Side note,
The ornament in the door panel with the curved stitch line was a total pain in the @$$ to make … I’m currently interning at Toyota Boshoku who is manufacturing the doors, and with me being the intern, I got the luxury of measuring the stitch line to make sure it was in spec and tuning the machines.
5 stitches per inch, stitches being straight as an arrow, correct location within 1.5mm, knots had to be in the fabric without showing on the A-side, etc. Only way to do any of it was by hand :p
So they’re going to do all of them by hand? That’s pretty amazing.
I was referring to the measurements. I had to measure all that stuff by hand which was time consuming.
In Japan, the stitch is done by hand, at least thats the last I heard. But here in the US its all automated.
I spent a lot of time measuring the stitch line so we could tune the “sewing machine” and lamination press so the line would be in spec.
Ah, thanks for the clarification. With as many Camrys as Toyota sells that would be sweat shop conditions.
This is the exact style of North American commercial I have been dreaming about for years for the new Supra. An homage to the past models, but embracing new technology. If they made a modern retro ad, 80s tunes and quick camera angles included, all those “Ohh man, I used to drive one back in high school!” dads would be flocking to the dealership. Now this is the right stuff! Ohh and you can’t forget the mid-jump freeze frame at the end. Camry looks good though.
Dunno… The ad is saying the new one is as much fun to drive as the ones shown, but will it be? There’s more to fun than horsepower. Handling, obviously, and “engagement.” As for the question, no, they don’t remind me of the new Camry in any way. Can you imagine the new one being rallied?
As for the styling, I prefer the hybrid’s front end over the white one above. For the U.S., the hybrid has the new styling; the “regular” one has the ’17’s styling. Honestly, I think I like the present styling better than the upcoming one.
I do think though, that it will kill the Avalon. I knew of ONE around here, until the lease ended. Nice car, but no exposure (don’t think I EVER saw an ad for it), or maybe other people didn’t care for the front end styling, either. Let’s face it, the Avalon is basically their Buick, but a Toyota buyer doesn’t really want a Buick, and vice-versa (but not vice-versa Note!).
Doesn’t matter to me though – no stick. (Yes, I *DO* keep harping on that; I’m one of *THOSE* people.)