1986 Toyota Camry- Cheap Car Challenge

It is genuinely amazing what was happening 30 years ago: the Berlin Wall was still up, Ronald Reagan was slipping slowly into dementia during his second term as president, and the Challenger Space Shuttle met its fateful assent into the heavens in late January.

A more trivial milestone was about to pass: the Toyota Camry was due for an upgrade. Hewitt-Packard employees everywhere rejoiced in the news, and in 1987 the 2nd generation of the venerable Camry was released. The United States demanded and Japan answered with, what is probably now the elders of our legend's recollection of: the classic Camry. It certainly lived up to the hype. From 1987-1992, the Camry won many accolades and was immensely successful. However, this was never a certainty, considering where it began less than a decade previously.

The Camry started out in life as part of Toyota's "Beta-test" proving-grounds: the Celica Model Line. The Celica-Camry was how it was introduced the first time to the market, and after a modicum of success, Toyota decided that in 1982, it deserved its own production run. But the first generation Camry was a mediocre car at best. Its styling was woeful, even for 1980s standards, and its performance was something to be desired as well. The 2-SFE petrol engine

Red spark plug wires add 20BHP

produced a meager 92 horsepower, and it wasn't what you'd call "lavishly equipped" either. Audiences of the Japanese market flocked by the thousands to the Honda dealership to take advantage of the stylish and equally (if not more-so) reliable Accord. A car which came in a far-greater variety of equipment and capacity levels. The mid-eighties Accord Coupe still attracts a wide audience amongst first-time car buyers and those desperately trying to cling to the pop-up headlamp glory days. The Camry didn't have pop-up headlamps, and at the end of the day, it looked like a toddler had gotten control of the styling pencil and a lazy Toyota designer had just stamped his approval on it anyway.

The first generation Camry was Toyota's iPod Shuffle: well marketed, but ultimately nothing special. Remarkably however, it was one of the few Toyotas of the time to not have the 2.4L 22R(E) engine. A famously reliable Toyota engine even for its time (which they put in everything), Toyota opted for a lower capacity 2.0L transversely-mounted 4 cylinder. But it is, perhaps, the only redeeming quality of the car now. It meant that, because the engine was mounted sideways, the car had to have electronic cooling fans (which were normally belt-driven), something which is perfectly everyday now, but definitely was unusual for 1982. It also came with a 4-speed automatic with overdrive, something that Volvo was still desperately trying to fathom in 1991 on its 700 series cars (which came with a 3-speed). Power steering was also standard equipment, which again seems ridiculous, but for the time, it was a huge selling point.

So why am I writing about it? I bought one.

Hideous, but it has the original Cassette Player! How could I not?

I picked it up in Maryland for just $750 from (wait for it) the original owner. In 30 years, it has gone 108,000 miles (and yes, the odometer works just fine), the suspension has completely collapsed, and the idle is about as rough as Donald Trump's moral compass, but it moves.

In the absence of Top Gear U.K. and in the spirit of their fabled "cheap car challenges" I have procured this "bucket of magnificence" (as Jeremy Clarkson would put it) with taxes and insurance for well under $1000.00. To see what it can do, and to see what my friends can do: the gauntlet has been lain, the die has been cast, and the bell has been rung: the limit is $800 my friends, a more modern car is well-within your reach, but dare you?

Over the course of the next year, I will be updating you all about the pitfalls, failures, and what will hopefully be: the triumphant winner of the 2016 Colorado Auto Weekly Cheap Car Challenge!