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I would be delighted to tell you that the all-new 2002 Toyota Motor Corp. Camry is a rollicking, rollercoaster of a car to drive. That would fill in the final blank on Camry's job application for Best Car In The World. The Camry, after all, is every competing automaker's benchmark for engineering, build quality, refinement. Allaround goodness.
But Camry's never been emotional - either to look at or to drive. The previous-generation car (1997-2001) took Camry to the pinnacle of blandness, as a matter of fact, and became the poster child for the ultimate expression of auto-as-appliance.
So it is with not-unexpected disappointment that I say the new Camry is NOT fun to drive. The 4-cyl./manual transmission combo is interesting and maybe mildly engaging, but never fun. Certainly not Nissan Altima fun.
I particularly feel for chief engineer Kosaku Yamada, as ardent and painstaking a car-developer as you'd care to meet. He's been doing the Camry for 10 years (which, coincidentally, is how long it's been...