For 15 years in the number one spot as the best selling car in the nation (excluding trucks of course, with Ford, Chevy and Dodge hogging the top 3 spots) has always been the Toyota Camry.  Its earned a solid reputation as an affordable, reliable, and family friendly four door sedan, and all for good reason.  But the most surprising thing about the Camry is that it’s always been a really dull and boring car.  In fact, as far as I can remember, its always been quite lame.  No bells and whistles or high performance parts to make it fun to drive, and as far as the exterior, while it’s improved over the years, its always been kind of “blah” if not ugly in it’s earlier years.  It’s not the car you’d pick out of a line up, and it’s not a car you drool over, or even notice while driving down the parkway.  The Camry has always just been the car that gets you from point A to point B and in the past, some analysts have even compared it’s functionality and style/design to that of a home appliance.  Its always been a car for people who need a car, but not necessarily the car lovers car… 

Now somewhere in Toyota headquarters one of the designers made a bet that they could “She’s All That” this bitch and in a coming-of-age ugly duckling automotive love story, she finally got a classy, well deserved, and long over due makeover.  If this doesn’t raise her high school popularity or “street cred” or solidify her position for the 16th year in a row as America’s best selling car (without a bed.) 

Unveiled at in Detroit at the 2017 North American International Auto Show, we finally got our first look at her transformation, and all we can say is that it’s a great    

She’s 0.7 of an inched wider, the wheelbase is 2 inches longer, and the roof, hood cowl and dashboard have been lowered giving her more aggressive cockpit appeal.  

Just like you want any prom queen to be, she’s sportier, got more curves, is also firmer and smoother (Toyota stiffened the Camry) and she talks a lot less (double-wishbone suspension and four-point engine mounts for a reduction in noise, vibration and harshness)!  Toyota insisted that Camry drivers will notice the changes immediately.  She’s also got a nicer, er… rack?  2.5-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder “Dynamic Force Engine” with a higher compression ratio, direct injection, a variable cooling system and the latest update of the brands Variable Valve-Timing-Intelligent Electric system.  

Like a great girlfriend, she also won’t blow through your cash… Toyota promises 178 hp and 170 pound-feet of torque, giving it the best-in-class fuel economy at 31 mpg combined…  AND… she doesn’t mind drinking the cheap stuff!