The Japanese Buick?

Here are Motor Trend‘s collected scribes damning the Toyota Camry with faint praise:

"We all agreed that the Camry is a great car for those whose automotive passions are centered on reliability, value, ease of use, comfort, safety and peace of mind. Camry owners who love their cars are the same people who love their washing machines and refrigerators … "

The Camry deserves better. Like the Honda Accord, it is denigrated as an appliance, albeit a reliable one. It will be a cold day in hell when a Camry sedan makes the cover of Road and Track.

Consumer Reports, now there’s a magazine that appreciates the Camry: It wins plaudits as one of the magazine’s top-rated family cars. "The Camry, especially in the XLE trim, exudes the quality and refinement of a luxury car," says CR. "The well-rounded package includes a polished powertrain, smooth and quiet ride, capable handling and braking, and generous accommodations."

I drove a new Camry, which was completely redesigned for 2002, right after a week in an enormous, visibility-challenged SUV. It was such a relief to get in a car again. While the gas-guzzler was in my custody, I read a horrific news story about a Long Island father, behind the wheel of a 2003 Ford Expedition at a June 20 family barbecue, backing over and killing his 2-year-old daughter. I have two daughters, and the thought of an SUV-related accident like that just sends me around the bend. No wonder some big SUVs have rear-vision cameras: The view backwards is often a challenge.

The Camry’s history, which dates to 1983, doesn’t include death-defying runs on the Mille Miglia, and it’s probably not the vehicle to carry you up a moose track to an undiscovered mountain. It was made to carry commuters to work, take supermarket runs, pack in the gear for a family vacation — in short, the things that most Americans actually do.

It has evolved gradually. A V-6 arrived in 1988, along with all-wheel-drive capability. And the Camry got gradually larger as Americans’ taste changed. In 1997, it became the best-selling car in the U.S., but it was dethroned by the Honda Accord in 2001.

The V-6-powered Camry XLE is just the right size for me. I like its 29-mile-per-gallon highway fuel economy (21 in the city) and the full array of standard features. For a base price of $25,000, the car comes with automatic climate and cruise control, a six-CD changer, power locks and windows, ABS brakes and automatic transmission. Add-ons like stability control and a premium package pushed the bottom line on my car to $28,714.

The Camry’s interior layout is logical and intuitive, with even a bit of sparkle to the instrument design. After the SUV, the Toyota felt light and responsive — perhaps too light. The assisted steering doesn’t allow much road feel.

The 3-liter, 24-valve, V-6 engine offers 210 horsepower — more than enough to make it a good highway cruiser. To ease the "are we there yet?’ factor on long trips, the back seat got 2.3 inches of increased legroom in the redesign. The trunk is large, and visibility is great; you can even see what’s behind you.

One auto critic called the Camry a "Japanese Buick," a sneering putdown if ever there was one. But Buick makes good, solid family cars, too. Visit the Midwest sometime. There are Buicks all over the place, and these folks in the fly-over states aren’t wrong about everything.