This is a V30 Toyota Camry Prominent 2.0 VX, right-hand drive, seen in the great city of Changchun in Jilin Province. It is one of the rarest cars I have ever seen in China.
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The V30 Camry was made from 1990 until 1994, and was only sold in Japan. It was related to the ‘international’ XV10 Camry.
The Prominent was the top of the line model of the V30 Camry series. It was loaded with luxury and had an exclusive engine. It also had a special badge on the grille.
The Prominent was based on the hardtop sedan version of the V30 Camry. The hardtop sedan was a sporty sedan with frameless doors. Today we would probably call it a sedan-coupe.
Rear-hand drive cars are very rare in China because you can not register them, and driving them on the road is illegal. This is so even for diplomatic cars. This car however had legal license plates, so apparently the owner must have found a way to register it.
The Jilon Province license plate is interesting.
The A·xxxx sequence indicate a black ‘foreign company’ license plate, but it is blue. It doesn’t seem black-faded, because the numbers didn’t fade.
Today, when you have a black plate and you buy a new car, you have to exchange it for a blue plate with the same number. But that’s only since 2002.
It could be that the current owner bought it second hand, after 2002, and exchanged his old black plate for a new blue one at that moment. But the fact that the plate does look very old seems odd. A bit of a mystery. We saw a similar old-looking blue A-plate on a Ford Tempo in Beijing.
The interior looked a bit dirty but seemed in good shape. Seat covers really need a wash! Radio is original.
The Camry Prominent was powered by an unique 2.0 liter V6 engine (1VZ-FE). Output was 136 hp and 173 Nm. The engine was mated to a four-speed automatic, sending power to the front wheels.
Toyota also made a four-wheel drive variant of the XV30 Camry hardtop sedan, that car was called the Camry Vista.
The car was in good shape and clearly still in use. The XV10 Camry is quite common in China so parts are not that hard to get. Except of course when you needs parts for the engine, or related to the RHD setup.
A very classy Camry Prominent badge between the lights.
Subtle spoiler in the boot lid. Chinese license plate doesn’t fit, so the owner bend it a bit.
A very special Toyota in Changchun.