A pristine Toyota Camry XV20 sedan, seen in China’s capital Beijing in 2016. The Camry was in a very good shape for its years, painted in a clean shade of white and still standing on the original factory alloy wheels. License plate is an oldie, likely with the car from first registration.
The Toyota Camry XV20 was made from 1996 until 2001. It was mainly sold in Japan, North America, and Australia. It was not officially sold in China, but quite a few examples arrived here via the gray market.
The interior was okay, albeit with slightly discolored beige plastics. The leather seats were in beige as well. There was a tiny bit of wood trim around the gigantic gear lever. The CD-cassette-radio sound system was original and apparently in working condition.
The XV20 had a clean and near-timeless design, with an old-school sedan shape with a long bonnet and a long rear deck. Oddly shaped rear lights were a discerning design detail. Note the rolled-up anti-sun screen laying behind the headrests. Those were a very popular after market accessory in period. I had ‘m too on my car.
The XV20 Toyota Camry was available with three engines: a 2.2, a 2.5 V6, and a 3.0 V6. Our white Beijing car has the 2.2 under the bonnet, good for 130 hp and 200 Nm. Gearbox was a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic, as in this car.
As it was not officially sold in China, the Camry XV20 is rather rare down here, especially in such a great shape as this one.