1988 Toyota Camry LX

On March 17th, Just a short 8 months after my last car purchase, having fallen into such a love for the Toyota Camry, I decided that making the move from a "DX" to an "LX" was the right way to go.

While tooling around one weekend I came across this beauty at an Acura dealership in Bloomington MN. It was an import. And by "import" I mean it had just been imported from Jacksonville Florida. The interior was a plush, deep red/burgundy, and the windows were tinted so dark from the outside, you couldn't see in at all. ( Something that is illegal in Minnesota, so how the dealership was allowed to sell it this way is beyond me. For the record though, I never changed it and I never got a ticket for it. Call it youthful, dumb luck.)

The car was a pure, pure, pure solid white with no signs of any road wear. On the hood was an unusual item, a Toyota emblem. Toyotas sold in Minnesota didn't wear this badging. I'm not real sure why it was there, but you could tell it was a factory installed item. (No, I'm not talking about the word "TOYOTA" in the front grill. Check the picture above. There was a rounded triangle Toyota emblem actually on the hood).

With the exception of a crush-velour vs cloth interior and a bunch of little luxury interior features (better stereo, etc) this was pretty much the same quality of car as my 1987 was. Painted bumpers were really the only way to tell an "LX" from a "DX" from the outside. Unless you count the big letters they put on the back of the car. I had a friend who did body work remove the dealership logo as the car was new to me, so having an Acura dealer name on the back—Yelling out "Used Car!"—had to go.

This car was the 'White Limousine' I was searching for. I would never want for another car as long as I lived. HA! Youth. You've got to love how the feeling of "This is as good as it gets" is so strong when you are young. Still, it was a really nice car.