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Toyota Motor Co. has had any number of winners in its array of vehicles, but none has found greater success than the Camry.

The upscale Camry comes in sedan or wagon form, and offers either front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. It courts luxury-car buyers without crossing into mind-boggling luxury-car prices.

Manufactured in Georgetown, Ky., it has garnered such honors as being named the most trouble-free car built in America by the J.D. Powers & Associates 1990 Initial Quality Study.

With high-tech engineering, design and styling, the car is one of Toyota’s better ideas.

The Camry DX sedan with a 24-valve V-6 engine and dual-mode four-speed automatic transmission is a better idea by anybody. In this version, style and substance go hand in hand for world-class motoring.

The Camry is available with either a dual-cam, 16-valve four-cylinder engine that displaces 2.0 liters, or a four-cam, speedway-type 2.5-liter V-6. Power outputs are 115 horsepower for the four-cylinder and 156 horsepower for the V-6. But power differential isn’t the whole story.

The V-6 with four valves per cylinder and 160 foot-pounds of torque provides far more flexibility and smoothness to the car. The engine acts more like a V-8, adding an extra bit of finesse.

The DX sedan that John Harkness of Tom Wood Toyota provided for a test car is ranked as a compact by the Environmental Protection Agency. Actually, it is more on the order of a midsize automobile.

There is decent legroom in the back. The front seating has plenty of room. With the front bucket-seat adjustments it is possible to obtain big-car comfort.

The DX is classified as a five-passenger sedan, and it will carry three in the back. However, if rear-seat passengers are of linebacker dimensions, two are going to be more comfortable than three.

A DX is made for comfort and convenience rather than road racing – hence the test car’s air conditioning, stereo, power equipment and the like. It can be driven fast, but the speed is quite deceptive. With 11/2 tons of curb weight, and a ride that irons out everything short of holes in the pavement, you end up going faster than you think you are going.

The test car wasn’t the most expensive Camry on the road. But for $17, 000, it offered stylish interior fabrics and a mirrored maroon exterior that looked like it came off something costing a whole lot more money.

With the button-actuated “power” setting on the transmission, performance was adequate if not of the rocket-launch variety. If I had my druthers, I’d have liked about 3.0 liters of V-6 instead of 2.5.

That, however, would more than likely affect the 2.5-liter’s mileage rating. And that’s something that doesn’t have a very high priority around Toyota Motors.

1992 Toyota Camry DX Sedan Base price: $14, 658As tested: $17, 102Type: Front-engine, front-drive, five-passenger, compact sedanEngine: 2.5-liter, 24-valve, 156-horsepower, fuel-injected V-6Mileage: 18 mpg (c ity)24 mpg (highway)Acceleration: 0-60 mph in 9.3 secs.Length: 182.1 inchesWheelbase: 102.4 inchesCurb weight: 3, 020 poundsOptions: Front and rear mudguards, premium equipment package, exterior appearance packageArea dealers: Beck, Butler, O’Brien, Tom Wood