Toyota USA
's passenger car website is not exactly a hub of automotive excitement, let's be honest. Why report about a new MY18 Camry on PistonHeads then? Well, it's got a pushrod V8 for starters. It's got side-exiting exhausts. And really, really fat tyres. It is, as you'll see, not your usual white goods Toyota.
In an event Toyota describes breathlessly as "unprecedented" the 2018
NASCAR
Camry has been unveiled at Detroit alongside the MY18 roadgoing Camry. Which, sorry to say, doesn't have the V8 or side exhausts. Regular model year updates are, of course, deeply embedded in US automotive consumer culture and translating that new look into a NASCAR context for Toyota to defend its Premier Series manufacturer's title from last year makes marketing sense.
Given the racecars are clearly little more than silhouette bodies you'd have thought a decal-heavy 'facelift' like this is probably a little easier for the race team than it is the passenger car department. Nonetheless, Toyota USA boasts of long-running collaboration between its US design studio, Calty Design Research Inc. and Toyota Racing Developments "to ensure the NASCAR Camry showcased the same aggressive attributes as its updated production sibling".
Enough to get us excited over the regular Camry? Probably not. But a mean looking piece of kit all the same. Given Matt's apparent excitement for all things Stateside over at Detroit expect Liveblog and social media appearances for the car in due course!