2007 Toyota Camry

Every day of every week, on average, Americans buy more than 1200 of them. Since its debut in 1983, over 10 million have been sold worldwide--five million of those homegrown in the horse country of Kentucky. Without benefit of fleet sales or incentives or dancing girls behind the showroom glass, it's easily the best-selling car in the United States--and has been for nine of the past 10 years.

The redesigned, sixth-generation version has even become something of an automotive rock star: Stories circulate of buyers chasing loaded transport trailers to the dealership in hopes of grabbing one before it's snatched up by some other lucky groupie. Maybe now those buyers will have to don helmets and shoulder pads: The new Toyota Camry is our choice for Motor Trend's 2007 Car of the Year.

"Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door." Yes, Ralph Waldo Emerson was referring to the Camry. In this case, though, "beating a path" is an understatement: As this issue goes to press, the latest edition of Toyota's iconic sedan is on track to become the first automobile in nearly three decades to top 450,000 in annual U.S. sales.

Clearly, American drivers know a great thing when they see it. And as our intensive Car of the Year competition confirmed, the 2007 Camry has the goods--room, quality, performance, efficiency, value--to merit its adoring following (more on that in a moment). Don't be fooled by its unassuming, family-sedan facade, though. The Camry is nothing less than a four-wheeled gauntlet thrown down by Toyota, a declaration in sheetmetal that says to competitors: "We know the market. We have the engineering skill. We have the quality controls. We have the supplier support. We have the brand image." Exotic two-seaters and pricey luxury sedans get all the fanfare, but the Camry is the car other automakers are studying, the one they wish they could build.

Those automakers could be forgiven for thinking there's a little sorcery in the Camry's act. Perhaps no other automobile on earth provides such a custom-tailored fit for such an enormous segment of the driving populace. The Camry has even pulled off a trans-cultural coup. Designed in America, for Americans' unique tastes, and built here, too, this Japanese-branded four-door has shouldered aside rival Fords, Chevys, and Chryslers to become, through sheer, steadfast excellence, America's sedan.

Turn the pages as we reveal how the Camry also has become Motor Trend's 2007 Car of the Year.