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There definitely is an edge to the black roof. When I looked at it, I could feel the edge that is left after the tape is peeled off; the black paint does look like it was applied after (over top) of another paint layer, so it could be mistaken for a vinyl wrap.
This!
I saw the same too, I felt the same, the black paint lines little thicker than the main body paint, and it was hard, I did try to scrape the black layer by the line off but couldn't, look like it bonded to the main body paint.
Last edited by Longevite1; 10-20-17 at 07:31 PM.
Reason: Paint not pain
This!
I saw the same too, I felt the same, the black pain lines little thicker than the main body pain, and it was hard, I did try to scrape the black layer by the line off but couldn't, look like it bonded to the main body paint.
So what is the process exactly? Is it paint on top of paint?
Back in the 1980's, I used to have one of these Mazda 929's with two tone paint - metallic black on silver similar to the car in the photo below.
The metallic black seemed to be overlaid over the silver.
It was as though the car was sprayed in silver first, then taped and sprayed in metallic black - then the masking tape was removed.
You could feel the raised metallic black paintwork with metallic black side pin striping as you run your fingers over the paint work.
Btw, this car came with not one, but two small cans of touch up paint.
One was for the metallic black, and the other was for the silver, or metallic gray - whatever you want to call it.
After many years of parking outdoors, I remember the metallic black paintwork on the bonnet and trunk lid fading or oxidizing, and feeling rough to rub over with the fingers.
The original vehicle had OEM twin exhaust tips with twin resonators and a more rectangular shaped muffler - unlike the cheap aftermarket double exhaust tips with no resonators and circular-shaped muffler fitted to the vehicle below...
Accord rear seat legroom is about 40" which is the same as the ES350. It is about 3" shorter than the ES and has a slightly larger trunk. Avalon specs show rear legroom at 42" for some reason. I'm not sure why it measures larger than the ES, but it doesn't feel larger inside. The new Accord is still classed as a mid sized car, missing the full size measure by 1 cubic foot.
I sat in a new one this weekend, but did not bother to drive it since only 1.5 liter/CVT models are available until next month when the 2 liter/10 speed is available. The interior of the EX-L is impressive.
Steve
I saw a brand new XSE on the highway yesterday in white. I don't know what to think of that black roof. It works on a Range Rover but not sure how I feel about it on the Camry. Other than that, I actually thought the styling cues looked pretty good. You can certainly see the common design theme that's carrying over into Lexus vehicles as well.
Thanks for these interesting inside photos. One thing they should have kept are the stylish exhaust tips seen above. What they chose for the SE and XSE are extremely cheap and dated. Of course, the ES350 already has the above tips, but they still could have thought of something better than a 1990's Pontiac Grand Am design.
Don't mention it, as there are plenty more I have of the 8th genereration Camry development program and hopefully soon the new LS by December or January. Many unusual design proposals I've seen from various development programs, that at times can call into question the talent of Toyota designers.
Sadly in numerous cases, what you see on the road, was the best result possible from Toyota designers, than their earlier proposals which are glaringly bad. Anyway, despite that, Toyota spent a LOT of money on this car. Like 1992 Camry levels of money, compared to recent generations. Guess it is easy to do that after 16 years on the same K platform, but ROI is still a factor.
Here is another set for those that are interested.
Back in the 1980's, I used to have one of these Mazda 929's with two tone paint - metallic black on silver similar to the car in the photo below.
The metallic black seemed to be overlaid over the silver.
It was as though the car was sprayed in silver first, then taped and sprayed in metallic black - then the masking tape was removed.
You could feel the raised metallic black paintwork with metallic black side pin striping as you run your fingers over the paint work.
Btw, this car came with not one, but two small cans of touch up paint.
One was for the metallic black, and the other was for the silver, or metallic gray - whatever you want to call it.
After many years of parking outdoors, I remember the metallic black paintwork on the bonnet and trunk lid fading or oxidizing, and feeling rough to rub over with the fingers.
The original vehicle had OEM twin exhaust tips with twin resonators and a more rectangular shaped muffler - unlike the cheap aftermarket double exhaust tips with no resonators and circular-shaped muffler fitted to the vehicle below...
by today's standards that car is not that attractive lol I don't think I've ever seen one, but the original Camry looked similar.....when I was starting out I remember a manager (you know one of those 30 y.o. old guys haha) had a 929, and didn't it have fans that automatically cooled the interior when the car was parked? I seem to remember him describing that to us. He was a bit of a show off so I got under his skin one day at the koffee klatch. I said I feel it's unfair that some people get a 6% raise around August or September when the rest of us don't. You guessed it, I was referring to the social security cap....of course I was young, now I think it's great lol
p.s. both my wife's and my LS430 have two touch up bottles since they are pearl paints...
remember when people complained that toyota was boring, now its hondas turn. Im sure the accord is good at what it does but it looks like it has the personality of an appliance.
remember when people complained that toyota was boring, now its hondas turn. Im sure the accord is good at what it does but it looks like it has the personality of an appliance.
Honda at least has the Type R. Toyota's lineup is the most yawn inducing lineup in the world. Lets not forget a simple chip will probably boost the new Accord to a performance level that Toyota can't hope to match.
by today's standards that car is not that attractive lol I don't think I've ever seen one, but the original Camry looked similar.....when I was starting out I remember a manager (you know one of those 30 y.o. old guys haha) had a 929, and didn't it have fans that automatically cooled the interior when the car was parked? I seem to remember him describing that to us. He was a bit of a show off so I got under his skin one day at the koffee klatch. I said I feel it's unfair that some people get a 6% raise around August or September when the rest of us don't. You guessed it, I was referring to the social security cap....of course I was young, now I think it's great lol
p.s. both my wife's and my LS430 have two touch up bottles since they are pearl paints...
My Mazda 929 was the 1984 refresh with two tone paint option [similar to the photo above], however the original 1982 Mazda 929 styled by Bertone in Italy [below] was know to be very contemporary for its time.
Note the frameless windows, the blacked out A & B pillars, the concentric chrome trim on the roof line and waist line, a little trapezoidal bonnet bulge, the bank of headlights, integrated bumpers, even the two spoke alloy wheels, the brushed aluminium dash with LED instrumentation, and push button ventilation controls.
Two generations later, it was the 1992-97 Mazda 929/Sentia that had the solar cells built into the glass sunroof to power the ventilation fans while the car was parked in the sun when interior temperatures reached a certain threshold.
Like the 1992-97 Mazda 929, notice how the new 2018 Camry has the same integrated sweeping waist line that begins at the base of the front windscreen, and sweeps/integrates with the waist line below the base of the side windows? I think it was the 1979 Benz S Class that was first to use this design.
1979 Benz S Class was also probably the first to use the full color coded polycarbonate cladding below the bumper around the whole car, which the 929 has used since their 1987-92 Series, and that Lexus later adopted in their 1989 LS400, ES & GS Series.
The 2018 Camry's panels aren't just flat, but appear to have depth and 3D stamped into them...
My Mazda 929 was the 1984 refresh with two tone paint option [similar to the photo above], however the original 1982 Mazda 929 styled by Bertone in Italy [below] was know to be very contemporary for its time.
Note the frameless windows, the blacked out A & B pillars, the concentric chrome trim on the roof line and waist line, a little trapezoidal bonnet bulge, the bank of headlights, integrated bumpers, even the two spoke alloy wheels, the brushed aluminium dash with LED instrumentation, and push button ventilation controls.
Two generations later, it was the 1992-97 Mazda 929/Sentia that had the solar cells built into the glass sunroof to power the ventilation fans while the car was parked in the sun when interior temperatures reached a certain threshold.
Like the 1992-97 Mazda 929, notice how the new 2018 Camry has the same integrated sweeping waist line that begins at the base of the front windscreen, and sweeps/integrates with the waist line below the base of the side windows? I think it was the 1979 Benz S Class that was first to use this design.
1979 Benz S Class was also probably the first to use the full color coded polycarbonate cladding below the bumper around the whole car, which the 929 has used since their 1987-92 Series, and that Lexus later adopted in their 1989 LS400, ES & GS Series.
The 2018 Camry's panels aren't just flat, but appear to have depth and 3D stamped into them...
Sorry to get off topic, but there is one thing I really geek out with older 1980's/early 90's Japanese cars, its the optional radios. I love how they made them look like and function like high end home hi-fi equipment of that era. Graphic equalizers, silver/metal facing, digital seek, the way the buttons are designed. That Mazda has a really cool looking radio in it.
Sorry to get off topic, but there is one thing I really geek out with older 1980's/early 90's Japanese cars, its the optional radios. I love how they made them look like and function like high end home hi-fi equipment of that era. Graphic equalizers, silver/metal facing, digital seek, the way the buttons are designed. That Mazda has a really cool looking radio in it.
The entire Japanese automotive industry made huge progress in styling and technology in the 1980's.
That 1982-87 Mazda 929 Series had a beautiful fake brushed aluminium finish, and it was fully featured with AM/FM seek, scan, random, tape auto reverse, tape seek, Dolby B & C, metal tape, bass boost & 5 band graphic equalizer, but it still sounded terrible, and I always wanted a built-in tape analogue counter, while a real time counter was not available in those days.
The 1987-92 Series Mazda 929's had a slightly better system with a 7-band graphic equalizer with more satisfactory power & clarity.
By the 1992-97 929 Series, the hi-fi industry had ditched the graphic equalizer altogether; it had become fashionable to listen to the music "flat" to try reproduce the original tone in its exact state.
The 1992-97 Series 929 added a little more power & clarity.
However, it wasn't until the 1991-96 XV10 3.0 Camry 3.0 V6, and in particular, the 1996-01 3ES with single 10" sub in the rear parcel shelf had I really experienced a truly powerful & clear car hi-fi system.
I heard that these systems were made by Pioneer for TMC.
The 1991-96 Camry & 1996-01 3ES systems were great in their era, but unfashionably weak by today's standards.
My 2005-12 3GS system was reasonably clean, but had little power at only some 315 Watts.
My 2012-19 4GS at some 835 Watts is my best system ever - much cleaner & more powerful.
I heard that new 5LS has a magnificent hi fi system with some 2,000 Watts or more, if I remember correctly.
Today, they use the Class D type amplifiers which are compact, high efficiency, run cool, low power consumption, and cheaper to manufacture, at a slight cost to clarity & bass, thus a plethora of hi powered amplifiers for motor vehicles...
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