There are two types of vintage cars that are nearly 40 years old. The first type is usually referred to as “scrap cars”, meaning that the cars are extremely old, with many patched-up details, only suitable for “sheltering from rain and sun”. The second type is collector cars, with most of the details still intact and less damaged, easily restored and more valuable. The second type is harder to find, as not every car owner takes care of their car for decades.
Mr. Tran Thanh Tung’s 1986 Toyota Camry, as mentioned in the article, belongs to the second type. It is not easy to find a Camry that is 37 years old and still has most of the original details. Sometimes, it’s fate.
Mr. Tung with his 1986 Toyota Camry on the first long-distance trip after buying the car
Mr. Tung currently lives in Da Lat. His 1986 Toyota Camry has only been repurchased for 5 months. About 2,000 km has been used for long-distance trips. Mr. Tung is not sure how many km the car has traveled before he bought it, as the number on the odometer can be easily changed. Currently, the odometer is at about 245,000 km.
The difficulty of owning a desired “vintage” car
“I used to own a 2017 Toyota Vios. It was okay, but I didn’t like it because the design of this car is very common, you can see a lot of them on the road, there’s nothing special about it. I decided to find a unique car,” Mr. Tung shared about the reason for selling his 2017 Vios to switch to a 1986 Camry.
Mr. Tung said that the Camry has made Toyota’s brand. It evoked in him a strong desire to own it. After researching the various generations of Camry, Mr. Tung found the 1986 model to be the most satisfying. The design of the 1986 Camry impressed Mr. Tung because it resembled the cars that appeared in the Japanese movies he watched.
He thought he liked it, but it was difficult to find. Mr. Tung had searched everywhere, looked at dozens of Camrys from 1987 to 1989, but most of them had undercarriage problems, the engines were not smooth, and many details were not original.
The current car came to Mr. Tung like fate. He shared that someone he knew in his area knew that he was looking for a car, so they recommended a 1986 Camry. This car was brought to Lam Dong province. The previous owner was the second owner of the car.
The initial car had a lot of scratches on the exterior
When he bought it, the car’s paint had worn out, but the important thing was that the engine and undercarriage were still in good condition, and the car was almost fully original. The previous owner said that the engine had been rebuilt 3 years ago and has been working fine until now.
Mr. Tung bought the car for 60 million VND. At that time, many people criticized him for buying an old car at such a high price.
“When I bought it, everyone asked if I bought the car for 15 million VND, if I bought scrap metal,” Mr. Tung shared.
However, for Mr. Tung, that amount of money was nothing expensive, because it is very difficult to find a nearly 40-year-old car that is still in such original condition.
Easy-to-buy items, nothing to break in the car
After buying the 1986 Camry, Mr. Tung had it refurbished. The total cost to refurbish the car was more than 40 million VND, mainly for repainting the car, replacing the floor mat, shock absorbers, new tires, replacing the transmission oil, engine oil, headlights, upholstering the seats, and installing some other accessories.
Mr. Tung also redid some parts of the car himself
In general, the car was mostly refurbished on the “outside”, while the engine system inside remained smooth, with nothing broken. That is the advantage of buying a car that is still original. According to Mr. Tung, the vintage Camry is like a “sturdy pot and stone poultice”.
“It’s called a vintage car, but the replacement parts are readily available. Many members of the scrapyard group have many spare parts for sale. If I need something, I just need to post it in the group and I will get it,” Mr. Tung added.
The car after the refurbishment has a more eye-catching interior and exterior
Unexpected experiences
After finishing the refurbishment of his 37-year-old Camry, Mr. Tung immediately took two long-distance trips. The furthest trip was from Da Lat to Phu Yen, about 700 km round trip. The second trip was to Phan Thiet. After 5 months of use, Mr. Tung’s car has traveled about 2,000 km, mostly for travel purposes.
When traveling, Mr. Tung was quite surprised to receive compliments from many people about his newly purchased car.
“When I parked in Tuy Hoa, everyone came to see the car and asked if I dared to drive from Da Lat, and they praised the beautiful car and called it a tiger car. Everywhere I went, people came out to see the car and complimented it,” Mr. Tung shared about the unforgettable experience of driving a vintage Camry on a long-distance trip for the first time.
Speaking about the driving experience, Mr. Tung evaluated this “old” Camry as still steady and agile. It reached about 80 km/h just in second gear. It was stable even when traveling at over 100 km/h. Compared to the 2017 Vios he used to drive, Mr. Tung said that the vintage Camry gives a more stable driving feel but with less noise isolation. That is understandable for a car over 37 years old, even though it is in a higher segment.
“The people I traveled with on the recent trips told me that the car looks like that but drives really well, and everyone who looks at it compliments it,” Mr. Tung shared.
After successfully obtaining his desired vintage Toyota Camry and spending time and effort to make it beautiful, Mr. Tung expressed his intention to use the car for a long time.
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