1999 Toyota Solara

Despite America's infatuation with sport/utility vehicles, Toyota recognizes there remains a healthy contingent of consumers who prefer the "justifiable indulgence" of a sporty coupe, albeit one with considerably more panache than the previous-generation two-door Camry. Enter the new Solara.

From its jewel-like headlamps to its carefully penned body lines and rakish attitude, the Solara looks upscale, luxurious, and fun-more like a Lexus ES 300 coupe than its Camry brethren. Although sharing a common platform, the Solara boasts a stiffer body structure and finer-tuned suspension with increased strut, spring, and bushing rates all around. The result is a solid, more responsive chassis that modestly improves upon the Camry's soft setup without a hint of objectionable harshness. The rack-and-pinion power steering assembly also has been tweaked to increase resistance more quickly as speeds rise, contributing to a slightly sportier overall feel.

Like its sedan counterpart, two DOHC powerplants will be offered in the Solara: a thrifty 2.2-liter/135-horsepower four-cylinder and silken 3.0-liter/200-horse V-6. Those who step up to the bigger engine can further opt for the affordable sport package, which adds a 16-inch tire/wheel fitment, decklid spoiler, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and unique rear suspension setup to enhance yaw response. Combine this with a five-speed manual transmission for maximum fun; the smooth four-speed automatic doesn't offer a sport mode. A preproduction five-speed V-6 model ran 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds and finished the quarter mile in 15.3 seconds at 91.5 mph.

Inside, the Solara offers nearly as much space as a Camry sedan with seating for five. Its unique interior treatment is more attractive than the no-frills four-door variants, with a sweeping dash and faux wood trim. Well-formed front buckets provide great comfort and support while the rear quarters offer reasonable head and legroom-items not to be taken for granted in a coupe.

Standard equipment on the base SE includes power windows/doorlocks/mirrors, air conditioning, tilt steering wheel, and cruise control. Stepping up to the premium SLE model adds leather trim, power driver's seat, automatic climate control, HomeLink transmitter, keyless remote entry, security system, heated side mirrors, alloy wheels. and all-new 200-watt JBL AM/FM/CD/cassette stereo.

Solara pricing will start under $19,000 on four-cylinder cars and go to about $25,000 for V-6 SLE models. The initial mix is expected to run 75-80 percent V-6s with about 40 percent also being equipped with the sport package. Toyota hopes to move about 40,000 to 50,000 of these stylish two-doors a year, roughly double the volume of the previous Camry Coupe. A convertible variant and a supercharged TRD model boasting another 60-75 horsepower are under development, according to Toyota insiders.