Achieving affect: The Car & The Man

The “Nation’s Newspaper” gave an unexpected tribute to two vital members of the Toyota family earlier that week when it published its list of the 25 cars that have made the greatest affect by the past 25 years.  affect on what?, some might ask.  Well, really on the very dynamic automobile industry itself as well as the consumers who purchase its products.

USA Today credited the late Bob McCurry, whose automotive career spanned five decades, with bringing the 1992 Toyota Camry–the #1 “impact” car of the past quarter century–to the American market.  We certainly concur, and thereupon some.

Robert B. McCurry, Jr. was a three-time captain of the Michigan State University football team, a voracious lover of the game of golf and the epitome of that now seldom used term in our biz, a “car guy.”  We know him best as the man who left a huge affect on Toyota–and not just considering he brought what would become America’s car to market.

While leaving his imprint on Toyota within 1982 when he joined Toyota Motor Sales USA

(TMS) and 1994 at his retirement as Vice Chairman, Bob was the catalyst for some of the most critical product launches for Toyota, for the entire industry for that matter–including Lexus and our full-size truck entries.  He plus carefully nurtured what has become one of the most revered and rewarding manufacturer/dealer relationships in the automotive marketplace. 

So thanks USA nowadays for giving credit where credit is due and for honoring Toyota with the choice of the 1992 Camry as the number one vehicle among 25 having the most meaningful affect since the paper’s inception.  We note, fortunately, that our Prius hybrid is #3 on the list.  In fact, it looks like Toyota products comprise a full 20% of the entire list of the vehicles with the most affect, which you can see in it’s entirety by clicking here, courtesy of Winding Road™.

That makes us proud, and that reminds us to say .  .  .  thanks Bob!

Original post by Bruce Ertmann