Hey was Toyota maybe playing copycat with nissan back in the early 90's? The camry's of the same years 90-94 are at least visually amazingly similar to the 3rd gen maximas, just slighty more rounded but almost the same shape and size.

 

Maybe, Nissans first 3rd gen came out in late 1988. 1 or 2 years before the Toyota Camry came out.

 

Could be just the styling trends of the time. If you look at an Accord of that era, it also has many similar styling elements and shapes. Once I did a double take at an early-mid 90's Oldsmobile 88 because the low raked rear window looks similar to our cars'!

 

actually, this era was my fav for sedans. The 92-93 camries had v6 and 5sp. mazda 626 had v6 and 5sp too. Max, Camry, and 626 looked very good to me. If you check out the fit/finish of that era, those cars are awesome.
I test drove a 02 Altima 3.5 5sp yesterday and hafta say the interior is very cheapy looking. The 5th gen Maximas are marginally better, but my gf's 93 Altima and bro's 93 Max definitely appears better.
Jay

 

Thnks For the replies, yeah I think Car companies are using cheaper stuff in cars now cause they can make more of em quicker and cheaper I guess. Maybe eventually we will get back to a time when companies go back to making quality cars with quality stuff heres hoping.