Most vehicle manufacturers would be content to leave well enough alone. Not Toyota. But how can you possibly improve an automobile that just won Motor Trend’s impressive "2007 Car of the Year" award? The answer is simple—you make it a hybrid.

Seeking to appease both the long-time environmental activists and the recent converts who are now suddenly aware that a major problem may be brewing, Toyota took their sleek new Camry, fresh off its ’07 revamping, and implemented a Hybrid package.

With a spacious and quiet interior along with a 600-mile cruising range, the ’08 Camry is living, well, driving proof that smart thinking and happy motoring can peacefully co-exist.

Mechanically speaking, anyone familiar with the Nissan Altima Hybrid may think they’re seeing double—and in many ways, they are—largely because Nissan chose to buy many of its hybrid components directly from Toyota. In the case of the Camry, a 2.4-liter dual-overhead cam-inline-4 gasoline engine is mated to an electric motor and allows for one of three powering modes—gasoline, electric, or a combination of the two. Like the Altima, a CVT transmission—continuously variable automatic transmission—is the only tranny available with the Hybrid package, but its ability to keep the motor in the heart of its power band makes it a necessity not a detriment.

The only negative aspect of the hybrid package is the fact that the extra components take up some of the available trunk space and block most of the opening provided by the folding rear seat. However, if you can deal with a little less cargo area in exchange for bettering the air you breathe, the minuses are really trivial.

Like any other midsize sedan worth purchasing, the Camry Hybrid features a lengthy list of creature comforts, including: traction control, an antiskid system, remote keyless entry, dual-zone automatic climate controls, in-dash six-disc CD/MP3 changer, eight-way power driver’s seat, trip computer, power sunroof, wireless cell phone link and a variety of other niceties.

Kermit the Frog went on record a number of years back, stating it "wasn’t easy being green." If he buys a Camry Hybrid, he’ll change his mind in an instant!

*Certified gear-head Jackson "Gumball Jax" Kincade is the former head instructor for a well-known European high-performance driving academy and a veteran of numerous highly illegal cross-country cannonball/gumball road races. His right foot resembles a cinder block.