SEMA brought out the coolest of all the Scions. We saw tricked out Scion tC’s, xB’s, and even some dope xA’s. Thanks to all the awesome tuners that came to show off their rides. The most prevalent chassis for tuners to use as a blank slate was the Scion xB chassis. Cars ranged from full on mural cars to slammed low riders.
They had a plethora of awesome tricked out Scions, but our favorite was the mural xB that was painted up by famous street artist, David Cho. In the back it is packed with a sweet drum set.
The Scion xB has gained an enormous cult like following. It has gone a different route when designing a car similar to the VW beetle and Austin Mini of the time. It has become one of the most affordable tuner cars with a huge aftermarket that allow you to change just about everything on the car to something of your taste. The more popular first generation is just a rebadged Japanese Toyota Bb. It is available with a 1.5 L 1NZ-FE. The Japanese Toyota Bb has an optional 1.3 liter engine and a 4 wheel drive system.
The newer second generation xB has received mixed responses because its increase in size. The newer xB is a full foot longer than the original. The newer xB has a 2.4 L engine which is almost a full Liter bigger than the original. It shares the engine with the Scion TC and the Toyota Camry. To rid the myth that the original xB was dangerous they added 6 airbags to make it seem indestructible. It has been rated by Car and Driver as one of the top 10 safest vehicles under $25,000.
Time will only tell whether the new second generation xB will create as large of following as its younger self, even though I myself favor the original first generation xB. With the newer model out, prices should drop for the first gens, and that is just going to give the aftermarket another boost. Their original intent to reach a younger target market when they gave us the Scion company may be backfiring or benefiting their sales now because these cardboard box like cars are appealing to the older people. What is not to like about them? They have plenty of room, low pricing, safety, and adorable styling... did I just say adorable?
