Remember Scion? Good times. For about 13 years, it made America’s roads a little weirder, a little edgier, a little more interesting. It’s been nearly a decade since the sub-brand disappeared into the ether, but now Toyota is reviving the name with a 300-horsepower hybrid side-by-side that seems to absolutely rule.
If you aren’t familiar with Scion, it’s Toyota’s dearly-departed youth brand that launched the first toaster car in America, the original xB. We biologically totalled one, it was great. Anyway, apparently the Echo wasn’t cool enough for people who wore their baseball hats backwards, so Toyota had a marketing agency craft a new name, plucked the bB and the Ist out of its Japanese product lineup, then brought them to America as the xB and xA. Over the years, the tC front-wheel-drive coupe effectively replaced the Toyota Celica, the xD replaced the xA and became the first car potentially named after an emoticon, the FR-S reminded the kids that oversteer is cool, and then the Auris-based iM and Mazda2 sedan-based iA were two of the cars of all time. However, through it all, Scion never lost touch with one thing: It loved to party.
Look, I’m not saying that Scion was an excuse for office juniors to throw ragers on the company credit card, but how else do you explain using car company money to start a record label that worked with the likes of Chromeo, Justice, and Danny Brown? If you walked up to the Pontiac stand at an international auto show, you’d get a brochure. If you walked up to the Scion booth, you’d get a branded mix CD of weird French house music, or a mix of dubstep before it was cool, or maybe even just a yo-yo. Perhaps sensing its offspring’s penchant for keg stands, Toyota performed a brandectomy on Scion in 2016, merging existing models back into the Toyota lineup. Well, it turns out they still have original-formula Four Loko in whatever sort of purgatory Scion was confined to, because that name is now on a proper party vehicle in certifiably big-ass letters.
When you think about it, a side-by-side is like if the Jeep was invented to defend American valor in the X Games. We’re talking tube-framed cage-fighting off-road vehicles designed to hit jumps that would void your F-150 Raptor’s warranty before it even apexed its arc. You have to be lacking the fear gene to really get reckless with one of these things. My co-worker Mercedes has effectively written off at least one, and the people who made it didn’t seem mad. It’s through this scope of mechanized insanity that the revival of the Scion nameplate makes sense, even if it’s just for a one-off showpiece that dials things up to eleven.
If you want a really powerful side-by-side, you’d buy something like a Polaris RZR Pro XP, which makes 225 horsepower. The upper echelon, if you will. The Scion 01 decided that wasn’t enough, so it borrowed a turbocharged four-cylinder hybrid powertrain from Toyota’s light truck lineup to round things up to an even 300 horsepower. A nice round number, that. Sure, Toyota mentions efficiency and being able to silently glide along on electric power alone, but the big draw here is the same peak power output as a BMW 335i in a side-by-side finished in the sort of digital camo normally reserved for Call of Duty skins. Is there much more info on this build? Not really, but do you actually need any more?
It’s mental, it’s real, it has an FIA-compliant roll cage, and Toyota would be foolish not to at least consider small-batch production. If Lexus can get a yacht, Scion can get this sort of revival. It’s making its public debut at SEMA, and from the sheer personality of the thing, it would make a “SEMA nuts” joke if it could talk. The Scion 01 concept is outrageous, exactly as it should be. Welcome back, Scion. We missed you.
Top graphic image: Toyota
Um, how did you do a story about old Scion and mention every model except the best one? Yinz are losing your minds about the new Twingo, forgetting you could have had cheap, cheerful, and reliable years ago.
Lexus has a yacht?
Toyota would be especially cool if they managed to make this small batch and follow the Oreion Side by sides and make them fully street legal. I still feel that is the biggest flaw with Roxor’s. for 20-30k these things need to be able to be occasionally driven to places on roads.
I’ve never heard of the Oreion’s. I might need one.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2013-oreion-reeper/
Scion was basically the brand to sell stuff they didn’t want to sell to Americans under Toyota. With Toyota making cheap vehicles for alot of the world this seems like an opertunity. Have a crazy stupid sxs. Then have a flat pack truck thing for off-road use a UTV. Maybe throw in a imv or kei truck or van. Scion as an off road line is funny but makes sense in alot of ways.
Scion xB was my first car as a kid and I drove the wheels off that frickin’ thing. I’d love to rip dirt with it too. Maybe I gotta go to king of the hammers again…
Great write-up, that middle section gave me some genuine LOL
What I miss most about Scion isn’t the youth culture stuff, but rather the simple, affordable, decent-quality cars. The iA (Mazda 2), the xB (both gens), and the tC (both gens) were relative standouts vs. other cars in their category/price range.
4cyl hybrid from a truck? Why not a 3cyl turbo from the GR Corolla?
The Scion mix CDs were actually really good. Also: I’m old.
Will Scion let new SxS owners keep the little piece of brain that’s apparently removed from every SxS owner? Do they take it in a little jar after they sign the purchase contract?
I’m genuinely curious about the process, because it seems like every SxS driver out on the trail is knuckle-dragging smoothbrained imbecile.
I suppose Scion becoming a Toyota off-road brand wouldn’t be all that bad. Just offer the old Ironman paint scheme on it. You know the one, white with the yellow, orange, and red stripes…
They even used some of the old Scion font type.
I have much first hand experience with Scion just liking to throw a party. in addition to different car shows, they picked me and my car to go out to Vegas where they used a bunch of customer cars in commercials/print ads, and just let us party/events and threw us a concert for the few days they were filming all of that.
From Cincinnati? I know 1-2 guys that did that, one had an xB with over-the-top mods & the other was mostly mind-numbing stereo.
I’m in Texas, and have a comparatively conservative done tC. but yes, there were many with some pretty wild stuff there from all over. I think there were around 100 vehicles they chose?
Stupid, just sell us damn compact pickup truck like we have been asking for years. The Hilux Champ woukd be a great start.
It always kind of blew my mind thaT Jeep never entered the SXS space, especially when mahindra built and (successfully!) sold a sxs that is literally a CJ with a tractor engine.
Toyota should go all in on this, especially given their rich history of badass collabs with Yamaha, who currently needs a new Halo SXS and has loads of expertise. It’s a match made in heaven and it needs to happen!
As an owner of a tc this headline made me so happy then i saw the rest…please toyota bring back scion as a affordable sub brand…or if your doing SXS’s now make an electric motorcycle
I also still have my 06 tC that is surprisingly still running relatively well and reliably even with the supercharger installed around 09/10
Man I miss my tC sold it after child one was born before child two was on the way. I Wasn’t nice to it though, and it probably didn’t last more than three or four years after. I did see it once bombing around in traffic, knew it was mine by the Carbon Fiber Exhaust insulator on the bumper, and my red CMHSL on the hatch.
I have a 2012 RS bright yellow I love it! I hope to get it over 300k. The first gens have much more aftermarket support and I think I’d like to own a first gen as well. I have a soft spot for scion and a sub 35k lineup with the brand name would make a lot of since for Toyota right now. However I am just glad to see the brand live on.
Wife had an xB when we got together. We called it lunch box, and it kicked ass more then it had any reason to. Remember when every gen 1 xB had duck tape holding the faulty handle trim on the rear hatch because no one realized Toyota had a free recall fix on it?
The one thing mine never did. I don’t know if I was lucky or just super careful.
Scion xB: Tech guys in the early aughts
Scion 01 ATV: Tech guys now
I know that a lot of the current overlanding Toyota trucks crowd here in CA is made up of a lot former import tuner guys, so that tracks.
Rollin’ Binchotan!
Why not, Side by sides have nearly completely replaced jeeps and trucks on trails and off parks in the upper midwest. These things print money.
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Yeah I can’t stand behind equating an automotive brand ending with something as emotionally charged as abortion.
Thomas, your metaphors are gold but this one is a no-go.
Good call.
I bought my ’06 xB in late 2008 right as my divorce was starting, and I totaled my S-10 Blazer that I absolutely hated.
Shortly after, my mom had me try a Quaker Steak restaurant she thought I’d like, they were having an “Import Night”. The crazy old lady running it literally chased me down after I parked to tell me about it & that there was a Scion group that were regulars.
I parked over by them & met them afterwards. Expecting typical dude-bros, it was completely different. Super cool guys and gals, we went to Scion Exposed events with free swag, car shows, drifting, etc. I’m still friends with some of them today, even if we all have different cars (ok, the one young lady still rocks her xD I think.)
I put over 100k on that xB, including trips to the Dragon (2-3 times), autocross, vacations. I loved it so much I bought a cheap ’04 back in 2019 because I needed something to carry stuff and it was a cheap manual.
Of the many many things I have been looking forward to – grandchildren, Freddy’s custard, presidential obituaries…all normal things – Scion returning as a brand was not even in the daydream category.
And especially not as a side-by-side. Make cars, ToMoCo. Focus.
Speaking of which: make cars again, FoMoCo. Focus.
I have long wondered why more automakers aren’t involved in the side-by-side market. Jeep had that whole dispute with Mahindra over the Roxor rather than using it as an opportunity to get the Jeep name back into utility off-roaders. Ford could do similar by bringing back the smaller 1st gen bronco form factor as a UTV.
I could totally see Jeep commissioning a SxS and sticking their name on it. Unfortunately it would probably be marked up enough that no one would buy it and they’d have no idea why it failed.
If they made it price competitive they’d sell loads.
Toyota, are you okay? Should we send for help?