No car anywhere has ever been boxier than the Scion xB. From bolt-upright nose to vertical windshield, slab sides and flat tail, the five-door xB is relentlessly boxlike. Even its name is but a vowel away from being "box" spelled backward. When all of history is finally written, the Scion xB will go down as the box that history was buried in.
The Scion xB was one of the first two products from Toyota's youth-oriented brand extension Scion. The entire point of Scion was to give Toyota dealers a second marketing channel through which they could target younger buyers who might otherwise be uninterested in a vehicle from the conservative Toyota. Though there would be no separate Scion dealers, the marketing of the vehicles would be separate and every Scion vehicle would be branded as such without any badges indicating it's a Toyota. The first Scions went on sale during 2003, with the 2004 Scion xB small wagon joined by the similarly sized 2004 xA five-door hatchback.
The first Scion xB was based on the Toyota bB wagon that had been on sale in Japan since the year 2000. Built on a simple front-drive chassis, the xB was powered by a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine making just 103 horsepower. The transmission choices were either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. The boxlike dimensions of the xB may not have been chic (except ironically), but they paid off in exceptional roominess for a car so dinky. Both drivers and passengers sat almost bolt upright in the Scion xB to take advantage of its relatively tall roof.
Though Scion and the Scion xB were targeted at youth buyers, the sheer practicality of the xB made it surprisingly popular among older demographics, while the Scion xB's determinedly anti-style style gave it a hip, ironic appeal with youngsters. In sum, the first Scion xB was for everyone.
A second-generation Scion xB appeared for the 2008 model year and it was larger than the first, with a 2.4-liter engine in its nose. Optimized for the American market, the second Scion xB has proven popular not just with consumers but as a taxicab in some resort communities.
