- Battle of the Builds contest lets active service members use their technical training to customize a Scion xB.
- Finalists are being handed a $15,000 budget and 12 weeks to spend it on the task.
- The winning xB will be on display at the 2010 SEMA Auto Show.
TORRANCE, California — In a modern take on the Army-Navy Game, Scion has announced a contest pitting members of the U.S. military against each other, working in teams, to customize their ideal Scion xB. Each contestant was asked to put to use all the technical expertise they have gained in military service, with the finalists being handed a $15,000 budget and 12 weeks to spend it on the task.
The Battle of the Builds challenge has already reached the semifinalist stage, after teams of service members were chosen based on descriptions of their designs turned in on May 3. Members of the military as well as the general public can view these designs and vote for three finalists between June 16 and June 30.
The finalists, announced on July 6, will each get an actual Scion xB and $15,000 to customize it according to the selected design. The Grand Prize-winning team will get to go to the 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas in November, where their modified xB will have pride of place in Scion's booth.
Scion is working with the U.S. military Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) network, which encompasses Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps personnel, on the contest. Active duty, Reserve or National Guard personnel were all eligible for the competition.
The semifinal designs have some expected twists — Team Air Assault's "F-14 Tomcat," for example, with its rows of rivets to make it look like the aircraft of the same name. Then there are the wild — the Salty Dogs team's "The Squid," with portholes, top-end electronics galore and the "traditional Navy tattoo of a squid" covering the bodywork. And then there's the unexpected, such as Team Sapper's "R&R 2011," a luminescent green treatment with a hand-built roll cage and a vinyl top. "As a wartime soldier we have a lot of daily responsibilities.... We all give 100 percent daily, but we decided to base our design off our R&R time," the entrants explained.
Inside Line says: Now that's what we call supporting the military. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent
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lostboyz says:
07:23 AM, 06/21/2010
it looks like a bunch of 8 year olds drew those in art class.
k55 says:
10:22 AM, 06/20/2010
I would have liked to have seen a "Woody" or Panel Van type look with the back seat removed.
ferenc says:
04:05 PM, 06/18/2010
the japanese are helping our military? where the hell is government motors, the traidors?