Autoblog

Scion's been a perennial SEMA attendee for the last five years, with customization being a central tenet of the brand. This year, the cool-seeking Toyota nameplate is bringing a sextet of vehicles, three each of tCs and xBs, all customized. The xBs were sent out to customizers to get thematic treatments. The three art cars embody different ideas; one's a camper in the vein of Westfalia Volkswagens, another's been chopped and dropped to create a lakebed hot rod, while our favorite is an ersatz Roach Coach. Blaine Fontana was responsible for the camper conversion, while Jeff Soto whipped up the salt flats car, and Kenton Parker decided to celebrate the xB's non-curvy shape with the foodservice conversion.

Bonneville speed trial cars serve as inspiration for one of the customized tCs, as well. Scion distributed three tCs to customizers for the 2008 Scion Tuner Challenge, with the winner to be announced during SEMA. Eddie Hahm of "Fast Eddies Garage" fame took it retro and created an homage to a time when hot rodding meant more than mounting dubs and a bodykit. Fatlace founder Mark Arcenal dreamt up a DTM racer, while John Pangilinan made an even more butch looking tC with his widebody design. These six cars are sure to be just some of the Scions at SEMA. Indeed, there will be several other custom Scion models at the brand's booth, like an xD with its top chopped. We'd be down with some of these customs, even if underneath it all, they're still Scions.


[Source: helloscion]

click above image to view more detail pics of the beechwood Scion xD

It's a Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe on a Scion xD budget. So the Drophead uses teak for its rear deck where Dalek uses beechwood, but it's wood nonetheless, right? The wood out back is actually a bit much (that rear armrest simply can't be comfortable), but the rest of the car rings the right notes. The speedster windshield and chop give the car a nice landspeeder-on-wheels look, and the exterior details have been shrunk -- like the mirrors -- or muted, like the black chrome badging. Inside the car is packed, but much of the stuff is hidden like the monitor, most of the sound system, and even champagne flutes that the makers claim is there, but we couldn't find. And what speedster doesn't look better or go faster with a skull for a gearshift knob? Follow the jump for the full specs, and be sure to check out the gallery of hi-res shots.

click above image to view more detail shots of the Ron English Scion tC

It's Warhol again, with his dictum that "art is what you can get away with." Exhibit A: a purple scion bedecked in buttons of "ying-yang" art that randomly light up like a christmas tree. Look closely at the pic above and you can see that some yin-yangs are brighter than others because they're lit through the bodywork. We're not especially big fans of the billet wheels, eiher. There's something a bit too, oh... ugly... about them. Nevertheless, the car got our attention (it was blinking, after all), and isn't that what art is supposed to do? The neatest things about the car for our money (or our show pass, as it were), were the holograms over the windows with some 3-headed alien chicken-looking-thing, and an Eragon-ish dragon. The actual artwork on the car was done by pop artist Ron English, whose other well known work is starting to freak us out. Follow the jump for the full specs, and be sure to check out the gallery of hi-res pics.

click above image for more high-res pics of the Ridemakerz Scions

Ridemakerz and Scion have joined forces on a program that lets you create your very own Scion "Ride" without the hassle of credit checks and car insurance. Seven customization steps allow 649 million unique tuning possibilities for your toy car, and when you're all finished, you get a 12-inch-long Scion xB in fiberglass-over-foam. It comes with custom plates of your choosing and a Certificate of Title that has a RIN -- Ride Identification Number. And if you want to go all out, you can even add radio control. Check out the 7:8 full-scale (or so) 5Axis model from Troy Sumitomo that the company had on display. Follow the jump for the press release, and be sure to check out the gallery of hi-res pics.