By Richard S. Chang
photographer: Richard S. Chang
Seven "Cool" And "Hip" Things From The New York Auto Show
The mantra of the New York Auto Show was definitely "Youth" and its "various forms ("Net Generation," "Generation Y," and "MTV Generation"). Hearing all these white-haired corporate execs saying words like "cool" and "hip" made us feel as if we had passed through a space-time vortex and landed on a Sonny and Cher reunion show, only with techno music blasting out of every display. Good thing Hooty and the Blowfish aren't in again.
Scion
Toyota says that Scion, the name of its new youth brand, means heir, but judging from the press conference in the Galleria inside Jacob Javits Center, filled with smoke, house music, and psychedelic video screens, they could have told us it meant massive bong hit and we would have believed them.
The first two cars to wear the Scion badge when the brand launches in June '03 are already available in the Japanese market. One is called the Black Box. At the New York Auto Show a tricked-out version was called the bbX. The other will resemble the ccX concept car that was shown earlier this year in Detroit. Our inside sources say it will be the IST, which was just introduced to the Japanese market at the '01 Tokyo Motor Show. Both vehicles will go for less than $18,000.
These two cars run on Toyota econo-blocks; the Japanese Black Box is powered by a wispy 1.5L engine that puts out a nudge and a wink over 100 hp, and the IST rocks out slightly less from its 1.3L. The good news is that both engines have been available in Japan for some time and there are power parts already available, including a dealer-installed turbocharger. Our guess is that TRD will provide the same when the cars hit the U.S. market. As an early sign of goodwill, our sources at Scion say that it will deliver a handful of bbXs to aftermarket manufacturers this year to jump-start parts development before the short bus hits the market.
To kick off the brand, Scion partnered with URB and handed out backpacks filled with all sorts of URB-sponsored goodies, including compilation CDs, URB magazines, and rave paraphernalia. It's a serious effort to define the image, although we think bringing over the Chaser would do a hell of a lot more.