Style and what it represents, is purely subjective. There's a thin line between style and gaudiness. What makes up that thin line is in the eye of the beholder. We tell ourselves that we only build our cars for ourselves and that it doesn't matter what others think. Sure, that may be true in certain cases, but when someone comes up to you and tells you that you've done a good job, you get that sense of validation, like what you do matters. Cars are supposed to be an extension of our personalities. That's the beauty of building cars; it's your message to the rest of the world that you exist. If style didn't matter, kids wouldn't wear ball-hugging purple skinny jeans, rappers wouldn't wear jewelry in their mouths, cougars wouldn't have the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" haircut, and every car would be unmolested.
The Scion brand is all about style and personality. Their whole campaign since their inception to North America has been personality-driven. Every year at the annual SEMA trade show, they hold the Scion Tuner Challenge; a build-off where hand-picked participants duke it out to see who has the best Scion. It's become a staple of the SEMA show and something that is highly-anticipated every year.
When we touched down at last year's SEMA event and walked through the doors of the Central hall entrance, what we came upon was, to say the least-unexpected. It was definitely a Scion xB, but it definitely wasn't just an xB. It was a car, but it wasn't just a car; it was also a truck. Inside the bed of this truck-like contraption was a matching, and equally impressive, Honda Ruckus. It was style and ingenuity rolled into one. Everything we've ever wanted but never thought of. Like a Scion xB from an alternate universe.
"We wanted something really cool and retro that just screamed So Cal and the West Coast," Brandon Leung, founder of Bowls LA, says. "Just something you can cruise down Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in and throw whatever your active lifestyle requires in the bed of the truck. We chose the Ruckus for this project because Bowls has become known as one of the premier Ruckus tuners in the States and we wanted something that could haul our bikes to different events."
The concept itself seemed simple enough, but with just $15K allotted to them based on rules of the competition and the short time frame to work with, how did they pull it off?
"We weren't worried so much about the budget. The time crunch was what really kicked our butts. Our xB arrived two months later than we originally anticipated and we worked on the car non-stop right up until the door closed on the transport truck. I think we managed to sleep maybe 8-10 hours during the last week of the build."
The retro-styling cues of this xB, dubbed the "xTruck", come from the old mini-trucks of years past. The inspiration behind the look however, comes from an unusual source. "I've always been fascinated with the old Toyota Crowns. It wasn't until recently that I found out that they made a pick-up version and I've been in love ever since." Leung reminisces. "That's why we went with the Mooneyes fender mirrors, dish wheels, and the wood truck bed with aluminum slats."
The truck conversion, which extends the entire chassis an additional 2.5 feet to accompany the Honda Ruckus, was all done by hand by master fabricator Eric Toyoshiba at Advanced Design and Fabrications in Whittier, California. The bottom portion of the rear hatch was re-used to create the functional tailgate while the glass was graphed to the back to form the cab. A custom 3-piece billet front grille features logos etched on the underside that actually reflect onto the mirror-polished lower portion.
"The colorway is very reminiscent of trucks of years past. We chose a light olive green color with off-white two-tone paint and pinstriped it in metallic grey. I really dig the contrast of it and was very pleased with the look that we acquired," Brandon says.