Filed under: Motorsports, Time Warp, Scion

Click image above for high-res gallery from Laguna Seca

This year’s edition of The Toyota Race of Legends looked to be another exciting race, giving fans a chance to see former racing greats mix it up in identically prepared Scion tCs. Basically they are the same cars that are used in Long Beach for the Pro/Celebrity Race. The lineup of drivers included last year’s winner, Derek Bell, along with other former F1 and sports car racers like Eddie Cheever, Danny Sullivan, Johnny Herbert, Alan Jones, John Watson, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Patrick Tambay, and Alain de Cadenet, as well as current Toyota F1 hot shoe, Timo Glock.

As a bit of a twist in the proceedings, local tuner and sometime racer Bruce Canepa had won a spot on the grid during a charity auction. Bruce quickly promised to beat the pants off the pros, citing his experience at Laguna Seca (his shop is just down the road), his prior racing experience (he has teamed with Bobby Rahal and Rick Mears at the Daytona 24 Hours and was on the Porsche AG 935 factory team), and his recent Scion tC track training.

Alain de Cadenet, for one, wasn’t about to take that challenge lying down. He told us as much on Wednesday night at the Jet Center. A little friendly rivalry could only add to the fun. The stakes were raised when the officials held the draw for starting positions. Wouldn’t you know it, Canepa landed the pole. Well, the gauntlet was thrown down and when the flag was waived, it was time to put up or shut up. Follow the jump for a brief rundown of the results.

Continue reading Monterey 2008: The Toyota Race of Legends

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Filed under: Economy, Scion, Toyota

Click above for a high-res gallery of the 2008 Scion xB.

My older brother Brian drives a Scion xD. He’s 39 years old, and probably considered anything but cool by 18-24 year-old standards. He bought his little xD because he was tired of filling up his AWD 2001 Chevy Astro conversion van, and he’s gone from getting 12 mpg to about 30. While that’s a big-time win for Scion sales, the brand’s marketing arm has to cringe. Scion was built to be Toyota’s youth-oriented brand, with cars that would finally bring younger buyers into the Toyota showroom. The early days of Scion were a boon, with 80% of Scion buyers having never shopped Toyota before. Young people were clamoring for the xB and tC, and 100-200k online shoppers flocked to the Scion site each month.

Only a year after the redesign of the xB and xD, the Scion site is seeing less than half the traffic. Overall, year over year sales fell for 17 strait months until March, when gas prices skyrocketed. Even then, sales were back down by June, which was the peak of high fuel prices. The problems began to surface when the redesigned Scions were little more than larger versions of their former selves. A larger xB became more attractive to the mother of two, while losing some of the edginess that made it a smash hit with teens and early-20-somethings.

Scion’s leadership would like to turn the tide by creating a fourth member of the Scion family that exudes cool for under $20k. It could be an SUV or a hybrid, but Scion execs want it to be free from the grasps of the parent company. The current models also have to be refocused to once again attract the coveted 18-30 crowd. That’s a tall order, and a lot of work for a brand that’s only five years old.

[Source: Automotive News - Sub. Req.]

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Filed under: Aftermarket, Economy, Contests, Hatchbacks, Scion

Scion owners recently submitted pics of their personalized vehicles, including tC, xA, xB, and xD models, to the company for evaluation. The loyal owners were participating in Scion’s “United by Individuality” brand campaign, designed to put individuals’ modified vehicles in magazines, on billboards, even projected onto movie screens. More than 300 cars made the cut, and they soon found themselves in the Nevada desert for a photo shoot that included racing, tuning events, and even music performances. Shown above is a stunning aerial shot of more than 200 cars parked - very well we might add - at the event. The ad campaign launches in movie theaters July 21, while the other media won’t go live until August 4th.

[Source: Edmunds Inside Line]

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