Scion El xBamino and Its Need in the U.S.
And now, our LA-based field reporter, Yoshi M:
On a cool spring morning while taking a walk with my daughter, I notice a contractor loading up a Scion xB with his tools. I said, “good morning” and did a double take. What’s normally a box with wheels is shaped like a pick up truck! I had to find out more.
Unfortunately, he was off to a job but I did manage to find out before he left that he did all the work on the “truck” himself. Not quite done yet but fully functional. He stated that this “truck” was built out of necessity. With gas prices constantly rising in Los Angeles, it was estimated that at least $400 per month is saved over his other full size American work truck.
I’ll definitely be on the lookout for this “truck” on future walks to see the final custom build.
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Thanks Yoshi! The El xBamino (I’ll take full credit for that name, thank you very much) further underscores a need for a small pick up truck in this country. Hopefully with the success of Ford Transit Connect manufacturers will realize that their current offerings of small pick up trucks are not exactly what many people want..
Not that the Ranger and Colorado are at all desirable. The best small pick up truck currently in the U.S. seems to be
(very arguably, might I add) the Toyota Tacoma and even that is good only until it rusts away (figure five years at most) and it is not exactly small. Otherwise, there is nothing… an untapped market with enormous potential is out there for a small car-based pick up truck; which company will be the first to jump on it?
(very arguably, might I add) the Toyota Tacoma and even that is good only until it rusts away (figure five years at most) and it is not exactly small. Otherwise, there is nothing… an untapped market with enormous potential is out there for a small car-based pick up truck; which company will be the first to jump on it?.
The two pictures on the right are of Volkswagen Saviero. It is the replacement for the old Rabbit-based small pick up. The truck is now available in Brazil and probably few other countries.
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What should be the small pick up truck for U.S.? There are a few choices:
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- Base it off one of the many cross-overs on the market which would yield a decent payload and towing capacity (around 3000lbs?) and AWD availability. While the platforms are already developed and chopping the ass-end of the Equinox would not be too difficult, the problems here are costs and fuel economy in mid 20′s at best. Honda has attempted this with the misunderstood Ridgeline (which I happen to like, just don’t compare it to and F-150) and sadly failed. What if they based it off the CR-V platform and made it 2-door, 2-passenger?
- Base it off an existing RWD platform (or the few that still exist) and thereby creating a modern day El Camino. While this would probably be fun, the problem here are costs, realistic fuel economy in low 20 MPG, and limited space (driveshaft hump and rear axle). It sounds cool but looking at it from a perspective of a small business owner, it is not all peachy.
- The only realistic thing to do, and what Ford has done with the Transit Connect and what has been done above with the El xBamino, is to base it off an existing small front-wheel-drive platform (hopefully something a little bigger than xB). Keep it simple; make it two-seater, front-wheel-drive only, one engine choice, one transmission choice. Keep to payload to maximum of 1500lbs, towing to around 2000lbs. It does not need to be fast, it needs to be economical. Now imagine it with one of those VW TDi engines in it.
Please share your thoughts in comments below. Thanks.
[...] See these images of this heavily modded Scion xB dubbed Scion El xBamino. [...]
I have always wanted to do this on a 4 door Acura Integra for light duty work.
2 words. Chevy Tornado. GM Bring it to the US NOW you cretins.
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