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BangShift Question Of The Day: Cool Or Not? SCION’s Custom Van SCION XB From SEMA 2014


BangShift Question Of The Day: Cool Or Not? SCION’s Custom Van SCION XB From SEMA 2014

When we walked into the end of the Central Hall on the first day of SEMA, we were greeted by this SCION XB that had been turned into a “Custom Van” if you will. As a guy who likes customs vans, I was immediately drawn to it like a moth to a flame, and spent some serious time walking around it to check it out. I found myself both aroused and confused as I walked around it. Check out the photos. What do you think? Is it cool, or not?

SCION XB 1970's Van Edition SEMA 005 SCION XB 1970's Van Edition SEMA 006 SCION XB 1970's Van Edition SEMA 007

SCION XB 1970's Van Edition SEMA 004 SCION XB 1970's Van Edition SEMA 003 SCION XB 1970's Van Edition SEMA 002

 

So here is my take on it. I think the look is awesome. I’d be thrilled for Daphne to drive this thing daily just based on the overall look. With that said, I think they missed the boat on a couple of things.

First off, the shag carpet you see everywhere. What, did they upholster this thing with a Newfoundland dog? Shag wasn’t usually that shaggy back in the day.

Second, the doors make it not right. The back doors aren’t supposed to be doors on a van. I know they did it based on an existing SCION XB, and they have normal swinging doors, and I like SCION XB’s actually, but something about it is wrong.

In fact, maybe the bubble window is the issue. Stick with me here. The bubble window is what sells it as a van, so what if you got rid of it and just had it be a ’70s custom panel. Then the doors wouldn’t piss me off. See?

Hmmm. The paint and Cragars and a bunch of details are cool.

 


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27 thoughts on “BangShift Question Of The Day: Cool Or Not? SCION’s Custom Van SCION XB From SEMA 2014

  1. ColoradoKid

    Hmmmn .. This one’s a bit of a tough call . I mean on one hand … being a custom van guy of old myself and from all firsts glances … I kind of like the thing . But on the other .. and to completely agree with you Chad … They way over did the Shag thing to the point of parody [ perhaps that was the point ??? ] .. and the doors are completely wrong .. not to mention where in the ___ is the bed .. fold down or otherwise ?

    So … errr … I’ll give it a 5 out of ten for effort . With bonus points available if they fix all the wrongs and then put the damn thing into production

    Because … believe me .. amongst aging hippies .. wanna be hippies .. boarders [ skate & surf ] .. skiers … bikers [ as in bicyclists of all kinds ] and general all around outdoorsy types [ excluding the Red Neck bunch ] … the pent up demand for a vehicle such as this in enormous !

    Fact is .. why in the ____ someone hasn’t already built something along these lines for production is beyond my comprehension … but wait .. thats right … the manufactures prefer to base all their decisions on what the marketing departments say … not in what the customer actually wants or needs .. Never mind 😉

  2. JohnnyG

    I think it’s cool but wouldn’t be a lot cheaper to actually customize a van from the 70s than buying a new scion and customizing. I mean no it’s part of the Scion booth but outside of that I don’t see the point

  3. Sumgai

    Should have posted pics of the dashboard area. They went all out with the retro look and it even has an 8-track setup. I think it’s cool, totally a tribute to the vanning craze.

  4. OpC

    Looks like an overgrown ’77 Pinto wagon. At least a modified Pinto wagon was somewhat cool in the ’70s. Scions are never cool.

  5. ColinV

    Has some elements I kind of like, others not so much just like you Chad. The one that I really don’t like is the shag carpet it looks like an afterthought that doesn’t quite look properly complete or they tried to copy the dog from the Dumb & Dumber movie. And yes making a panel out of it would have been better.

  6. Scott Liggett

    The overly long shag carpet is annoying, especially in such a cramped vehicle. The paint, wheels, side pipes and wood paneling works.

    BTW, the carpet looks like the Afghan style one my family had when we were kids.

    This concept would’ve worked so much better on a Toyota minivan than on a Xion mini-wannabe-SUV.

  7. moosface

    Overall, I like it. The paint works, and it reminds me of the striping seen on some Gremmies. I like the bubble window and Cragars, but I agree with the consensus that the shag carpet is way overkill. If they’d toned that down some, it would’ve been even better.

    1. Matt Cramer

      In some ways, the shag carpet seems to be creating a problem for the bubble window – the view through the window appears to be mostly of the shag carpet. Remove all shag carpet above the floor level, make sure there’s some way to fold the back seat down into a bed (seriously… a ’70s van without a bed?) and it would be a winner.

  8. Pete

    The Cragar SS with a orange pinstripe is totally cool. I sort of dig it, but I really don’t like conversion vans at all. The interior and sound system stuff is crap pie to me. It lacks a few things and really less would be more here.

  9. Hell Za Pop'n

    XB is great little vehicle. The SEMA version not so much. Lose the shag, lose the port hole. Paint it black and flame the doo doo out of it, top to bottom like the McMullen Econoline. Keep the Cragars.

  10. Burner303

    I’d daily drive the crap out of this, with no f**** given.

    I think it is awesome. Oh, so, very wrong, but still awesome. Hilariously awesome. They really nailed the 70’s van scene, and that interior is awesome as all get out, with the CB, 8 track, wood trim, vintage style handles and seat belts, and look at those seats!. The headliner could use a haircut, I imagine all that hanging down and rubbing the top of my shaved head while driving would drive me nuts. I’d leave the floor carpet as is though. My wife would prolly ride barefoot and play with it with her toes. I might would do it, too.

  11. elkyguy

    style-wise,a total rip off of fords cruisin’ van(full size) and cruisin” wagon(pinto) from way back when…..the porthole and stripping are virtual spot-on copies

  12. manchowder440

    i like it, especially for what it is: an attention grabber for kids longing for 70s subculture! i would never do that to a scion wagon (nor would I buy one, period) but I think it has its place in the world, so congratulations to scion for stirring up with their a-team/island hopper/econobox mashup!

  13. JD

    Yeah I think Chad hit it on the head here. I think it’s cool in a fun kitschy sort of way. Would I go to the trouble of doing this to a Scion? Probably not, but if someone gave it to me I’d have fun with it. If I where going to pay for that paint job it would be on a 70’s Dodge van instead. I do agree the shag carpet and bubble window are a bit wrong but the whole thing is just for fun so I guess it doesn’t really matter.

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