WORD: SCION TO INTRODUCE FT-86 VARIANT

Scion, Toyota’s division aimed at the youth market, has been taking a few knocks lately. The company made a great splash with its first-generation products, the xA and xB. However, the bigger, more mature replacements, the xD and second-generation xB, were met with a mixed reception. And only time will tell if the bigger and boxier-looking 2011 tC will resonate as well as the first one. Some may be asking, what happened to the focus on the youth for the Scion division? Well, word has it that Toyota has gotten the message, and sources from the Japanese media have informed LA CAR that the car company has decided to badge the long-anticipated rear-wheel drive FT-86 sports coupe as a Scion. Moreover, the sources (who say the unofficial information comes from within Toyota) indicate the production car will look different from the FT-86 concept car that has been making the auto show circuit. If this is true, it’ll be a tremendous shot-in-the-arm for the Scion division. Scion has been investing a ton of money in drifting competitions with its heavily modified rear-wheel drive tC competition drifter, and succeeding quite well. The only problem: Scion doesn’t make any rear-wheel drive cars—and as any fan of the sport will tell you, RWD is as important to drifting as beef is to hamburgers. We have high hopes for Scion’s tiny new iQ, which the same sources indicate is a much sportier alternative to the smart car. With the prospects of a rear-wheel drive sport coupe added to the line, the youth appeal for Scion has all of sudden gotten a whole lot brighter. - Roy Nakano