2005 Scion tC

Toyota's fledgling brand attempts to redefine "entry-level."

Back in the Stone Age, when we Baby Boomers were young, protest seemed a way of life. If our parents did it, ate it, watched it - or drove it - we wanted something entirely different. It was the perfect opportunity for a struggling import automaker named Toyota. Whether intentional or otherwise, it won over the so-called counterculture, the postwar generation embracing its little import econoboxes.

Over the years, the Boomers have grown up with Toyota, but like us children of the '60s, Toyota's gotten a little gray around the edges. And for many of today's newest car buyers, the Japanese marque has morphed into the automotive establishment. Automakers are a fickle bunch, always worried about the next generation of buyers. Toyota officials realize that if they don't do something soon, the only folks shopping their showrooms will be ex-hippies on canes.

Hang around automotive circles and you often hear the phrase, "back to basics." And that's precisely the direction Toyota has headed with its new Scion brand. Hoping that lightning strikes twice, the automaker is going after an entirely new generation just beginning to buy cars. But rather than try to convince the hip-hop crowd that Toyota itself is relevant again, the automaker has launched the all-new, graffiti-covered "brand-within-a-brand," Scion.

Its first two models, the Scion xA and boxy xB, exceeded the automaker's expectations, even though the new brand was barely halfway through its U.S. launch. Now, to support its nationwide rollout, Scion is introducing a third model.

All-new for America

Where xA and xB were simply rebadged versions of small, Japanese-market Toyotas, the tC is "the first vehicle developed exclusively for the Scion brand," says the division's U.S. boss, Jim Farley.

One could nitpick, since tC shares a bit of its platform and componentry with the European Avensis (including its rear suspension) as well as the Celica (such bits and pieces as its brakes). But these days, it's hard to find any car that doesn't engage in this under-the-skin sleight-of-hand. So it's fair to say tC is unique to the U.S. and as TheCarConnection quickly discovered during a day of driving, the new coupe is well-crafted for the sort of demanding young opinion leaders Scion and its parent company crave.

The basic shape of the tC will seem familiar to Toyota aficionados, though the standard jellybean form has been given a broader stance, along with some eye-catching creases and a blunt nose with Scion's broad, rectangular honeycomb grille. An oversized air scoop, recessed foglamps, and bulging rocker panels enhance the pint-sized coupe's sporty appearance, as do the large, seven-spoke alloy wheels that shod our test car.

Despite its exterior size and surprising base price - just $16,465 - the tC is no econobox. Rather than try to go mano-a-mano with the Koreans by driving the window sticker as low as possible, Scion's strategy is to offer buyers a lot more than they'd expect. "Our goal was to give tC an upscale…feel that approached Lexus," explains Dr. Shigeyuki Hori, the man known as "Dr. Scion," and the tC's chief engineer.

Lexus-light?

The look and feel of the tC interior might be described as "Lexus-light," with a pleasantly refined cabin. For the driver, the focal point is a sophisticated three-pod gauge cluster and cascading center console. An interesting touch is what Scion officials call "micrograin" texture. Interior materials look more like rice paper than the traditional fake leather - a nice concept, though we noticed a tendency to show every spot of dirt.

There are some interesting features, including front seats that fold down flat to create what one Scion official with a totally straight face described as a "conversational space." We're not sure there'd be much talking going on, but we only wish this were available when we were of an age to enjoy that feature.

There's also an absolutely massive moonroof, an interesting engineering exercise eliminating gaskets in order to reduce wind noise. Indeed, one of the things Scion engineers borrowed from Lexus was the use of sound controlling foams, fabrics, and metals.