Fifteen years, 140,000 miles, and $3 gasoline later, I was told we needed a new car and she thought Scion's were cute, not the box onna box xB but the more conventional (?) xA.

Went the obligatory round of dealers to see what was available and quickly found that the answer was "not much". Keep in mind that ever since we experienced a Smart Car in the UK, we have wanted one but not enough to go the gray market route and pay double the price, the appeal was that of 45 to 60 mpg economy. My thought was that the only way to get that level of economy was on two wheels was not well received. Hybrids destroy the concept of economy with high entry and maintenance costs. Just not really ready for prime time.

The other issue is that since the recovery began following the dot com collapse, while technology has been improving, so has the size of the American Car (some could truthfully say the size of the American Public has been increasing also). What were small cars are no longer small. Economy is not something for the big three and most imports have engines considerably larger than what are sold at home. In europe, 1.1 and 1.2 liter engines are the norm (high gas prices and taxes on engine sizes see to that) but are quite sporting and are often found in the fast lanes of the M-roads.

Meanwhile in the US of A, for someone who has bought only GM cars for years (new and used), the availability of a comfortable economy car seems a conflict in terms. The Geo has disappeared and the Saturn has moved upscale to fill the gap left by Oldsmobile. What exists today is the Aveo, sort of a Chevette by Daewoo. The Pontiac Wave shares the platform but is sold only in Canada. Powered by a thoroughly conventional 1600 cc (a 1200 and 1400 are available but not here) engine it has one glaring fault in my eyes - a timing belt. Am somewhat opinionated but believe that timing belts have aided the bottom lines of many dealers (see BMW M20) repair shops.

So after a lot of looking we wound up at a Scion dealer and found a rather strange looking car to American eyes (but something we have seen quite a few of in the UK), one that starts out quite boldly and then just stops as if the designer suddenly ran out of room on the paper.

The engine is a 1496 cc (same size as an MGA I once had) four but there the simularity ends.Digital FI, DOHC, 4 valves per cyl, variable valve timing, and 10.5:1 compression that runs on 87 PON gas. Guess will find out if it lasts as long as the 3800 it replaces. One suprise was that it is considered faster from 0-60 than the Bonne. Guess I may have to get out the G-Tech pro and find out. Do know it is not particularly slow if you lean on it.

Front seats are quite spacious and if they do not have the six way power of the Bonneville, they do recline and seem quite comfortable. Instrument panel is well, just not there. What is in front of the driver is a broad expanse of uncluttered black vinyl. There are some instruments (speedo, tach, and gas gauge) in a central pod. Back in 1962, the standard Chevrolet instrument panel had idiot lights. Not just a red one for HOT but also a blue one for COLD. The Scion does too.

Transmission is a four speed automatic with lock-up like the Bonne but is turning a bit faster at speed, about 2600 at 70 instead of 2000 which is suprisingly quiet. Suppose the much shorter stroke makes up for the increased RPM.

As might be expected gas mileage is a whole bunch better, running about 29 mpg on the cheapest regular around town with the air on.

One thing I am sad to say that Toyota got right and the US manufacturers haven't is that all of the toys are there and standard. Two dual stage (reduced force) airbags, ABS, power steering/ brakes/ mirrors/ locks/ windows, tilt wheel, major Pioneer sound system (can't just call it a radio) with CD & steering wheel controls, cruise (awkward to use but there), a/c with your choice of fresh air or recirculating (Bonne had automatic temperature control but Linda usually had on max so was not autoing & no choilce of outlets. (This is worthy of a comment: the last car I had that gave me that much control over the a/c and which outlet it came out of was a '67 Camaro. This has always annoyed me in newer cars.)

Styling is something you either like or don't. I am something of a "form follows function" person and see a lot of resemblence to the 1992 "Dustbuster" TranSport van which remains our trip car and is superb at Interstate travel, usually as a two seater. Suspect the airflow is similar just less. Seen by itself the car seems quite large which lasts until it gets next to aanother car or is in the garage and you see how much space is left (our front garage was sized to fit a 1967 Cadillac Fleetwood Brogham. The Scion xA is almost ten feet shorter). Reminds me a bit of Otis when he puts on Loki's Mask. What makes sense in Europe should make sense here.

That sums up the Scion xA in a lot of ways, "everything you ever wanted and less" (whose ad was that ?). Fifteen years ago times were different, gas was often under $1/gallon and we needed a long distance traveller, the Bonneville was the right choice for a family car and I thought we would keep it forever. As usual, Linda was right again.