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A few weeks ago Josh, Matt, and I test-drove the new Scion xB. Josh is 15 and he’ll soon want to get a car, so I figured it would be helpful for him to see what’s new. Although I was disappointed that Toyota/Scion didn’t produce a car as outrageous as the concept car, the 2008 xB turned out to be impressive.

The previous xB was built off the Toyota Echo platform, which was a super-compact car that was super-canceled because nobody bought it. The new xB is built off the Toyota Camry platform, which is an impressive foundation. Afterall, the Camry is one of the most reliable, stable cars of the past 20 years. This means the new xB is larger: a foot longer in length and three inches wider.

The engine is much more peppy than the first generation xB. It has a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine from the Scion’s sporty coupe, the tC. It’s worth an extra 55 horsepower, now at 158 total. I enjoyed playing with the four-speed sequential automatic transmission. If you’ve never driven a car that’s set up like this, you’re missing out. It’s all the fun of a stick shift whenever you want it (passing, racing) but not when it’d annoy you (traffic).

The best part of the xB is that it’s really a Camry, except it’s not boring and not as expensive.

The custom xB on the bottom has new wheels, lowered suspension, and aftermarket GroundFX.

I know that small cars aren’t too sexy, and most car magazines and blogs ignore them for this reason. But there will always be a need for compact cars, so it’s worth drawing attention to companies that are making them and making them look cool.

Here are three concept cars from Chevrolet that I’m pretty excited about.

Chevy Groove concept, xB protege

Chevy Trax concept, almost rustic

Chevy Beat concept, would look good if it were really fast.

Marc Newson’s Small Car

Back in 1999 I was an Industrial Design student at Georgia Tech, and the buzz in all the I.D. magazines Ford’s 021c Concept by London designer Marc Newson.

The round-car revolution was coming to an end, so Newson’s style never rubbed off on any other Ford vehicles. Beginning in model year 2000, most cars became “wind-swept” or “new edge.” But his o21c concept is still stylish and clever.

Slick as a bar of soap.

I wonder why the rotating front seat has never caught on. I always love the suicide doors.

I suspect Marc Newson took inspiration from the small cars of the early 1970s. Keep in mind, this is the era when muscle cars ruled the streets.

Japan’s 1971 Datsun 510 still have a cult following with aftermarket racers. Photos from 510garage.com

You can’t keep your mouth shut when you have a big engine.

A sparkling, super fast new engine.

The 1971(?) Volkswagon Type 3 Notchback shared the same rear-engine as the Beetle. So all luggage was stored under the hood.

We had dinner a few days with ago with Candyce’s brothers and sisters on top of a bluff over looking the ocean. We came back to the house and played a really boring game of Scrabble. To keep us occupied when it wasn’t your turn, Candyce began a drawing, and then passed it to the next person to continue the drawing. So what you end up with is an ever-evolving patchwork illustration. Each person tried to remix the drawing.

Since none of us were trying to draw well, you were freed from any criticism. You drew stupid things and people laughed at your stupidity. Here’s our results:

I have no idea what this one is about. It’s just dumb.

Candyce did this one with Matt and Carrie. I’m guessing those flying animals started as clouds. The ship actually is pretty good.

So what we have here is a bald man who’s blowing a party horn and some CDs? Somehow there’s a pepper shaker.

It’s not looking good for this strawberry. The flying man on the left must’ve picked it, shot it through a machine, and it met it’s demise in a bowl of cereal.

This athletic gymnast is now showing off on the top of a cheerful turtle. But this actually started out pretty scandalous. I misinterpreted Candyce’s drawing as a man with saggy b00bs. I drew muscles over the sag and then draw the legs sticking out. Candyce yelled at me. You ruined my drawing! She stormed out of the house and I didn’t see her for 2 hours. She later explained that they weren’t b00bs, but actually the bottoms of this feet. But she saw what I saw, and now we’re on speaking terms again.

I was hooked at this point. Candyce drew the dumb dancing reigndeer, and I attacked it with my might rabbit. This is when Danny decided it would be funny to illustrate a plumbers butt.

These two cats looks like they were drawn by a boy who studied all the cat cartoon characters on cereal boxes and other junk food. Danny continued the butt thing, but failed in trying to make the pumber flex his muscle. The failure was so dumb looking that he repeated it on the bottom.

This drawing was passed to me with the moose head hanging on a wall. I decied to give him life by making him sporty, ready to run, and picking a corn flower. I like how later in the year (as the picture clearly illustrates) that he’s out surfin’ impressin the ladies.

It looks like the planes are dropping ants from the sky. The clouds are becoming clouds. The dolphins are becoming mountains. The capri pants are the reindeer are priceless. I drew the self-doubting moon that wants to believe that he is happy.

The reindeer is an Elvis impersonator who privately wants to be 50 Cent. I put the ball between the bear and the reindeer to avoid any misunderstandings about their relationship. Little Matt’s sun was pretty rad in a Mexican folk art kind of way. I thought my cawing bird looked pretty cool. Notice the little bird hiding in the fro.

I just bought two pairs of Ice Cream sneakers on sale for $20. I’m too old for these shoes, and they are normally too expensive for my budget. But come on? How often can you buy a pair of cool shoes for $20? So I did it. The picture below gives you an idea of what’s now on my feet.

Wearing these shoes for the past week have made me happy. FINALLY I can be outrageous and impulsive all at the same time. And–this is the best part–there is no financial ruin waiting for me. If I were to continue the impulse buying after I bought my shoes, I’d go out and buy a Chevy Caprice Wagon from some guy in the desert and then make it awesome:

1. Airbags, 22 inch rims
2. Shaved door handles, antenna
3. Filled roof rack grooves
4. Impala SS grill, sideview mirrors
5. Ragtop roof.

I’ve always thought these cars would be cool to customize, and spending time out here by the beach just confirms this. There are several slammed woody wagons around town that always turn heads. Here’s some photos I’ve found of the best looking Caprice wagons online.

Nice rims, paint, and Impala SS grill. But I don’t like the stock side-view mirrors.

Once the side trim is stripped, you can see the smooth lines of the sheet metal. You can’t beat that ride height either. Slammed.

The rims belong on another car, but the woody flames are tight. Notice that everything is shaved.

Nice lines, clean paint, and sweet Impala SS grill and badges. But the best part is the ragtop. Imagine sliding that back on a sunny summer afternoon.

Clean.

Why I Won’t Do It

I’m obsessive about resale values of anything I buy. This lifestyle really wears me down, I admit. But I have to remind myself that I am successful mostly because I’ve made wise purchases and investments. I’m basically playing my cards right so I can hit a ripe time in life where I can buy things that fit my style. Right now I have to make sure almost everything in my house is a neutral color because it’s the easiest house to sell (whenever that time comes.) Classy stone tile floors are beautiful, and I like them. But my real desire is to illustrate the first level of Super Mario Brothers with mosaic tiles. But who’ll buy that house? I’m saving that for later. For now, it’s all about resale obsession.

The root of my resale-obsession began in 2001 when I bought PT Cruiser for $17,700 shortly after they came out. That was a good price, $4000 under any new or used other PT I could find. Over the course of those 24 months, Chrysler flooded the market by systematically lowering the prices until they eventually became their entry-level small car. I knew it was time to get rid of it, and I ended up selling it for $10,000. That was a $7,700 loss in two years. Let’s do the math:

$17,700 – $10,000 = $7,700 loss

$7,700 loss / (365 days * 2 years) = $10.55 decrease per day.

That’s a $10.55 depreciation every day. It’s like owning stock in a really bad company. But both of the cars I own now are super-stable investments. My custom, chopped ’54 Chevy Bel Air is an easy sale, and it’s not dropping in price a bit. If anything, it’s going up. My daily driver is Honda Element, which I’ve owned for almost 2 years. What’s insane about that is that I haven’t seen a used Element advertised for any less than I paid for mine. So essentially, it’s lost no value. Score!

As an added bonus, the Element has 0 maintenance, and it’s utility allows me to do work around the house, all the while saving me the gas money I’d have spent if I bought a truck. I realize at this time I sound like a salesman for Honda, and I’m okay with that. Money saved is…well, it’s money that stays in my pocket.

I can’t believe it’s 2007 and my affection for the Caprice wagon is immovable. When I was 13 back in 1991, my Uncle John used to drive his family up to the mountains in his woody Caprice. The wood was cool if it were on a surf wagon from the 1940s, but it didn’t seem right on this modern car.

I detested the site of it parked in our driveway. In hindsight, I hated his station wagon for the same reason I hated anchovies and meat loaf—because people made fun of them on TV shows.