By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

The iconic xB box and a no-haggle "pure price" mono-spec trim shopping experience defined the Scion brand when it entered the U.S. automotive scene in 2003 aimed at younger buyers — a brand within a brand at Toyota stores. It seemed the Japanese company was on to something as Scion enjoyed initial success.

By David Finkelstein

In a moment, I'll be sharing with you some of the momentous features of the 2016 Scion tC, but I wanted to begin with some background regarding the Scion brand in general. Scion is an offshoot of Toyota and has been the “test laboratory division” since back in 2003. They're mission statement has been to offer products and processes that stand apart from the rest of the crowd.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Scion has added a new sedan and hatchback for the 2016 model year in an effort to infuse new life into the struggling brand, but the best all-around and most interesting Scion in the stable of the quirky Toyota off-shoot is still the FR-S four-place rear-driven coupe introduced in 2013.

By David Finkelstein

It was some 12-years ago when Toyota Motors launched its Scion automotive line in the United States. Its business model was to offer personal-sized vehicles, aimed at a select customer base that included first time buyers and younger motorists. The major difference with the Scion offered at Toyota dealerships was the dealer installed “post assembly add-ons” for personalizing the customer's beloved means of transportation, regardless of model.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

Although the heyday of the Scion tC is long past, and it now has formidable competition within its own ranks from the sporty FR-S, the personal entry-level coupe still finds about 20,000 new owners a year — the tC's peak year was 2006 when 80,000 left showrooms. It’s relatively spacious, a bit trendy and won't break the bank of a young new car buyer.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

During time spent behind the wheel of the new Scion FR-S sports car it occurred to us that this delightful little road carver could live with a Porsche badge as an entry-level version of the Cayman. Call it Cayman light.

At the risk of being taken to the woodshed by Porsche fans, the lightweight FR-S — which is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder Subaru-derived boxer engine — is the kind of smile-inducing product that the Germans might build if their proclivity suddenly turned to products selling for under 30 grand, that is if Porsche were to build a sports car for the common man.

By Jim Meachen and Ted Biederman

We pulled into an empty narrow two-lane dead-end city street in Palm Beach not long ago. We had decided to test Toyota's claim of an incredibly small 12.9-foot turning radius. A bit dizzy after our self-induced amusement-park-like ride spinning between the curbs, we were quick to affirm that the little iQ has the ability to negotiate the tightest of parking predicaments with some success.