The Scion xB looks like nothing else on the road. Sheets of flat metal and glass on the sides join at right angles with a flat roof, a flat hood and a flat liftgate. Only the barest hint of a curve softens the front end and windshield. A Honda Element looks curvaceous when parked alongside this exercise in extreme angularity.
The wheels and tires look tiny under the boxy exterior. Aftermarket alloys that fill the wheel wells would likely improve its looks.
Tall doors open wide. Top-hinged outside door handles fit smoothly into the xB's slab-sided styling, but they're less ergonomic and less friendly to fingernails than open, full-round handles like those found on the xB's more traditionally styled sibling, the xA. A bonus in a smallish vehicle like this one is that six-footers can walk beneath the open liftgate without fear of gouging an eye or cracking a skull.
Our xB came in Black Cherry with an Exterior Package ($758) that included a rear spoiler, a big but subtly colored Logo Brown graphic on the side, and appliques on the fuel filler and B-pillar designed to look like carbon-fiber.
