Car Spotting: The Daily bB - Juiceboxforyou

For anyone who is staring at the screen and wondering what the hell is going on, allow me to explain. This is a 2002 Toyota bB. The car is based on the Yaris/Vitz chassis and was targeted at the younger generation in their early to late 20’s. These cars are hugely popular in Japan as the bB and in the US where it went under the name of the Scion xB. For anyone who has wondered why these are so insanely popular, we’ve also asked the same question every time one appears on the internet. In America where these little crazy box shaped Toyota’s have a huge following, people could easily pour thousands of dollars into an xB/bB to create their perfect vision.

This bB was going up for sale and we managed to get our hands on it  for a day. Always wondering what was the big fuss with these crazy little people carries we jumped at the opportunity to have a drive and see what’s the big deal. Its obvious to say that they would have never been as popular as a Skyline or an Integra to import, that’s why there are so few in Ireland. Ive seen about 5 and 2 of those were classified ads on Done deal. Lets face it, most people in Ireland who are interested in the car scene usually go for speed and power and many wouldn’t be caught dead in something like this. Things aren’t always the case in places like Japan and America due to their gigantic population’s.

The bB has almost a cult following  over in the US who are quite content with just having a cool looking bB. This is definitely not a car for everyone but I have to admit I love how it looks. Especially the one we got our hands on. They are just a comical looking car. Just rolling down the street was an experience in itself. People were so curious as to what the hell we were driving, but what I wondered each time was how many of those people would actually drive one themselves?

You could roll down the street in a Ferrari and get less looks and I wish that was an exaggeration. All walks of life came over every time we pulled in to find out what we were driving. This one was the 1.5 litre automatic so as a daily driver it was ideal and extremely laid back! Inside is incredibly spacious and the dashboard is goes on forever. I really didn’t think it could happen but its a car that can grow on you so quick when you are cruising around from place to place. With all its creature comforts, going places in this bB always a good time!

We were very lucky with this example. Its a little on the high side for the usual bB look but that’s always something that can be solved. I’ve always like these in black and this example had the whole mini V.I.P. look going on with the 17″  SSR Vienna Kreis and Topline body kit. Not many example’s that came into the country looked this cool.

It even had a the crazy Pioneer rear speaker install on the back windows with some crazy black lights which kind of just add to the character of the interior. After all when Toyota launched this in Japan it was targeted at the “Music Lover”. You could simply just Pop in your favourite beats and your sorted for the day…

Performance isn’t necessarily the be all end all of cars. Some people can have a totally different outlook on driving. You would be surprised to find people preferring something like this as a choice or even as a daily. I really have to admit I had mixed feelings about this when we first got our hands on it but by the end of the day you really could see why they are so huge in Japan and the US. Its such an awesome little wagon to drive around. It has that charm and look that’s kind of rare these days with modern car’s. If you ever get a chance to take one for a drive, you should. You’ll understand exactly what we mean!