Cars You Can't Have Wrap-up: Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Scion, Mercedes

filed under: cars | b-class | japan | mercedes-benz | nissan | station wagons

I'm cleaning out the to-post folder here at DTHQ, and there are a few more cars you can't have, plus one I can [HAH!]:

First off, the new Scion xB, called the Toyota bB in Japan, is just pimpy enough, I might have to buy up a few of the old ones and sock them away. I'll start vacuuming the change out of the sofa cushions.

The I may be unsearchable on Google, but it sure stands out in the otherwise crappy-looking lineup on Mitsubishi's website. It's basically the Pontiac Solstice of the company, a 4-door Smart knock-off [1] that makes you wonder where it came from, but I think I works. I works. Get it??

The Honda Stream looks great enough to turn my head after a week of sightings. Parking it next to an over-the-top Hong Kong wedding being documented by three professional camera crews, and juxtaposing it with a pink and purple Rolls Royce covered with plastic flowers--all under a freeway overpass--also helps:

Alright, so this picture of the Nissan El Grand, or as I call it, the Nissan Manvan, is from last summer in Tokyo, but they're still all over the place. Japanese mooks can customize everything from grill to the tailpipes on their Darth Vadermobiles. If this van's a rockin', don't come a knockin'. Or they'll cut your pinky off, too.

And last but not least, the car that started it all: the Mercedes B-class. I saw one on the first, camera-less morning on the ground in Kyoto, but I didn't get a clean shot at one until Hong Kong. It's bigger than I thought [I guess I'm an A-class lover at heart], but it still rocks. Never mind that it costs 3-4 Scion Units to get one in Canada.

I searched around, and ultimately found one to rent in France next week from Sixt, the Hertz of Germany. Booking through the US reservations line as a United frequent flyer gave us a phenomenally low rate, no mileage restrictions, and no additional driver fees. Look for a full report when we get back. One down, 29 to go.

[1] thanks to SF for noting below that Mitsubishi and DamilerChrysler developed the ForFour smart car together, and that MMC is now supplying engines for the next-gen smart car. So the I isn't so much a knock-off as a cousin. I'm a smart fan, so even though I meant it in a good way, I was wrong.