More conventional that it is sibling the xB, xA might be any Toyota model; utilizing the same economy-biased driveline of a 1.5 litre four cylinder engine and five speed transmission, there’s little to tell apart the car.

It’s, however, excellent value, and may be specified having a wide range of extras that may personalise it. How the car customising scene began in California (more than the usual half century ago, that is by-the-by) is no mere coincidence.

It remains to appear whether Toyota’s Scion brand can recapture the era of radical chic that exemplified the 1960s – or whether it too late for those that.