Scion tC History
Scion's best-selling sport coupe — an affordable, tuner-friendly two-door that ran the brand's full life across two generations.
Photo: “2005 Scion tC RS 1.0” by IFCAR / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain. Cropped to 16:9.
History
The tC arrived for 2005 as Scion's sporty halo and quickly became the brand's volume leader. The first-generation car (ANT10, 2005–2010) was a front-wheel-drive liftback coupe with a 2.4-liter Camry-derived four and a standard panoramic glass roof, pitched at young buyers as an inexpensive, easily-modified canvas for personalization.
A second generation (AGT20, 2011–2016) brought sharper styling, a 2.5-liter engine, and a stiffer chassis, and added Canada to its markets. The tC was the only model to span Scion's entire existence, and its production ended in August 2016 — with a final Release Series edition — as the brand was retired.
Generations
First generation · ANT10
Photo: “2005 Scion tC RS 1.0” by IFCAR / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain. Cropped to 16:9.
FWD liftback coupe with a 2.4-liter four and a standard panoramic glass roof; Scion's affordable, heavily-tuned best-seller.
2005 Photo: “2005 Scion tC RS 1.0” by IFCAR / Wikimedia Commons — Public domain. Cropped to 16:9.
2008 Photo: “2008 Scion tC (4186577996)” by JOHN LLOYD from Concrete, Washington, United States / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0. Cropped to 16:9.
Second generation · AGT20
Photo: “2016 Scion tC, front left” by MercurySable99 / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped to 16:9.
Restyled and stiffer, with a 2.5-liter four; sold in the US and Canada and built through the brand's 2016 wind-down.
2011 Photo: “2011 Scion tC” by DestinationFearFan / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped to 16:9.
2013 Photo: “2013 Scion tC in Magnetic Gray Metallic, front left, 06-13-2026” by Cutlass / Wikimedia Commons — CC0 1.0. Cropped to 16:9.
2016 Photo: “2016 Scion tC, front left” by MercurySable99 / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped to 16:9.
Body styles
- 3-door liftback coupe
Notable special editions & performance variants
Release Series
Recurring limited-run, numbered tC editions with unique colors, wheels, and trim — a Scion-wide tradition; a final Release Series sent the tC off when the brand closed in 2016.
Related models
Collect the nameplate
Find a scale model of the Scion tC
Search Amazon across available years, colors, and scales. Exact releases vary, so confirm the listing before ordering.