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Historians William Strauss and Neil Howe are known for their theory that America goes through a repeating cycle of four periods: a High, an Awakening, an Unraveling and a Crisis. Depending on who you believe, we could be in an Unraveling period about to fall headlong into a major crisis, which our two historians call the Fourth Turning. But if we persevere and turn the corner, we’ll find ourselves back in High times once again.

We reckon the Scion brand is in about the same spot. It hasn’t had much positive to report lately, so the redesigned 2011 Scion tC gives the brand something to talk about while it works out how to improve on its initially strong showing in the U.S. Does the new tC portend a return to High times for Scion, or is it leading a parade lap right into the Fourth Turning?

Word on The Internets is that the Scion iQ won’t be hitting our shores anytime soon. The pint-sized hatch was originally supposed to arrive here in the United States by March of this year, but GreenCarReports.com has indicated that the city car may not arrive until sometime this summer. The move is thought to be as much about production delays as marketing. Scion has said that it wanted to give the 2011 tC enough time to have the company’s stage all to itself without having the limelight stolen away by its newest sibling.

At the same time, the company said that the first prototypes from Japan were a few months late in arriving and that the delay pushed back the production schedule. Whatever the hold up, buyers clamoring for a competitor to the Smart ForTwo will have to wait a few more months for the pleasure of grabbing the keys to a Scion iQ. As of this writing, there’s no telling whether the car will show up as a 2011 model as first thought or whether it will be labeled a 2012 when it finally shows up.

For those that found the second-generation Scion tC far too timid-looking, Toyota’s tuning partner Five-Axis prepared a special version of the car to demonstrate the many ways in which the all-new coupe can be customized with internal and aftermarket accessories.

The Five Axis Scion tC show car features a four-inch wide-body conversion and a unique House of Color custom formulated exterior paint appropriately named, Bloodshot.

The coupe rides on beefy 20-inch AD R5:F alloy wheels shod in Yokahama Advan Sport tires size 245/30 up front and 295/25 at the rear. Performance upgrades include a TRD custom Big Brake kit and a Tein adjustable coil-over suspension.

Five Axis also enhanced the 2011 tC’s interior with unique trim and color appointments and materials including custom leather-trimmed seats with Ultrasuede EcoDesign inserts.

Scion invited us to its art gallery in Culver City, California last night, for a chance to preview part of the lineup it’s bringing to SEMA this year. Parked out front was an xB that was transformed into a limo by Cartel Customs. The concept of a Scion xB limo sounds ridiculous, but in person it’s ridiculously awesome. Rear suicide doors open to a comfortable environment outfitted with a large television, bar and wrap-around sofa. It’s far cooler than your run-of-the-mill Town Car. The limo was just the beginning, though, because inside four more vehicles were waiting.

A Scion xB-turned-mobile DJ booth, which we had seen a year earlier at the 2009 SEMA show, was the perfect custom vehicle to see of the mood inside the Scion Gallery. Two sporty 2011 tCs were parked near each other, one by GReddy and the other by Crawford Performance, while another xB was parked across the room. This Scion xB is called the Salty Dog and it was customized by the U.S. Navy, as part of Scion’s Battle of the Builds. The Marines, Army and Navy all put together cars and the winner will be crowned in Vegas.

Just as the sun always sets in the west, we can always count on a limited-edition Scion xB to pop up at aNorth American auto show. This year, that honor falls on the 2010 LA Auto Show and the Scion in question is the 2011 xB Release Series 8.0. Surprise!

Standing out on the show floor thanks to its brilliant VooDoo Blue paint job, the 2011 Scion xB Release Series 8.0 is the latest in a line of low-run examples of the boxy, compact wagon. Scion is producing just 2,000 units of the xB RS 8.0, and all of them feature an aggressive front fascia, TRD wheels and RS 8.0 logos throughout the interior.

Pricing is set at $18,405 for the manual transmission-equipped xB or $19,355 for the auto gearbox. That price also features a power tilt-and-slide sunroof, which, along with the VooDoo Blue paint, is not available on the standard xB. Check out our high-res image gallery of live shots below and the full set of details after the break.