You either love ‘em or you hate em’… The Toyota Scion. Well, the new Concept Hako, gives you even more reason to hate or love depending on which side of the fence you originally resided in the first place.

Being quite honest and straight forward, the new concept looks like the lovechild of the Scion XB and a PT Cruiser GT!

That’s right, you take your run of the mill boxed-out Scion XB:

Add a few curves of the PT Cruiser GT…

… and there you have it!

A Supped-up Hot Rod that only a Mother could Love!

Seriously though, the new concept has been taking a lot of slack from a lot of car critics since its unveiling. Jalopnik has even gone so far as to start a contest where they are gathering their readers thoughts on whether or not Toyota’s version of the concept Scion is better… or a few of their readers Photoshop versions.

When you consider the friendly look of the XB, you really have to give the designers credit where credit is due and that is with out a doubt that the new angled front end looks much more sinister than the original. Its low brow LED headlights appear as if the car is glaring at its prey, just waiting to pounce on a sleeping Kia Coupe Concept, which has surprisingly been one of the head turners of the show… and in a good way!

From a manufacturer that has been voted as having one of the top 10 worst resale values of the millennium, the Kia Koup just might become an exception to this ruling if it was to become a production model in the next two years. While still a very conservative look by “concept” standards, the new Koup has a subtle sports appeal that would be as comfortable in the grips of a 16-year-old high school car fanatic as it would in a 50-year-old business executive.

Something that really could not be said for the Scion!

Photo Courtesy of MSN Autos

The Rich Evans Mustang has received a lot of attention since appearing in SEMA this winter. Unfortunately it was not the good kind of attention. More like the “ugliest Mustang ever” and “I think I’m going to lose my cookies” kind of attention. Within every mistake made is a lesson to be learned. Modification is a very delicate practice that involves both bold and subtle changes to a cars exterior, that in theory should highlight its strengths and downplay its weaknesses… here are a few points to remember when modifying your own car to escape these unfortunate mistakes.

• While some may be completely against fake scoops, others tend to ride on the fence. A fake scoop can be a nice addition, if is not played up too much. Many cars are guilty of adopting a fake hood scoop for looks, such as the Z28 Camaro, Rousch Mustang, etc. The featured Mustang here has two scoops that are practically bigger than the entire hood. The eyes are drawn here first, which makes it easy to discern that they are simply tacked on with a little glue, tape, and maybe even a screw or two (hopefully). Too many of these parts have flown off of a car during high speed maneuvering, giving even more shame to its pretend ploy.

• “Tacked on” parts are best in small numbers. It costs much less to add tacked on parts to a car than have it custom fabricated, as much as tens of thousands of dollars less. Just remember that tacked on parts look best when they are purposeful. Much of the tacked on stuff here is questionable as to what it would be actually used for. The duct looking addition on the fender appears to be something that might be used to guide this vehicle in the water… but are we sure about that? No…

• There does have to be somewhat of a theme to your creation, such as road race aerodynamics, custom scalloped, angular, etc. If we look at the design closely we see scallops in the front fascia and spoiler, circles within the grill, side mirrors, and exhaust exits, ovals in the scoops and louvers, and mesh within the wheels. There is no obvious theme that has been followed here. It does not look well planned out at all.

And of course, when in doubt, don’t do it, your first impression is usually the most honest. If you are worried as to whether something is going to look good, it probably won’t if you have to ask yourself that question again and again!

Well, by popular opinion anyway… We must say that before we start, we are by no means trying to put down someone else’s ideal dream car. If you own one of these vehicles we are about to portray and love it, we say that is but more power to you. Just because one person, or even an entire battalion of Internet personalities say that a car is ugly, does not mean that in actuality it is. If you happen to like one of the cars we are about to mention, feel free to counter these opinions with your own opinions. It’s thankfully still a free country where we can all express our own opinions. So without further adieu, let’s get our ugly on…

2007 Chevy Avalanche

The Chevy Avalanche is not a bad looking vehicle in some respects, but what really does it in, is its over abundance of cheap looking plastic. There was a time when a tough truck was meant to look sturdy and purposeful, and unfortunately for the Chevy Avalanche, that time is still present. The proportion of these trucks is also rather odd, with an open bed the size equivalence to a Subaru Baja, and that alone is enough to give the Chevy a few more ugly points. The front end around to the first set of doors was a good start, now all Chevy needs to do is peel away some of that plastic and get back to the basics!

2007 Chrysler PT Cruiser

There was a time when the uniqueness of the car gave it a respectable stance on the streets. Today, there are more of these cruising around on the streets than there are New Beetles, and those darn near got onto this list, but were excused due to their overall cuteness factor. The PT Cruiser is not cute, its not really cool, it is only slightly functional, and quite frankly is trying to be too many cars rolled into one. It is a nostalgic weekend cruiser, SUV substitute, four door family wagon, and a daily driver. It is shaped to be adored by woman, yet have the hotrod lines to appease the men. There was a time and a place for a PT Cruiser, but quite frankly, it has now outlived their time and is in need of a serious update. There is only so much room for nostalgic vehicles, which brings us to the next vehicle on the list, the Chevy SSR.

Chevy SSR Pickup

If this isn’t a wanna-be PT Cruiser, I don’t know what else is. It has the same nostalgic hot rod features mixed with modern innovation to create was many believe to be rather ugly. Once again we have a car that is just trying to be too many things, none of which it does well enough to give it a proper excuse for its overall odd appearance. It is a good thing that Chevy is about to redeem themselves with the new Camaro, which is a nostalgic masterpiece in automotive design!

Toyota Scion

Yes, the Toyota Scion is ugly, but for many it is ugly in the Chihuahua kind of way. It is actually so ugly, that in the right light it actually becomes kind of cute and quirky. The after market for this car is just tremendous and people are clamoring to customize these. This is the reason that we can’t claim these as completely ugly, as some people absolutely adore these cars. The real problem here, is they are just too boxy for the millennium. Perhaps 100 years ago these would have been acceptably beautiful… but today, no!

Pontiac Aztec

The looks of this particular automobile is very disorganized. The mismatched lines, angles, disproportionate headlights, and gray plastic body accents just do not add any beauty to this vehicle at all. The flat rear end is a common complaint from consumers who claim the Aztec looks as if its rear half was designed entirely by a different team than the front half. While trying to refrain from anything to negative here, that would seem to be a fair assumption. This is abviously Pontiac’s attempt to steal some of the Honda Element and Toyota Scion atention away… and it does succeed, but just not in the best way!

Honda Element

It actually makes one heck of a chia pet. The Honda Element is just another “element” similar to the Pontiac Aztec and Toyota Scion. Customers have claimed the basic look to be of a “Hummer—fresh out of a trash compactor.” Once again we are dealing with a very boxy vehicle that is trying to be very different from the crowd, but to most tastes, it is just too odd. The one salvaging feature is its washable interior floorboards, which give it a few brownie points. As love/hate relationships go, the Honda Element will continue both be loved and hated by its consumer market… but maybe that’s what gives it part of its appeal. Some people just love to be different from the rest of the crowd!

And there you have it, a hand full of some of the worst looking vehicles that the last two tears have had to offer. This coming year has some hopeful contenders, but we shall wait to comment… at least long enough to give the all important consumer time to formulate their ultimate opinion!