LA-based Icon is one of those companies that I try to avoid. I mean this in the best possible way. I avoid it all because I want one of those fucking trucks really bad. I actually think it has transcended want, I need one of those things. The truth of the matter is, it ain’t happenin anytime soon. Unless I win the pick six next time I am at the track (Luck, anyone?), an Icon truck is sadly far away on the horizon.
Being aesthetically awesome (and retro), but still functioning well enough to be a daily driver is the whole point of the company. The guys over at eGarage caught up with Icon founder Jonathan Ward about the mission of the company and a little program that it is launching called Derelicts. Want to know more? Watch the film. Want an Icon? Get in line. [ICON]
I’ve had the honor of riding in both of the derelicts shown and can honestly say that the video does no justice to the amazing attention to detail Jonathan bathes his projects in. Another thing that’s missing is the power and performance that these seemingly junker cars are hiding.
If you have the means I strongly encourage you to have Mr. Ward get started on one at his earliest convenience.
I love it. I “get it.” I do, however, wish we could hear the engine. I’d love to know how it sounds. Strange? Perhaps. Also, a friend has a similar vehicle. Among his Ferraris, his favorite car is a beaten up, dinged, BMW 2002 loaded with this patina that’s a supercharged beast under the hood. The greatest sleeper car I’ve ever witnessed.
I hadn’t given any serious thought to the derelicts until today. I love the color and knowing that what’s inside is in perfect order. And when the hood comes up, those engines! Uau!…
As for the truck I could be real happy in one of those FJ’s… I’m also just waiting on the Euromillions prize to have one shipped to Portugal!.. lol…
Holy smoke, Michael! Holy smoke. Thanks for turning us on to all manner of cool and wonderful shitakes made here in the USA. You are truly a Mt. Olympus kinda guy! Thanks.
Really nice film work. Great piece to share and to get inspired from.
Detroit should listen up.
Do you think they are involved in a plot to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia – or maybe just a future clothing line?
Taking the sleeper concept to the next level….thumbs up!
I like these but I don’t know what to think about it. It’s a vintage piece that’s been rebuilt for reliability. Part of the appeal of an old car is establishing that relationship with its quirks and tinkering with it and making it your own. This is paying someone else $80K or whatever it costs for them to tinker with it and love it for you. Then you just drive it.
And it’s a “daily driver”, it’s “practical”, and yet it costs ten times as much as an actual daily driver. Who’s really going to pay the cost of a high end Mercedes for a unique car and drive this to Safeway? Maybe in LA.
Also is that rusty patina rustproofed? Or is it going to develop further holes?
Also when the trade embargo with Cuba inevitably lifts, there’ll be a ton of these kind of things on the roads. This is a “normal cuban car”.
I completely agree with Gary. Talk to folks who are into 4-wheeling, and they’d *much* rather screw around with an old Jeep, or Land Cruiser, or simple Toyota pickup, than an Icon.
That’s not to take away from what Icon does. The rides are gorgeous. But you’d have to have Facebook IPO money to be willing to drop 100K on a Jeep and then beat the shit, or make a daily driver, out of it. That’s why you’ll only really see these in L.A., the rural suburbs of Silicon Valley, and (as I have) in trendy, upscale towns in Montana.
And for 100K? How about, instead, 10K on a reliable Jeep or FJ, 10K on a Unimog (http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/2837549649.html), 20K on 10 acres and an Airstream in the Mojave, 10K on some motorcycles, and then 50K on a small apartment in Red Wing, Minnesota where you can breathe boots all day?
My Grandfather and Father were Charter DeSoto dealers (beginning with Chrylser in 1929), and I remember Dad taking one of these arcs in trade, probably late 1950s. As a child, I wanted to camp out in the cargo area, but I recall their saying “no” and murmuring about it.
Come to find out, it was a funeral home “pickup” car and they just didn’t want me “resting comfortably” back there.
I’ve been to Cuba and these are no “normal Cuban” cars. The cars coming out of Cuba will be fodder. And I hope good comes of it.
I dunno. There’s something inherently cool in what Icon is doing by remanufacturing FJ40s. It’s exactly what Ford did with the “new” GT40 and what all those Japanese denim brands are doing with Leepros and 501 repros. After all, how many times have you said, “Gee, I wish I could buy XX but brand new. They don’t make ’em like that anymore.”
Well, Icon went out and did it.
Simply and utterly thoroughly inspiring. Big love.
How about this truck my friend is selling: 1942 Dodge carryall-
http://imageevent.com/rockinjwranch/carryall19500;jsessionid=jfy8oa2sh1.camel_s
It’s okay … a basic paint job would do WONDER!
This company represents a lot that’s wrong with the vintage scene, I mean buying your way to patina, fakery in the extreme with the appearance of substance on the outside, but bullshit underneath. The whole point of getting involved with vintage vehicles is to experience the journey, being part of the process……and tinkering is essential! People who buy their way into the vintage scene are not committed, it’s just the latest fad for cashed up wankers……piss off and buy a new car if you want reliability and leave the old stuff to people like me who have no money. Unfortunately here in Oz, old cars like these are rare and expensive anyway bugger it!
Derelicte my balls.