ICON 4x4 idea

[artpeck]

I have drooled over the FJ rebuilds that Jonothan Ward is doing in southern California and reached out to him to see if he would consider an equivalent land rover project. Turns out he has two one off defender rebuilds going on right now.

I have attached the link to his site brochure. If you are curious go through the PDF to the derelicts and reformers section which is the gist of my idea. To take a well patina'ed series truck and do a transparent rebuild while leaving the exterior as is. He has a couple of those featured in the brochure (not land rovers). He would use all modern land rover parts (I am thinking diesel as well) but the exterior would be vintage. Part of me says it would be cool and part of me recoils at the notion. Curious if anyone has a view. Bring it on.

http://icon4x4.com/sites/icon4x4.com/files/brochures/12x12_online_brochure_FINAL_v2.pdf

[ArlowCT]

Real nice work going on at that shop! I like the idea. When I rebuild my truck none of the body work was touched. Still has the original patina. If I had known more when I did it I would have swapped in a different drivetrain but there is always next time.

[artpeck]

They do amazing work. And unfortunately at amazing prices. But they are profoundly oriented around the details and the engineering is first class.

[o2batsea]

That's what I'm doing to the 2A 5 door.
200tdi, r380,lt230, sals disc rear, coil chassis, hydraulic winch. It is very costly to undertake a rebuild of any kind. Count on about $20,000 at minimum, even if you leave it looking like it was.

[leafsprung]

icon

They do typical Socal builds - The land cruisers they churn out are nicely finished but cookie cutter coilover/powercoated/aftermarket parts bin stuff. They take an aftermarket land cruiser body, flip through a summit catalog and fill in the blanks. The result is cold, monochrome, generic, and souless.

[thixon]

Well said Mr. Goss, but you forgot to add "easy."

[Boston]

They do amazing work. And unfortunately at amazing prices. But they are profoundly oriented around the details and the engineering is first class.

Seen an Icon FJ. Couple of stupid design features but that's minor in comparison to the gearbox that would barely shift. Stick as well. That said it went like a bat outta hell.