New cars by design are disposable.
That's so irresponsible, culturally.
We're recycling vehicles that were discarded to the backyard
and questioning that, saying, "No, no.
This has decades of service left in it."
To me, old things have more heart and have more soul,
but may not function to today's demands.
So any idea that I can come up with that fuses the vintage design sense and quality
with the functionality of today...
perfect storm.
Well, I guess kind of motor oil's in my blood.
I remember, like, age maybe five or six being in the back of, like, our old Country Squire
station wagon with the rear facing seat and just kind of fixating
on all the style and design.
Even then you could sense there was so much more character
and thought put into every little detail.
I like it the older the better.
Things that look like wood are wood and things that look like metal are metal
and there's not plastic crap everywhere.
When I started Icon, I saw that more and more people like me were yearning for
combining the goodness of new cars with the goodness of vintage cars.
People go, "Well, wait a minute.
So I can I have that 1940 whatever, but I don't need to work on it every weekend?"
and being able to say, "Yes!
This is something new, we can give you something to drive everyday, but still has a soul."
We're not loyal to a particular brand.
So suddenly we have a brand that has to create some sort of family resemblance or continuity,
the Bronco was really challenging in that regard.
We spent a ridiculous amount of time and figure out the nose and how to make that work.
I think we pulled it off in that it's still a classic Bronco, but you can tell it's an Icon.
Thriftmaster made the most sense for us because Chevy made gazillions of them.
So that many more people already have a relationship with them.
They drive like an old farm truck because that's what they are.
The way they felt stock to the way ours feels now was a really great way
to exhibit our capabilities.
These trucks have such a huge cult following.
Bringing 'em in, putting our own twist to it, Jonathan's design, the modern drivetrains,
the modern power plants, the modern suspension,
just a 440 horse LS3 in this thing just turns it into a whole new truck,
a beast.
People think it's a restoration, but it's not.
It's completely ground up built.
Trying to keep it that original, nostalgic look,
but you got a race car underneath of it.
Probably proudest of our dash.
So it had an ashtray, AM radio and a speaker and two gauges.
We wanted in-dash modern heat vent AC system.
We wanted car play.
We wanted navigation, Bluetooth, high end audio, tilt column.
The challenge was how do you do that without having all this modern crap everywhere.
So we took the language of that center dash panel
and I just expanded upon that to create a more full length piece,
a touch and tap drop center section for the modern audio
so you don't have to look at it when you don't need it.
And then when you want to get busy, you hit it and this truck is just gone.
The big part of why vehicles are important culturally is that man machine interface.
It's a very organic you, machine, road and that connection all the way through to
when you touch the armrest, when you adjust the radio, all of that is part of that experience.
Years ago, taking my kids off to go go-carting in my old Chrysler wagon,
my kids looked at the window regulator and they were, like,
they didn't even know what it was.
Like, I had to explain to them, like, "You go like this," and they go, "Oh, that's cool."
And it made me realize a lot of people just haven't grown up around that.
To me that's everything in a classic.
So we worked with a company to integrate, basically, a modern electrical switch
so now you just nudge down for down and you nudge up for up
and that keeps that feeling in place,
while still infusing it with modern functionality.
My sons are already involved in the business.
My youngest wants to redesign everything I do, like, "Dad, why'd you do it like that?
You should've given that more surface tension."
"Shut up, you're 13.
Leave me alone."
Watching what we built by hand, from scratch, and rolling down the road,
it puts goose bumps on my arms,
you know, just seeing this work of art finally turn into something.
I almost cry a few times.
You get attached to it.
We're already dealing with designs that are in people's hearts.
The fact that it's already used has created so much character.
So every ding, every sun faded spot, it begs the question where has that car been?
What love has been made?
What fights have occurred?
When we first landed on the moon, did someone hear that on the radio on this car?
So there's that sense of romance, that sense of history that makes it special
and a unique, singular expression.