Maurício Fernandes
29/06/2010, 22:55
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/automobiles/collectibles/27ICON.html?hp
What Price Perfection? The $80,000 Army Jeep
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/06/27/automobiles/ICON1/ICON1-articleLarge.jpg Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
SYMBOLIC The profile and face of the Icon CJ3B are familiar, but not an exact reproduction of the classic Willys jeep. More Photos » (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/25/automobiles/20100627_icon.html)
By NORMAN MAYERSOHN
Published: June 24, 2010
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EVEN in Midtown Manhattan, where blocklong Hummer limos barely rate a second glance and six-figure supercars rarely draw more than a yawn, an Icon CJ3B attracts a knot of curious admirers. This, despite its no-gloss finish, bling-free wheels and an interior totally lacking in luxury appointments (a good thing, actually, as there is hardly a distinction between its interior and exterior).
Multimedia
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/06/25/automobiles/20100627_icon-slide-CCBE/20100627_icon-slide-CCBE-thumbWide.jpg Slide Show (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/25/automobiles/20100627_icon.html?ref=collectibles)
A Jeep for High Rollers (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/25/automobiles/20100627_icon.html?ref=collectibles)
Instead, the Icon snarled the flow of pedestrians on a city sidewalk earlier this month using nothing more than the macaroni-and-cheese familiarity of its shape: the unmistakable profile of a vintage Army jeep, complete with period design elements like a fold-down windshield and cutaways that serve as portals in place of hinged doors.
True, the neoclassic jeep is as recognizably American as a Coke bottle or a pair of Levis, a shape that Arthur Drexler of the Museum of Modern Art said 60 years ago embodied “the combined appeal of an intelligent dog and a perfect gadget.” But it was in the details that hard-to-distract New Yorkers found a reason — and a moment — to linger.
Headlights with the multiple facets of a housefly’s eye; seats at once both spartan and exotic; impossibly long shock absorbers wrapped with coil springs: all are clues that this is a different sort of creation, nothing like the 4x4’s that rolled down the assembly line of a Willys plant in the early ’50s.
Instead, the CJ3B is the realized dream of Jonathan Ward, the 40-year-old owner of Icon and a transplanted New Yorker who propagates bespoke S.U.V.’s from his Los Angeles atelier. The goal of Icon, he says, is to “revisit vehicles from our collective past that make us smile in a modern context.”
Mr. Ward’s company has been cloning Toyota’s FJ series, a line of S.U.V.’s introduced in the 1960s, for the last four years. Now Icon is casting a wider net, reaching beyond the cult of followers who paid as much as $180,000 for a custom-built FJ — they start at $105,000, Mr. Ward said — with a model based on the Jeep CJ3B introduced in 1953.
The Icon CJ3B will start around $80,000. While that luxury-car price tag may seem high for a vehicle that lacks even a head unit for an audio system, Mr. Ward does not need a large market: only about 60 FJs have been sold so far. And in any case, the price is beside the point for the customers he envisions. These would be idealists and design purists like himself who, when making any acquisition, seek out the finest.
Mr. Ward refers to Icon as a restoration business, but that does not begin to describe the effort behind his products or the makeup of the finished vehicles. Each one starts with an actual vintage truck, which donates a handful of parts (and an identity that makes it possible to license the completed project).
But it is mostly new. The CJ3B’s frame is made in Washington and much of the body sheet metal is stamped in the Philippines. The engine is a 4-cylinder General Motors (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org) Ecotec that produces 210 horsepower. The axles are modified versions of the units in today’s Jeep Rubicon; most of the driveline comes from well-established industry suppliers.
All of the modern components make the Icon a more reliable, repairable vehicle than any restoration of a 50-year-old could be — and a more usable off-roader than a straight replica of the original Willys would be. Gone are trouble spots from the original design like the leaf springs (which can limit the wheel travel needed to negotiate rough terrain), a balky choke cable (electronic fuel injection assures quick starting) and weak drum brakes (there are discs at all four corners).
Still, a list of improvements does not reveal the whole story. That lies in the telling of how those bits and pieces were chosen and procured, which is a direct reflection of Mr. Ward’s character — or, some would say, his obsession for perfection in all details.
Describing himself as a “bit of a technical geek,” Mr. Ward enthusiastically leaps into a briefing of what it took to make the CJ. Calling on skills developed as a stage actor, he detailed the process of machining the billet aluminum dashboard knobs, procuring a NASA (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_aeronautics_and_space_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org)-grade LED reverse light and protecting every body panel in a durable military-grade powder-coat finish. Ask about the soft top and you receive a deep technical briefing on what it takes to find the world’s best zippers, strongest snaps and most durable fabrics.
The CJ3B is available in Old School and New School versions, which vary in the design of their rollover bars, suspensions and tire size. Further variations are sure to follow. But the restless mind of Mr. Ward is already plotting out other automotive icons — can’t avoid the word — to replicate. Next up could be a Ford Bronco or a battery-powered Volkswagen Thing.
Whatever his next “inspired by” product is, Mr. Ward said, it will be made to last, not a disposable consumer item. “Something already in our culture,” he said, “and not made for a short shelf life.”
A version of this article appeared in print on June 27, 2010, on page AU1 of the New York edition.
What Price Perfection? The $80,000 Army Jeep
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/06/27/automobiles/ICON1/ICON1-articleLarge.jpg Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
SYMBOLIC The profile and face of the Icon CJ3B are familiar, but not an exact reproduction of the classic Willys jeep. More Photos » (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/25/automobiles/20100627_icon.html)
By NORMAN MAYERSOHN
Published: June 24, 2010
los (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/automobiles/collectibles/27ICON.html?hp#)
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EVEN in Midtown Manhattan, where blocklong Hummer limos barely rate a second glance and six-figure supercars rarely draw more than a yawn, an Icon CJ3B attracts a knot of curious admirers. This, despite its no-gloss finish, bling-free wheels and an interior totally lacking in luxury appointments (a good thing, actually, as there is hardly a distinction between its interior and exterior).
Multimedia
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/06/25/automobiles/20100627_icon-slide-CCBE/20100627_icon-slide-CCBE-thumbWide.jpg Slide Show (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/25/automobiles/20100627_icon.html?ref=collectibles)
A Jeep for High Rollers (http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/06/25/automobiles/20100627_icon.html?ref=collectibles)
Instead, the Icon snarled the flow of pedestrians on a city sidewalk earlier this month using nothing more than the macaroni-and-cheese familiarity of its shape: the unmistakable profile of a vintage Army jeep, complete with period design elements like a fold-down windshield and cutaways that serve as portals in place of hinged doors.
True, the neoclassic jeep is as recognizably American as a Coke bottle or a pair of Levis, a shape that Arthur Drexler of the Museum of Modern Art said 60 years ago embodied “the combined appeal of an intelligent dog and a perfect gadget.” But it was in the details that hard-to-distract New Yorkers found a reason — and a moment — to linger.
Headlights with the multiple facets of a housefly’s eye; seats at once both spartan and exotic; impossibly long shock absorbers wrapped with coil springs: all are clues that this is a different sort of creation, nothing like the 4x4’s that rolled down the assembly line of a Willys plant in the early ’50s.
Instead, the CJ3B is the realized dream of Jonathan Ward, the 40-year-old owner of Icon and a transplanted New Yorker who propagates bespoke S.U.V.’s from his Los Angeles atelier. The goal of Icon, he says, is to “revisit vehicles from our collective past that make us smile in a modern context.”
Mr. Ward’s company has been cloning Toyota’s FJ series, a line of S.U.V.’s introduced in the 1960s, for the last four years. Now Icon is casting a wider net, reaching beyond the cult of followers who paid as much as $180,000 for a custom-built FJ — they start at $105,000, Mr. Ward said — with a model based on the Jeep CJ3B introduced in 1953.
The Icon CJ3B will start around $80,000. While that luxury-car price tag may seem high for a vehicle that lacks even a head unit for an audio system, Mr. Ward does not need a large market: only about 60 FJs have been sold so far. And in any case, the price is beside the point for the customers he envisions. These would be idealists and design purists like himself who, when making any acquisition, seek out the finest.
Mr. Ward refers to Icon as a restoration business, but that does not begin to describe the effort behind his products or the makeup of the finished vehicles. Each one starts with an actual vintage truck, which donates a handful of parts (and an identity that makes it possible to license the completed project).
But it is mostly new. The CJ3B’s frame is made in Washington and much of the body sheet metal is stamped in the Philippines. The engine is a 4-cylinder General Motors (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/general_motors_corporation/index.html?inline=nyt-org) Ecotec that produces 210 horsepower. The axles are modified versions of the units in today’s Jeep Rubicon; most of the driveline comes from well-established industry suppliers.
All of the modern components make the Icon a more reliable, repairable vehicle than any restoration of a 50-year-old could be — and a more usable off-roader than a straight replica of the original Willys would be. Gone are trouble spots from the original design like the leaf springs (which can limit the wheel travel needed to negotiate rough terrain), a balky choke cable (electronic fuel injection assures quick starting) and weak drum brakes (there are discs at all four corners).
Still, a list of improvements does not reveal the whole story. That lies in the telling of how those bits and pieces were chosen and procured, which is a direct reflection of Mr. Ward’s character — or, some would say, his obsession for perfection in all details.
Describing himself as a “bit of a technical geek,” Mr. Ward enthusiastically leaps into a briefing of what it took to make the CJ. Calling on skills developed as a stage actor, he detailed the process of machining the billet aluminum dashboard knobs, procuring a NASA (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/n/national_aeronautics_and_space_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org)-grade LED reverse light and protecting every body panel in a durable military-grade powder-coat finish. Ask about the soft top and you receive a deep technical briefing on what it takes to find the world’s best zippers, strongest snaps and most durable fabrics.
The CJ3B is available in Old School and New School versions, which vary in the design of their rollover bars, suspensions and tire size. Further variations are sure to follow. But the restless mind of Mr. Ward is already plotting out other automotive icons — can’t avoid the word — to replicate. Next up could be a Ford Bronco or a battery-powered Volkswagen Thing.
Whatever his next “inspired by” product is, Mr. Ward said, it will be made to last, not a disposable consumer item. “Something already in our culture,” he said, “and not made for a short shelf life.”
A version of this article appeared in print on June 27, 2010, on page AU1 of the New York edition.