By John Coyle

Deputy Editor

It’s no secret that the StreetFire crew is filled with off-road newbies, but ICON’s Jonathan Ward is so confident in their $100K FJ recreations he invited us up to Frazier Park to thrash on them anyway. I didn’t get to go—somebody has to be in the office to take out the trash and answer the phones—but Naderi made it, and he brought back footage. Mike Levin from PickupTrucks.com and Johnny Lieberman from Jalopnik were also on hand, and after they got to drive these insane 4x4s, they shared their thoughts. Next time we get offered a chance like this, I’m going to let the phones go to voice mail and the trash pile up…

By Jim Brennan

UDMan

I’m still coming off my experience at the SEMA show held about a week ago in Las Vegas. I have been tasked with coming up with the five best off road vehicles at the show. Well, a lot of attendees will choose a high riding pickup truck, but they are virtually useless off road because the axles could not articulate enough. Inside the main halls of the show, there were a lot of jeeps and other vehicles that were on display, and it was very difficult to single them out for nomination. On that note, here are my five distinct off road nominations:

- The Awesome Ken Block Subaru WRX Tracked Vehicle
- This Outrageous Viper Powered Sand Buggy
- The Mickey Thompson Rock Crawler with Wildwood Brake System on the axle.
- The ICON CJ3B
- The TAC-V JAMMA

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By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Jonathan Ward just e-mailed to tell me that his ICON CJ3B prototype AKA “the Dog” is complete–just in time for SEMA! Check out his ride page for more details, and of course we’ll be meeting up with Jonathan and seeing this cool ride up close and personal at SEMA.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Jonathan Ward is at it again. His previous vehicles were based on the original Toyota Land Cruiser, but his new design is inspired by the old Willys flat-fendered CJ3B. This new project, nicknamed “The Dog,” will be a lot more affordable than previous ICONs, with kits priced from $15,000 to 35,000 and turn-key production vehicles starting around $45,000.

But wait, there’s more. Jonathan is also developing a pure EV variant with four in-wheel hub motors and a driver-controlled variable crawl ratio for off road versatility. How cool is that? Check out the ICON CJ3B ride page for more details and pics! And we’ll be sure to show you a lot more when The Dog debuts at SEMA. 

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

There are always a ton of cool off-road vehicles at SEMA, and this year was no exception. We followed the ICON builds closely leading up to SEMA, and I got a chance to talk to Jonathan Ward about his awesome ICON FJ43 at the show. The Subaru Mountain Rescue vehicle pretty much dominated the Subaru booth. Mr. Angry really loved the Bushwacker Jeep with the paintball guns. Skyjacker always has cool rides in their booth, and their pre-production 2009 F-150 did not disappoint. And Jen went nuts for the retro style Tacoma in the Toyota booth. So what’s your favorite?

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

I talked to Jonathan Ward of ICON yesterday at SEMA. It was great to finally meet Jonathan and to see these amazing vehicles in person after following the builds on his ride pages. We’ll have lots more interviews with SEMA builders over the next few days, so stay tuned.

ICON is bringing four vehicles to SEMA—three Land Cruisers and one Lexus LX 570—and they’ve done a great job documenting the builds on CarDomain. Right now they are making the finishing touches, and Jonathan Ward has even been running his kids to school in the FJ43 pictured below. Be sure to check out the ICON garage on CarDomain, and we’ll be sure to track down Jonathan and these awesome rides at SEMA.

As you might imagine, there won’t be much left from this old ’71 Land Cruiser when Jonathan Ward and the rest of the ICON guys are done with it. And you won’t believe the motor this one is getting. Check out the ride page for pics of the build so far.

In addition to the Baja FJ43 that ICON is building for SEMA, they are building this cool little pickup, based on the FJ45 short wheelbase Land Cruiser design. Check out the FJ45 ride page for the latest updates, including pics of the body coming back from the powder coaters.

ICON owner/designer Jonathan Ward is one busy guy. In addition to the Lexus LX 570 I showed you a few days ago, he is building two ICON FJs for SEMA. Based on the old Toyota Land Cruisers, these ICON FJs are built from the ground up. The Baja FJ43 pictured below has an all new chassis, a hand crafted alloy body, a 450HP LS series V8, 4L65E automatic, Atlas II transfer case, and Dynatrac axles with four wheel power assisted vented and slotted disc brakes. Want to see more? Check out his ride page. And we’ll keep you posted on this build as we get closer to SEMA.