The ICON: Cool After It Was Cool

It is some dark days for the SUV. People in the US just aren’t buying them in 2008, even used ones. Although desperate sellers might want to send theirs over to China. Remember back in the late 90’s buying an SUV was a way to rebel against the bland minivan that everyone bought when they were hot. SUV’s had attitude and looked tough in contrast to the bar of soap shaped designs that all minivans shared at the time. So is the SUV really doomed? Maybe not.

Minivans rocketed to popularity in the mid 80’s and early 90’s as an alternative to the common family station wagon. Minivans were bigger and offered more flexibility than station wagons and looked sleeker at the time. They also offered a more commanding view of the road which attracted a lot of buyers. But while the wagon fell into decline, an interesting thing happened, Volvo made wagons cool. In fact they turned theirs into a race car and built a series of limited edition high performance street versions all carrying the R designation. Volvo turned the banal wagon into a corner burning grocery hauler by dropping in turbochargers, lowered suspensions, and wrapping it in an angular exterior body design. Volvo took the idea of the station wagon to the extreme and re-injected personality and attitude. They created something cool.

That’s where we see the same spirit happening with the ICON from TLC. The company describes the ICON as a vehicle without peers for a journey without boundaries. Classic styling, modern performance, and timeless utility. The ICON recaptures the soul of the SUV. Like the Volvo R series, the ICON will also be a limited production vehicle meaning you won’t see one everywhere. Only 24 will be made to each customers specifications this year. The ICON’s style may look a little familiar. It was designed by Jonathan Ward who along with his wife started TLC originally as a Toyota Land Cruiser service center back during 1996 in California. TLC’s reputation spread quickly and in 2007 they were contracted by Toyota to build three modern prototypes of the FJ Cruiser for the company. Ward was always drawn to the classic look of the 60’s Land Cruiser and wondered what revisiting the iconic vehicle would look like. TLC retained the overall no-frills essence of the original but look closer and you’ll see an impeccable attention to detail.

[ via the freshly redesigned Brigade ]